Queering international law's stories of origin: Hospitality and homophobia
RIS ID
117367
Abstract
The project of 'queering' international law suggests excavating concepts of sexuality and sexual conduct in its formative moments. This chapter argues that two of the works of the sixteenth-century Spanish theologian Francisco de Vitoria provide rich grounds for excavation. These works are often included in the genealogy of international law and sometimes in the formative moments of the modern Law of Nations. Vitoria's influential work challenged prevailing justifications for the imperialist Spanish project of the invasion of Mesoamerica, replacing them with universal natural law duties of friendship and hospitality owed by the people of the 'New World' to the Spanish, facilitating the Spanish imperial project.
Publication Details
N. Seuffert, 'Queering international law's stories of origin: Hospitality and homophobia' in D. Otto(ed), Queering International Law Possibilities, Alliances, Complicities, Risks (2017) 213-235.