A world safe for Catholicism: interwar international law and Neo-Scholastic universalism

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Abstract

This article recounts how Neo-Scholastic international lawyers navigated the complex political landscape of the 1920s and 30s, combining universalism, nationalism and religious belief. Participating in the contemporary re-engagement of Catholics with modern politics, they re-imagined the international legal order in Catholic terms. They argued that a universal morality, overruling the extremes of state sovereignty, was the only solid basis for just and stable global legal relations. While the contribution of Catholics to the establishment of the post-war world order and the rise of human rights is widely acknowledged, the interwar genealogy of these developments is not. Reading these thinkers' universalist legal tenets in conjunction with their political trajectories provides a relevant frame to understand the moral charge characterizing international law in the early years of the Cold War.

Original languageEnglish
JournalHistory of European Ideas
Volume49
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)411-427
Number of pages17
ISSN0191-6599
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Feb 2023
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Fields of Science

  • 513 Law
  • 615 History and Archaeology
  • 614 Theology
  • Catholicism
  • international legal history
  • interwar period
  • Neo-Scholasticism
  • legal personality
  • universalism
  • RECONSTRUCTION

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