 The Third World intellectual in praxis: confrontation, participation, or operation behind enemy lines?Georges Abi-Saab Third World Quarterly, 2016, vol. 37, issue 11, 1957-1971 Abstract: In his closing keynote address for the TWAIL Cairo Conference, Professor Georges Abi-Saab engages with the conference theme ‘On Praxis and the Intellectual’ by considering the diverse roles that can be played by Third World international law intellectuals in trying to transform theory into social practice. He commences with an overview of the Third World’s engagement with international law thus far in the form of a ‘three act psychodrama’. Following from this, he explores the meanings of the terms ‘intellectual’ and ‘praxis’, noting that not all international lawyers are the former, and breaking the latter down into several stages in the spectrum between reflection and action. Professor Abi-Saab concludes with some examples of praxis from personal experience, including as a professor, teacher, and scholar of international law, ghostwriting for the UN Secretary-General, participation in country delegations, and as judge and arbitrator in numerous courts and tribunals. Through these examples he illustrates some of the different tactics available to the Third World intellectual including confrontation, participation, or operation ‘behind enemy lines’. Date: 2016 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:ctwqxx:v:37:y:2016:i:11:p:1957-1971 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2016.1212653 Access Statistics for this article Third World Quarterly is currently edited by Shahid Qadir More articles in Third World Quarterly from Taylor & Francis Journals |
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