BOOK: Wouter DE RYCKE, Justifying Utopia. A Legal History of the International Peace Movement (1815-1873) [Legal History Library, eds. Dirk HEIRBAUT, Matthew C. MIROW, Michelle McKINLEY & C.H. VAN RHEE; 75/Studies in the History of International Law, ed. Randall LESAFFER; 27), ISBN 978-90-04-73368-8 (24 JUL 2025), € 220

 

(image source: Brill)

Brill announced the forthcoming publication (24 July 2025) of former CORE member dr. Wouter De Rycke's monograph Justifying Utopia. A Legal History of the International Peace Movement (1815-1873).

Abstract:

When and why did international law begin to oppose war? For centuries, sovereignty implied the right to wage war. Yet over the past hundred years, a remarkable succession of treaties, courts, and organisations sprang to life that sought to prohibit war. From a fringe ambition, the ideal of ‘peace through law’ became the foundation of international law. This book traces part of this evolution back to the small peace movement of the early nineteenth century, recounting how the earliest organised pacifists built their legal case against war. The stories of this diverse social movement are told from numerous perspectives, and each sheds further light on how ordinary men and women helped lay the groundwork for one of the greatest shifts in legal thinking about peace and war.

On the author:

 A legal historian and a practising lawyer. His scholarly interests focus on the history of debates on war and peace at the intersection of law and wider society.

This work is the commercial version of the author's PhD, defended at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in September 2013 (see earlier on this blog), as academic assistant (2017-2020) and with the support of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO Junior Fundamental Research Project G015420N "The legal construction of peace, 1815-1870. Networks and arguments", supervisor-spokesperson Prof. Frederik Dhondt/supervisor Dr. Raphaël Cahen, 2020-2023). 

Read more here (future DOI 10.1163/9789004733688).