Käte Hamburger Kolleg / Centre for Global Cooperation Research
Schifferstraße 44
47059 Duisburg
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)203 379-5230
Fax: +49 (0)203 379-5276
E-Mail: vos@gcr21.org
Research Project at the Centre
Legal Sightseeing
Legal sightseeing asks how international legal institutions present themselves to the public and, in turn, how and by whom their message is perceived. The project signals a widespread trend of the eventisation of international law: international courthouses stage public photo exhibitions and audio tours, international lawyers partake in film festivals, and the buildings of international organisations have become top tourist destinations. However, this ‘legal sightseeing’ phenomenon has entirely been ignored by international legal scholars. This research project argues that the analysis of legal sightseeing is vital to our understanding of the practice of international law and its function to represent and serve the international public. By taking an interdisciplinary socio-legal approach, legal sightseeing investigates the motivations, intentions, expectations and experiences of both institutions and visitors who encounter each other at legal sightseeing sites and events. In so doing, it aims inquire into the communication between international legal institutions and their public. Moreover, the research project experiments with an innovative visual participatory methodology that contributes to the field of international law. As academic contribution, it broadens the sensitivity of international law research to the importance of visual means. As a societal contribution, it makes it takes seriously and includes a wide variety of local actors in international law.
Awards
- VU Amsterdam, Kooijmans Institute for Law and Governance, PhD research grant (2017-2021)
- University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Science PhD Fieldwork Fund (2015; 2016)
- Tallberg Foundation, Young Leader Award (2015)
- University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Science Graduate School Special Award (2015)
Publications
Renske Vos (2022). ‘The Case of Ukraine v. Russian Federation before the International Court of Justice’, Amsterdam Law Forum, Commentary Series: Ukraine Special Collection. |
Sofia Stolk and Renske Vos* (2021). ‘Courtroom 600: The (Virtual) Reality of Being There’, in Mark Drumbl and Caroline Fournet (eds.), The Visualities and Aesthetics of Prosecuting Aged Defendants, special issue with International Criminal Law Review 22:1-2, 308-327. |
Sofia Stolk and Renske Vos* (eds.) (2020). International Law’s Collected Stories, Palgrave. |
Sofia Stolk and Renske Vos* (eds.) (2020). Brutal International Law: a walk through Marcel Breuer’s former American Embassy in The Hague, special section with New Perspectives 28:1. |
Sofia Stolk and Renske Vos* (2020). ‘Law in Concrete: Institutional Architecture in Brussels and The Hague’, Law and Humanities, 14:1, 57-82. |
Sofia Stolk and Renske Vos* (2019). ‘International Legal Sightseeing’, Leiden Journal of International Law, 33:1, 1-11. |
Giulia Sinatti and Renske Vos* (2019). ‘Representations of Border Deaths and the Making and Unmaking of Borders’, in P. Cuttitta and T. Last (eds.), Border Deaths. Causes, Dynamics and Consequences of Migration-related Mortality, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 71-84. |
Renske Vos (2019). 'A Walk along the Rue de la Loi: EU Facades as front- and backstage of transnational legal practice', in L. Boer and S. Stolk (eds.), Backstage Practices of Transnational Law, Routledge, 142-156. |
* Co-authored pieces on the basis of equal contributions. |