Domination is a central feature of social life. The concept of domination itself is essentially contested, as is the relationship between law and domination and between domination and power. This chapter adopts an historical approach and examines the ways in which the concept of domination has been understood in different theories of international law. While the concept of domination is often associated with the realm of politics, and law is seen as a means of controlling arbitrary power, critical scholarship has pointed to the ways in which law itself is an instrument of domination that must be questioned. The expansion of international law into all realms of life, further, suggests the importance of understanding the evolving ways in which domination and international law operate.
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