Book Review: Capitalism as Civilisation: A History of International Law by Ntina Tzouvala

This book review situates Ntina Tzouvala’s monograph, Capitalism as Civilisation: A History of International Law, in ongoing debates concerning the emancipatory potential of international law. The central claim made by this book is that the racist “standard of civilization” lives on in international law because it is necessitated by capitalism. This book review explains how Tzouvala’s analysis can help international lawyers avoid the pitfalls of both liberal legalism and legal nihilism by instead helping lawyers ground their work in revolutionary, as opposed to reformist, theory.