Non-State Actors: Carving out a Space in a State-Centred International Legal System

Abstract

States have captured the imagination of international legal scholars, to the extent that for a variety of non-state actors (NSAs), statehood may appear to be the ultimate prize. This contribution sheds some light on how the epistemic community has come to venerate the state as the structural embodiment of politico-legal order, as ‘the hero’ in international law narratives and how, nevertheless, NSAs have been allowed to carve out a space for themselves. It is argued that in spite of NSAs’ gradual emancipation, to this very day, the presence of the state continues to loom large in discussions on international legal subjectivity.