The 19th lecture of the “Adventus Amicorum” salon series was held on April 19, 2024, by the Institute of Area Studies, Peking University (PKUIAS), at No. 66 Yannanyuan, during which Luis Eslava, a professor of international law at University of Kent, shared his thoughts on the topic, “Understanding the Global South: A Latin American Perspective.” The lecture was moderated by Zhang Yongle, deputy director of PKUIAS. Other participants included Prof. Anthony Carty, Honorary Visiting Professor at the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at PKU; Prof. Zan Tao, deputy director of PKUIAS; Prof. Dong Jingsheng at the Department of History, PKU; Tan Daoming, a research fellow at the Institute of Latin American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; and Lai Huaxia, an assistant professor at the School of International Relations, PKU.

Before introducing the key themes of his presentation, Prof. Luis Eslava made it clear that he was speaking from his position as an international law scholar from Latin America, and his aim is to rethink what international law is and the development of the global South.

Prof. Eslava pointed out that, to understand international law, it is necessary to pay attention not only to the institutional level, such as meetings at the UN Security Council, but also to the daily life that takes place in the streets of each country around the world. The traditional perception of international law is that it is largely based on a top-down abstract understanding of how the world works with an administrative governance purpose according to international law, in which international lawyers and international legal instruments assume that each of the more than 190 countries of the diverse world in which we live is, in principle, sovereign and able to express itself independently. Yet a return to the historical context in which international law was formed reveals that international law grew out of colonial encounters and ultimately led to a massive transfer of wealth from the periphery to the core.

Citing a series of examples revealing the naturalized transitions and regime of preferences in international law, Prof. Eslava pointed out that an uncritical acceptance of international law and the international legal order inevitably embraces a liberal-moral, Eurocentric, bourgeois history of international law, which naturalizes some of the transitions and allows us to prefer some things over others, which culminates in the subtle acceptance of the idea that the world is moving in a unilinear fashion. Therefore, it is only by focusing on international law and what lies beyond it that may influence its formation can we better address the problems we are facing.

Finally, focusing on the development of the Global South from the perspective of “international law and development”, Prof. Eslava discussed the global uneven distribution of power, pain and pleasure, the division between the Global South and the Global North, the North-South gap, the system of value creation and division of labor, and the problem of poverty. Using data and graphs, he showed how much of the world’s wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few people, who are usually located in the Global North or very closely linked to it, and that the gap between the Global South and the Global North is becoming wider and wider. It is therefore valuable to think about the world from a global, rather than an international perspective.

In the discussion session, discussants engaged Prof. Eslava in an erudite exchange about the implications arising from his lecture. Prof. Anthony Carty agreed with Prof. Eslava’s opinion on global awareness in light of his own experience in Mexico, and pointed out that many of the problems currently facing the international legal order have their roots in the US, and that China may be the best hope for addressing this challenge. Prof. Dong Jingsheng conducted an in-depth discussion on the relationship between international law and the Global South. Prof. Zan Tao had a detailed discussion with Prof. Eslava on the definition of the Global South and China’s position in the discussion of the Global South. Tan Daoming focused on the reflection and discussion in Latin American academia on the issue of international law and the development of the Global South. Lai Huaxia discussed the significance of international law for the individual in light of her teaching and research experience. Prof. Zhang Yongle had a discussion with Prof. Eslava on the unstable wave of regionalization in Latin America, how Latin America might more successfully deal with the problem of poverty or development, and Russia’s relation with the Global South. Students also asked Prof. Eslava questions about cooperation mechanisms among countries in the Global South and the role of regional customs in the development of the Global South.