ANU Law researchers and educators have received funding for a research project that aims to reimagine the modern law curriculum with an emphasis on inclusion and diversity.
Associate Professor Ntina Tzouvala
Associate Professor
ANU College of Law, Bld 6, Fellows Rd, Acton ACT 2600
ANU College of Law, 5 Fellows Rd, Acton ACT 2600
Research Themes
Research Centre
Biography
Ntina joined the ANU College of Law as a Senior Lecturer in July 2020 and was promoted to Associate Professor in January 2022. Prior to this appointment she was an ARC Laureate Postdoctoral Fellow at Melbourne Law School. She obtained her PhD from Durham Law School (UK) in 2016 and she also worked as a lecturer at the same institution.
Her work focuses on the political economy, history and theory of international law. She is especially interested in historical materialism, deconstruction, feminist and queer legal theory. Her first monograph, Capitalism as Civilisation: A History of International Law, was published by Cambridge University Press in late 2020. Her book was awarded the 2022 ASIL Certificate of Merit for a preeminent contribution to creative scholarship and the Australian Legal Research Award (ALRA) in the book category. In addition, it was shortlisted for the Deutscher Prize and was awarded a honourable mention in the context of the 2021 Sussex Prize in International Theory. Her work has also appeared in leading journals, including the European Journal of International Law, the Leiden Journal of International Law and the Journal of International Economic Law.
Between 2019 and 2021 Ntina was a founding member of the editorial collective of the Third World Approaches to International Law Review. In early 2020, she was appointed Senior Advisor to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food.
Appointments
- LLM Director (November 2021-November 2023)
- Deputy HDR Director (February 2021-July 2021)
Significant research publications
- Ntina Tzouvala, Capitalism as Civilisation: A History of International Law (Cambrdige UP, 2020).
- Ntina Tzouvala et al (eds), Revolutions in International Law: the Legacies of 1917 (Cambridge UP, 2021).
- Ntina Tzouvala, 'The Specter of Eurocentrism in International Legal History' (2021) 31(2) Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities 413-434.
- Ntina Tzouvala, Katherine Fallah, '‘Deploying Race in the Defence of “Humanity”: The 2011 Intervention in Libya and “African Mercenaries”’ 67 (6)UCLA Law Review 1580-1609.
- Ntina Tzouvala, 'A False Promise? ‘A False Promise? Regulating Land-grabbing and the Postcolonial State’ (2019) 32(2) Leiden Journal of International Law 235-253.
- Ntina Tzouvala, '‘These Ancient Arenas of Racial Struggles”: International Law and the Balkans (1878-1949)’ (2018) 29(4) European Journal of International Law 1149–1171.
Recent news
12
Nov
2020
Five ANU Law scholars have been shortlisted in the ALRAs for their excellence and innovation in the discipline of Law.
14
Jul
2020
Dr Ntina Tzouvala is a senior lecturer at ANU College of Law.
In the Media
21
Jul
2022
Ntina Tzouvala speaks to Lipman-Miliband Trust
26
Oct
2020
Ntina Tzouvala writes in AfronomicsLaw
19
Aug
2020
Ntina Tzouvala
17
Jul
2020
Ntina Tzouvala writes in The Conversation
Past events
26
Sep
2022
5.30PM to 7.00PM Panel discussion
Join the ANU College of Law for the Demystifying Law Careers series as we focus on exploring careers in international and comparative law.
05
May
2022
5.00PM to 7.00PM Hybrid (in-person and online)
- Judge Hilary Charlesworth
- Professor Anthea Roberts
- Dr Ntina Tzouvala
Join Judge Hilary Charlesworth, Professor Anthea Roberts and Dr Ntina Tzouvala for this event on creative legal scholarship.
05
Mar
-
11
Aug
2021
12.00PM to 1.00PM Virtual Seminar Series
This virtual webinar series is hosted by the Centre for International and Public Law (CIPL) at the ANU College of Law.
04
Mar
2021
5.00PM to 7.00PM Book launch
- Dr Will Bateman
- Dr Ntina Tzouvala
Join us to help celebrate the recent works of Dr Will Bateman and Dr Ntina Tzouvala for the first CIPL Book Launch event of 2021.
Research biography
My research focuses on the history and theory of international law with a particular emphasis on political economy, race/ism and imperialism.
Research projects & collaborations
Currently, I am working on two major projects in the intersection of international law, race/ism and political economy. The first, with Prof. James Gathii (Loyola Law), explores the links between international economic law and racial capitalism and will be published as a special issue by the Journal of International Economic Law in 2022. The second, with Dr Robert Knox (Liverpool Law), focuses on the intersections between international law, political economy and race/ism in the 21st century.
In addition, I am working on an edited volume on anti-racist legal pedagogy along with Dr Foluke Adebisi (Bristol Law) and Dr Suhrayia Jivraj.
Grants
Jan 2020: Modern Law Review Seminar Funding (£ 4,369) Project Title: ‘‘Between Race and Capitalism: Understanding 21st Century International Law’ (along with Dr Robert Knox-funding extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
Dec 2019: Small Events Grants of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law ($2,250). Project title: ‘Between Race and Capitalism: Understanding 21st Century International Law’
Nov 2019: Melbourne Law School Research Excellence Grant ($10,000) Project Title: ‘Between Race and Capitalism: Understanding 21st Century International Law’
May 2017: Melbourne Law School International Collaboration Fund ($10,000) Project title: ‘1917: Revolution, Intervention and International Law(s).
Consultancies
Since March 2021, I act as Senior Legal Advisor to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Prof. Michael Fakhri.
Books & edited collections
Tzouvala N, Capitalism as Civilisation: A History of International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2020).
Greenman K, Orford A., Saunders A., Tzouvala N., (eds.), Revolutions in International Law: The Legacies of 1917(Cambridge University Press, 2021).
Margolies D.S., Özsu U., Pal M., Tzouvala N. (eds.), The Extraterritoriality of Law: History, Theory, Politics (Routledge, 2019).
Refereed journal articles
'Invested in Whiteness: Zimbabwe, the von Pezold Arbitration, and the Question of Race in International Law' (2022) 2(2) Journal of Law and Political Economy 226-251.
'International Law and (the Critique of) Political Economy' (2022) 121(2) South Atlantic Quarterly 297-320.
‘Deploying Race in the Defence of “Humanity”: The 2011 Intervention in Libya and “African Mercenaries”’ (2021) 67 (6)UCLA Law Review 1580-1609 with Fallah K (50% contribution).
‘The Specter of Eurocentrism in International Legal History’ (2021) 31(2) Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities 413-434.
‘The Ordoliberal Origins of Modern International Economic Law: Constructing Competition on a Global Scale’ (2020) European Yearbook of International Economic Law 37-55.
‘A False Promise? Regulating Land-grabbing and the Postcolonial State’ (2019) 32(2) Leiden Journal of International Law 235-253.
‘“These Ancient Arenas of Racial Struggles”: International Law and the Balkans (1878-1949)’ (2018) 29(4) European Journal of International Law 1149–1171.
‘The Academic Debate about Mega-regionals and International Lawyers: Legalism as Critique?’ (2018) 6(2) London Review of International Law 189-209.
‘The Political Economy of International Transitional Administration: Regulating Food and Farming in Kosovo and Iraq’ (2018) 24(5) Contemporary Politics 588-606 with Grasten M (50% contribution).
‘TTIP: The Rise of Regional Trade Agreements and their Potential Implications for the Global South’ (2017) 8(2) Trade, Law and Development 30-65 with O’Donoghue A (50% contribution).
‘Food for the Global Market: The Neoliberal Reconstruction of Agriculture in Occupied Iraq (2003-2004) and the Role of International Law’ (2017)17(1) Global Jurist 1-27.
'The Holy See and Children’s Rights: International Human Rights Law and Its Ghosts’ (2015) 84 Nordic Journal of International Law 59-88.
Book chapters
‘Looking Eastwards: The Bolshevik Theory of Imperialism and International Law’ in Greenman K, Orford A., Saunders A., Tzouvala N., (eds.), Revolutions in International Law: The Legacies of 1917(Cambridge University Press, 2021) with Knox, R.
‘ “And the Laws are Rude, are Crude and Uncertain”: Extraterritoriality and the Emergence of Territorialised Statehood in Siam’ in Margolies D.S., Özsu U., Pal M., Tzouvala N. (eds.), The Extraterritoriality of Law: History, Theory, Politics (Routledge, 2019).
‘The Future of Feminist International Legal Scholarship in a Neoliberal University: Doing Law Differently?’ in Harris-Rimmer S., Ogg K. (eds.), The Future of Feminist Engagement with International Law (Edward Elgar, 2019).
‘Civilisation’ in Singh S., d’ Aspremont J. (eds.), Fundamental Concepts for In- ternational Law: The Construction of a Discipline (Edward Elgar, 2019).
‘Neoliberalism as Legalism: International Economic Law and the Rise of the Judiciary’ in Golder B., McLoughlin D., (eds.), The Politics of Neoliberal Legality (Routledge, 2017).
Conference papers & presentations
June 2021: ‘The Specter of Eurocentrism in International Legal History’ Department of Sociology and Legal Studies, University of Waterloo (invited seminar presentation-inaugural seminar).
June 2021: ‘The Specter of Eurocentrism in International Legal History’ Leiden Hub for the History and Theory of International Law. (invited seminar presentation).
May 2021: ‘Humanitarian Interventions, Capitalism, and International Law’ European University Institute (invited seminar presentation).
April 2021 ‘New Histories of Capitalism and International Law’ Weatherhead Center in Global History and the Graduate Institute (invited panelist).
20 January 2021: ‘Political Economy’ Lecture and Workshop series: Method, methodology and critique in international law, Asser Institute (invited panelist).
July 2019: ANZSIL President’s Panel 27th Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law Annual Conference, Canberra (invited panelist)
June 2019: ‘Law, Race and Capitalism on Trial? The South West Africa Saga’ Birmingham Law School, UK (invited seminar presentation).
October 2017: ‘The Future of Feminist International Legal Scholarship in a Neoliberal University: Doing Law Differently?’ Australian National University College of Law (invited seminar presentation).
Commissioned reports
Government submissions
‘Submission to the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Review of Australia's Bilateral Investment Treaties’ with Greenman, K.
‘Submission to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, Annual Business and Human Rights Forum 2018’ with Davitti, D., Greenman, K.
Australian Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee: Proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement, ‘The Implications of TPP for Developing States’ with O’Donoghue, A.
Joint Select Committee on Human Rights: inquiry into the UK Government's policy on the use of drones for targeted killing, ‘Self-Defence as a Justification for UAV Strikes Overseas: The Legality of the Use of Force in Response to Terrorist Threats’ with Sparks, T.
Commons Select Committee: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, ‘Potential Impact upon Developing States’ with O’Donoghue A.
Committees
External Organisations
- ANZSIL Conference 2022 Organising Commitee
- ANZSIL History and Theory Interest Group Co-convener.
- Editorial board of the Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly and the Human Rights Law Review.
Internal ANU Committees
- ANU College of Law Education Committee (July 2021-Ongoing)
- ANU College of Law Research Committee (July 2020-July 2021)
Case notes & book reviews
‘Capitalism as Civilisation, or How to Respond to your Book Reviews when the Author is Dead’ (2021) 13(1) European Journal of Legal Studies 137-153.
‘Settler Colonialism, Race, and the Law: Why Structural Racism Persists by Natsu Taylor Saito’ Melbourne Journal of International Law (forthcoming 2021).
Christopher A. Casey, Nationals Abroad: Globalization, Individual Rights, and the Making of Modern International Law’ (2021) 81(1) Heidelberg Journal of International Law 271-276.
‘Alvaro Santos, Chantal Thomas, David Trubek (eds.), World Trade and Investment Reimagined’ (2020) 31(3) European Journal of International Law 1166-1170.
‘Markus Gunneflo, Targeted Killing: A Legal and Political History’ 22(3) Journal of Conflict and Security Law 559-563.
‘New Approaches to International Law: The History of a Project’ 27(1) European Journal of International Law 213-233.
Other
‘Contingency in the History of International Law?’ (Voelkerrechtsblog, 15 June 2021), available at: https://voelkerrechtsblog.org/contingency-in-the-history-of-internationa....
‘On Legal Sublimations: The Corporation in International Law’ (The New Rambler, 5 March 2021), available at: https://newramblerreview.com/book-reviews/law/on-legal-sublimations-the-....
International Law and Decolonisation in Africa: 60 Years Later’ (Afronomicslaw, 26 October 2020), available at: https://www.afronomicslaw.org/2020/10/26/international-law-and-decolonis....
‘International Law and the Right to Food: What We Can Learn from Racial Justice Movements’ (EJIL:Talk! 19 August 2020), available at: https://www.ejiltalk.org/international-law-and-the-right-to-food-what-we... with Fakhri, M.
‘To Reduce World Hunger, Governments Need to Think beyond Making Food Cheap’ (The Conversation, 18 July 2020), available at: https://theconversation.com/to-reduce-world-hunger-governments-need-to-t....
‘Reading Chimni’s International Law and World Order: The Question of Feminism’ (EJIL: Talk!, 28 December 2017), available at: https://www.ejiltalk.org/author/ntinatzouvala/
’Macron & Africa’s “Civilisational” Problem’ (Critical Legal Thinking, 14 July 2017), available at: http://criticallegalthinking.com/2017/07/14/macron-africas-civilisationa... (Translated in Italian and published on the cultural criticism blog Il Lavoro Culturale: https://www.lavoroculturale.org/macron-civilizzazione-africa/)
PhD supervision
I am willing to supervise in the areas:
- History and Theory of International Law
- International Law and Political Economy (esp. re the Global South)
- Legal Theory (including critical legal, critical race, feminist and queer theory)
- Law and Development
SJD supervision
I am willing to supervise in the areas:
- History and Theory of International Law
- International Law and Political Economy (esp. re the Global South)
- Legal Theory (including critical legal, critical race, feminist and queer theory)
- Law and Development
I have previously supervised:
MPhil supervision
I am willing to supervise in the areas:
- History and Theory of International Law
- International Law and Political Economy (esp. re the Global South)
- Legal Theory (including critical legal, critical race, feminist and queer theory)
- Law and Development
LLM Masters thesis supervision
I am willing to supervise in the areas:
- History and Theory of International Law
- International Law and Political Economy (esp. re the Global South)
- Legal Theory (including critical legal, critical race, feminist and queer theory)
- Law and Development
I have previously supervised:
Honours thesis supervision
I am willing to supervise in the areas:
- History and Theory of International Law
- International Law and Political Economy (esp. re the Global South)
- Legal Theory (including critical legal, critical race, feminist and queer theory)
- Law and Development
I have previously supervised:
Internship supervision
I am willing to supervise in the areas:
I have previously supervised:
Current courses
| Year | Course code | Course name |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 |
LAWS8183 Class #3546 |
Advanced Principles of International Law |
Previous courses
| Year | Course code | Course name |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 |
LAWS8329 Class #4646 |
Gender, Law and Development |
| 2021 |
LAWS8148 Class #6568 |
Special Topics in Law: Contagious diseases and International law |
| 2021 |
LAWS8182 Class #6567 |
Principles of International Law |
Philosophy & approach
My teaching is based on the idea that only solid theorising can help us truly understand legal doctrine, but also that attention to the details, the 'boring' bits of the law is the best way into the law's 'secrets'. I try to run an inclusive classroom and to teach a wide range of materials both in terms of opinion and in terms of identities that have so far been marginalised in the study of the law.
In 2021, I was awarded the ANU Award for Teaching Excellence for my teaching into two post-graduate courses, Principles of International Law and Gender, Law and Development.
Past courses
- Foundations of Australian Law (Sem 1, 2021)
- Gender, Law and Development (Sem 2, 2020)
- International Law (Sem 2, 2020)
