Assuming the history of international law as history that looks to historical processes as spatial processes, my article aims to stress the role played by cities within the Western Imperialistic project. Firstly, I focus on the foundation of cities in the Spanish America of the sixteenth century, then I compare the urban policy of the Spanish imperialistic project with the British one during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, pointing out the emersion of a model of colonial city. Finally I analyze the concept of autonomy from a colonial perspective and underline its importance as a legal category able to classify hybrid entities, cities, territories or ‘fragments of State’ that do not comply with the requirements of statehood, and which do not have full sovereignty or independence.
Cities and International Law: an Imperial Perspective
luigi nuzzo
2021-01-01
Abstract
Assuming the history of international law as history that looks to historical processes as spatial processes, my article aims to stress the role played by cities within the Western Imperialistic project. Firstly, I focus on the foundation of cities in the Spanish America of the sixteenth century, then I compare the urban policy of the Spanish imperialistic project with the British one during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, pointing out the emersion of a model of colonial city. Finally I analyze the concept of autonomy from a colonial perspective and underline its importance as a legal category able to classify hybrid entities, cities, territories or ‘fragments of State’ that do not comply with the requirements of statehood, and which do not have full sovereignty or independence.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
