arbiter
JournalsAccount

If the World Is Not a Family, What on Earth Is It? Afterword to the Foreword by Susan Marks

Barney Afako

European Journal of International Law2025https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chaf064article
ABDC A
Weight
0.50

Abstract

While Susan Marks’ trenchant critique of the family metaphor in international law in her EJIL Foreword will resonate with many readers, her repudiation will fail to persuade those whose experience of the family is not entirely bleak. Drawing from the African continent, where ideas of family anchor social cohesion and diverse public policies, and from the global climate debate, where intergenerational discourses are increasingly receiving formal legal recognition, I illustrate that the family is very much alive, if not always doing well. Rumours of its demise and obsolescence will remain unfounded as long as the family continues to inspire personal, social and global goods.

Open via your library →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chaf064

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{barney2025,
  title        = {{If the World Is Not a Family, What on Earth Is It? Afterword to the Foreword by Susan Marks}},
  author       = {Barney Afako},
  journal      = {European Journal of International Law},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chaf064},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

If the World Is Not a Family, What on Earth Is It? Afterword to the Foreword by Susan Marks

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.