Book Review

Abstract

Complexity theory proposes that to understand how complex systems such as the economy, the brain or the law work, we should focus on analysing the interactions rather than the individual components of the system. Studying the relatively simple behaviour of individual ants is not sufficient for understanding how colonies can build nests and bridges or studying the activity of individual neurons is not sufficient to explain thoughts, feelings and other large-scale brain activities. Similarly, Professor Steven Wheatley invites us to understand the concept of human rights that emerges from the complex interactions of states and non-state actors in the international law (IL) system, not as a static idea of natural rights or a positive collection of rules but as a dynamic practice that changes over time. With that in mind, one of the most significant contributions of this book to the literature on IL and international human rights law (IHRL) is the use of complexity theory in the understanding of the IL system. In recent years, there has been a growing body of literature focused on conceptualising the law as a complex system. Initially developed by the work of J.B. Ruhl in the mid-1990s, legal scholars including Julian Webb, Jamie Murray, Daniel Katz, Mark Chinen, Anna Marie Brennan and Thomas Webb have explored the idea of complexity in different areas of law.1 Continuing that endeavour, this book addresses an existing gap by exploring the dynamics of the IL system as a complex whole.