HLGC Research Seminar - Towards a Mesoamerican Law of Nations?

HLGC is delighted to be joined by Dr Javier Eskauriatza, School of Law, University of Nottingham, who will present his research paper on 'Towards a Mesoamerican Law of Nations?'.

Abstract: 

Tlamelahuacachinaliztli. This is the Nahuatl word for ‘justice’. It means ‘to straighten that which is crooked’.  This ancient Mesoamerican language inspires this ambitious interdisciplinary project which challenges ‘crooked’ narratives about the great Mesoamerican civilisations and the origins of the law of nations in the Americas. The first act of justice is the act of taking an interest and paying close attention. Historians of the law of nations have studied the other ‘cradles of civilisation’ (the Near East, Greece/Rome, China, and India) but Mesoamerica has been overlooked. The second act is the revelation and revision of several ‘conquest myths’, produced by Hernán Cortés and re-told a thousand times. These European myths have, in turn, inspired Mexican myths which have tended to garble ideas about how Mesoamerican city-states interacted. The touchstones of the law of nations: cooperation and colonization, exploitation and trade, war and peace – these all pre-date the Spanish arrival. The third act of justice is the act of rebuilding: bringing together the work of archaeologists, anthropologists, legal historians, and international lawyers into greater harmony (kuikatlamatilistli) to trace the path towards a Mesoamerican law of nations.

All welcome to attend.