Work

‘We, the peoples of the Earth’: ALBA, populism and the making of an alternative international law

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This article explores the populist approach to international law of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America (ALBA). Over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of scholarship depicting populist politics as hostile to international law. Yet, across the global South, there are examples of leaders promoting regional unity, creating multilateral alliances, and engaging with international law, all while advancing a populist discourse based around an idea of ‘the people’. We argue that ALBA is one such example. Focusing on its activities as a fluid coalition in international institutions between 2009 and 2019, we demonstrate how ALBA developed a unique technique of international legal engagement and contestation, based around claims to represent ‘the people’ (or ‘peoples’) of the earth. In this way, ALBA shows how the adoption of a populist register can provide an alternative way of both belonging to, and resisting, the international legal order.

Source: London Review of International Law

DOI: 10.1093/lril/lraf003

Authors: Claerwen O’Hara, Valeria Vázquez Guevara

Institutions: The University of Melbourne, University of Hong Kong

Language: English

Topic: International Relations in Latin America

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,535