Sociological Analysis of International Law and the Cognitive Turn

Cognitive-behavioural studies influence the sociological approach to international law in many ways. This chapter highlights four major implications of these studies: (i) cognitive studies show that social groups guide not only individuals’ behaviour but also their mental process through which individuals perceive and comprehend their environment; (ii) cognitive-behavioural studies turn the spotlight to the unconscious layer of social influence and indicate that socio-cognitive patterns often become a blind spot; (iii) new cognitive-sociological literature is significantly influenced by Bourdieu’s critical scholarship, thus gravitating towards a critical analysis of international law; and (iv) cultural-cognitive writings tend to underline legal pluralist features in international legal theory, and project an image of the international legal community as profoundly fragmented along socio-cognitive lines.