Surabhi Ranganathan
Biographic Data
| ID | 3606164 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Surabhi Ranganathan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Surabhi |
| FAMILY NAME | Ranganathan |
| SIGNATURE | RANGANATHAN S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Cambridge |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 40 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
The Cambridge History of International Law
Volume II of The Cambridge History of International Law breaks the mould of Eurocentric histories in the field by exploring international law in Asia from antiquity to decolonisation. Its twenty-six chapters span a vast geography, covering both the landmass and the oceans; offering accounts of statecraft and diplomacy, war and trade; marriage and gift-giving; treaty-making and dispute settlement; ideas of the human and 'the other'; and entangleme…
Addressing issues and concerns raised by the publication of the ‘Gaza Marine article’
Political Models for Developing the Gaza Marine Gas Field' (the 'Gaza Marine article').We accept that much of the criticism is valid, and necessary, especially in light of the horrific, dehumanizing violence in Gaza.Even as we write this editorial, the World Health Organization is reporting that two million people are starving in Gaza. 1 This follows the relentless Israeli attack that had already, by January 2024, killed an estimated 25,700 Pales…
Going Open Access
The seabed and the South
Centring the career of Cameroonian diplomat Paul Bamela Engo during the negotiation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, this article makes a methodological intervention in the historiography of multilateral treaty-making. It reads through and against the grain of dominant narratives of oceanic constitution-making, and offers counter-narratives that serve as conceptual and mobilizational resources in contemporary struggles. It examines how…
The Participatory Scope of the Common Heritage Principle
I have been asked by the symposium editors to write about the participatory scope of the concept of common heritage of humankind for Indigenous peoples, local communities, and future generations. Leaning into the possibilities of the Unbound format, I approach the topic in an athwart way. With a focus on seabed mining, I begin with describing a recent occasion on which Indigenous leaders joined a meeting of the International Seabed Authority (ISA…
The “English School” of International Law
As part of the Cambridge Law Journal's centenary celebrations, this article reads two essays from the journal's 50 th anniversary issue. The essays, by Cambridge professors Robert Jennings and Derek Bowett offer resources for the history of international law and its historiography. They shine a light on key debates on the law of the sea at a crucial moment of its development. A close reading of these essays also reveals starting points for new sc…
Decolonization and International Law
From the middle of the twentieth century onwards, the order of the ocean has changed as remarkably as that of land. Yet, developments in the law of the sea usually receive less prominent consideration in international or global histories of this period. In this short essay, I examine firstly the ways in which literatures in history and international law engage, or not, with the ordering of the ocean during, and due to, decolonization. Secondly, I…
Ocean Floor Grab
In this article, I argue for a critical recognition of the law of the sea, as it developed from the post-war period, as fostering a ‘grab’ of the ocean floor via national jurisdiction and international administration. I discuss why we should view what might be discussed otherwise as an ‘enclosure’ or ‘incorporation’ of the ocean floor within the state system as its grab. I then trace the grounds on which the ocean was brought within national and …
International Law and Economic Exploitation in the Global Commons
In search of alternative political economies – less exploitative, less ecologically destructive – scholars and activists have turned to the commons and to commoning in recent years. For international lawyers, the term commons brings to mind the domains designated as ‘global commons’ and, among them, the oceans and outer space. Yet current initiatives that seek to harness the economic potential of the oceans in the name of ‘blue growth’, projects …
Seasteads, land-grabs and international law
In 2008, Patri Friedman, the Google-based grandson of Milton Friedman, came together with Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist who founded PayPal, the data analytics company Palantir Technologies, and made early investments in Facebook and several other start-ups, to found 'The Seasteading Institute' (TSI)
Nuclear Weapons and the Court
Although caution must be exercised in attributing a policy to the International Court of Justice, it is difficult not to see the Marshall Islands judgments as part of a longer trend of the Court using formalistic reasoning to decline cases concerning nuclear weapons
Global Commons
‘The tragedy of the commons’ and ‘the common heritage of mankind’ are concepts that dominate the legal discourse on governing global commons, including spaces beyond national jurisdictions, essential resources and concerns such as biodiversity conservation and climate change. This article offers a critical account of their origins. It associates each with a prominent speech act of the late 1960s: Garrett Hardin introduced the former to a group of…
The 2015 Judicial Activity of the International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (Court or ICJ) delivered three judgments in 2015. The first, delivered on February 3, 2015, determines claims of genocide made by Croatia and Serbia against each other. The second, delivered on September 24, 2015, addresses Chile’s preliminary objection in a case brought against it by Bolivia, which asserted that Chile had violated its obligation to negotiate in good faith to secure Bolivia’s sovereign access to…
The Cambridge Companion to International Law
This intellectually rigorous introduction to international law encourages readers to engage with multiple aspects of the topic: as 'law' directing and shaping its subjects; as a technique for governing the world of states and beyond statehood; and as a framework within which several critical and constructivist projects are articulated. The articles situate international law in its historical and ideological context and examine core concepts such …
Ocean Floor Grab
In this article, I argue for a critical recognition of the law of the sea, as it developed from the post-war period, as fostering a ‘grab’ of the ocean floor via national jurisdiction and international administration. I discuss why we should view what might be discussed otherwise as an ‘enclosure’ or ‘incorporation’ of the ocean floor within the state system as its grab. I then trace the grounds on which the ocean was brought within national and …
Global Commons
‘The tragedy of the commons’ and ‘the common heritage of mankind’ are concepts that dominate the legal discourse on governing global commons, including spaces beyond national jurisdictions, essential resources and concerns such as biodiversity conservation and climate change. This article offers a critical account of their origins. It associates each with a prominent speech act of the late 1960s: Garrett Hardin introduced the former to a group of…
Decolonization and International Law
From the middle of the twentieth century onwards, the order of the ocean has changed as remarkably as that of land. Yet, developments in the law of the sea usually receive less prominent consideration in international or global histories of this period. In this short essay, I examine firstly the ways in which literatures in history and international law engage, or not, with the ordering of the ocean during, and due to, decolonization. Secondly, I…
The seabed and the South
Centring the career of Cameroonian diplomat Paul Bamela Engo during the negotiation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, this article makes a methodological intervention in the historiography of multilateral treaty-making. It reads through and against the grain of dominant narratives of oceanic constitution-making, and offers counter-narratives that serve as conceptual and mobilizational resources in contemporary struggles. It examines how…
International Law and Economic Exploitation in the Global Commons
In search of alternative political economies – less exploitative, less ecologically destructive – scholars and activists have turned to the commons and to commoning in recent years. For international lawyers, the term commons brings to mind the domains designated as ‘global commons’ and, among them, the oceans and outer space. Yet current initiatives that seek to harness the economic potential of the oceans in the name of ‘blue growth’, projects …
Seasteads, land-grabs and international law
In 2008, Patri Friedman, the Google-based grandson of Milton Friedman, came together with Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist who founded PayPal, the data analytics company Palantir Technologies, and made early investments in Facebook and several other start-ups, to found 'The Seasteading Institute' (TSI)
The Participatory Scope of the Common Heritage Principle
I have been asked by the symposium editors to write about the participatory scope of the concept of common heritage of humankind for Indigenous peoples, local communities, and future generations. Leaning into the possibilities of the Unbound format, I approach the topic in an athwart way. With a focus on seabed mining, I begin with describing a recent occasion on which Indigenous leaders joined a meeting of the International Seabed Authority (ISA…
The 2015 Judicial Activity of the International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (Court or ICJ) delivered three judgments in 2015. The first, delivered on February 3, 2015, determines claims of genocide made by Croatia and Serbia against each other. The second, delivered on September 24, 2015, addresses Chile’s preliminary objection in a case brought against it by Bolivia, which asserted that Chile had violated its obligation to negotiate in good faith to secure Bolivia’s sovereign access to…
The Cambridge Companion to International Law
This intellectually rigorous introduction to international law encourages readers to engage with multiple aspects of the topic: as 'law' directing and shaping its subjects; as a technique for governing the world of states and beyond statehood; and as a framework within which several critical and constructivist projects are articulated. The articles situate international law in its historical and ideological context and examine core concepts such …
Global Commons
‘The tragedy of the commons’ and ‘the common heritage of mankind’ are concepts that dominate the legal discourse on governing global commons, including spaces beyond national jurisdictions, essential resources and concerns such as biodiversity conservation and climate change. This article offers a critical account of their origins. It associates each with a prominent speech act of the late 1960s: Garrett Hardin introduced the former to a group of…
The 2015 Judicial Activity of the International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (Court or ICJ) delivered three judgments in 2015. The first, delivered on February 3, 2015, determines claims of genocide made by Croatia and Serbia against each other. The second, delivered on September 24, 2015, addresses Chile’s preliminary objection in a case brought against it by Bolivia, which asserted that Chile had violated its obligation to negotiate in good faith to secure Bolivia’s sovereign access to…
Nuclear Weapons and the Court
Although caution must be exercised in attributing a policy to the International Court of Justice, it is difficult not to see the Marshall Islands judgments as part of a longer trend of the Court using formalistic reasoning to decline cases concerning nuclear weapons
Ocean Floor Grab
In this article, I argue for a critical recognition of the law of the sea, as it developed from the post-war period, as fostering a ‘grab’ of the ocean floor via national jurisdiction and international administration. I discuss why we should view what might be discussed otherwise as an ‘enclosure’ or ‘incorporation’ of the ocean floor within the state system as its grab. I then trace the grounds on which the ocean was brought within national and …
International Law and Economic Exploitation in the Global Commons
In search of alternative political economies – less exploitative, less ecologically destructive – scholars and activists have turned to the commons and to commoning in recent years. For international lawyers, the term commons brings to mind the domains designated as ‘global commons’ and, among them, the oceans and outer space. Yet current initiatives that seek to harness the economic potential of the oceans in the name of ‘blue growth’, projects …
Seasteads, land-grabs and international law
In 2008, Patri Friedman, the Google-based grandson of Milton Friedman, came together with Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist who founded PayPal, the data analytics company Palantir Technologies, and made early investments in Facebook and several other start-ups, to found 'The Seasteading Institute' (TSI)
Decolonization and International Law
From the middle of the twentieth century onwards, the order of the ocean has changed as remarkably as that of land. Yet, developments in the law of the sea usually receive less prominent consideration in international or global histories of this period. In this short essay, I examine firstly the ways in which literatures in history and international law engage, or not, with the ordering of the ocean during, and due to, decolonization. Secondly, I…
The “English School” of International Law
As part of the Cambridge Law Journal's centenary celebrations, this article reads two essays from the journal's 50 th anniversary issue. The essays, by Cambridge professors Robert Jennings and Derek Bowett offer resources for the history of international law and its historiography. They shine a light on key debates on the law of the sea at a crucial moment of its development. A close reading of these essays also reveals starting points for new sc…
The seabed and the South
Centring the career of Cameroonian diplomat Paul Bamela Engo during the negotiation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, this article makes a methodological intervention in the historiography of multilateral treaty-making. It reads through and against the grain of dominant narratives of oceanic constitution-making, and offers counter-narratives that serve as conceptual and mobilizational resources in contemporary struggles. It examines how…
The Participatory Scope of the Common Heritage Principle
I have been asked by the symposium editors to write about the participatory scope of the concept of common heritage of humankind for Indigenous peoples, local communities, and future generations. Leaning into the possibilities of the Unbound format, I approach the topic in an athwart way. With a focus on seabed mining, I begin with describing a recent occasion on which Indigenous leaders joined a meeting of the International Seabed Authority (ISA…
Addressing issues and concerns raised by the publication of the ‘Gaza Marine article’
Political Models for Developing the Gaza Marine Gas Field' (the 'Gaza Marine article').We accept that much of the criticism is valid, and necessary, especially in light of the horrific, dehumanizing violence in Gaza.Even as we write this editorial, the World Health Organization is reporting that two million people are starving in Gaza. 1 This follows the relentless Israeli attack that had already, by January 2024, killed an estimated 25,700 Pales…
Going Open Access
The Cambridge History of International Law
Volume II of The Cambridge History of International Law breaks the mould of Eurocentric histories in the field by exploring international law in Asia from antiquity to decolonisation. Its twenty-six chapters span a vast geography, covering both the landmass and the oceans; offering accounts of statecraft and diplomacy, war and trade; marriage and gift-giving; treaty-making and dispute settlement; ideas of the human and 'the other'; and entangleme…
Political science (13 works) · Law (10 works) · International Maritime Law Issues (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · International law (8 works) · Law (8 works) · International Law and Human Rights (7 works) · Politics (7 works) · Philosophy (4 works) · Public international law (4 works)