The edited volume consists of different sections, in which the concept of authority in international law, and how it is used as a device of legitimation and contestation, will be addressed. We hope to do so in three parts:

• A first, theoretical section on reflections on how authority claims contribute to the shaping of the legal form itself (and why this may be problematic);

• a second part, on what we term ‘systemic agents’, or to situate individual actors and institutions which exercise normative force and play a key role in the development and projection of international law;

• finally, a third part in which authority will be studied in relation to the discursive patterns of international law, especially in relation to certain specialised topics in the field, but also in relation to political projects.