Judicial Territory: Law, Capital, and the Expansion of American Empire

In Judicial Territory , Shaina Potts reveals how the American empire has benefited from the post-World War II expansion of United States judicial authority over the economic decisions of postcolonial governments. Introducing the term “judicial territory” to refer to the increasingly transnational space over which US courts wield authority, Potts argues that law is an essential tool for US geopolitical and economic interests. Through close examination of cases involving private US companies, on the one hand, and foreign state-owned enterprises, nationalizations, and sovereign debt, on the other, she shows that technical changes relating to the treatment of foreign sovereigns in domestic US law allowed the United States to extend its purview over global financial and economic relations, including many economic decisions of foreign governments. Throughout, Potts argues, US law has not become divorced from territoriality but instead actively remapped it; it has not merely responded to globalization, but actively produced it—making the whole world part of US economic space in the process. "In Judicial Territory, Shaina Potts draws on work across the social sciences to document and describe how a series of incremental changes in United States judicial authority has expanded and empowered US empire by enabling the court system to adjudicate disputes over larger and larger areas of territory. Law, Potts argues, cannot be omitted from conversations about capitalism and empire. Instead, she introduces the term "judicial territory" to describe how legal systems exercise authority over space and across geographic territory, and interrogates legal narratives and practice to demonstrate how post-World War II US domestic law creates and constitutes American power and global capitalism. Potts focuses on the development of US case law on finance, debt, foreign immunity, and right of state doctrine, setting these in relation to contemporary changes in US imperial formations. Through a series of recategorizations and redefinitions in cases involving private US-owned companies and foreign governments, US law expanded its purview over global finance to legislate transnational economic relations, including foreign governments' economic activities"-- Shaina Potts traces how the post-World War II expansion of United States judicial authority in the economies of foreign governments promotes the interests of the American empire abroad.This essay examins the transnational extension of US judicial authority over the economic decisions of foreign sovereign governments. The author argues that, since World War II, the extension of this judicial territory has been a significant but largely overlooked modality of American empire.In short, "whether anchored to New York or London or Singapore or Hong Kong, the practice of extending transnational law as a way to increase state power while retaining claims to international legitimacy shows no signs of flagging. The mundane operations of domestic law will continue to shape geopolitical economic struggles for a long time to come".The volume is accompanied by extensive documentation and an accurate bibliography.