Der Nomos des Kapitals

The Nomos of the Earth (Der Nomos der Erde) ranks among the less prominent works of Schmitt. Interpretations so far have commonly highlighted two analytical perspectives of the text: Schmitt's insistence on the spatial dimension of international law which leads him to argue that the emergence of European public international law in the 15th and 16th century was conceptually linked to the colonization of America. Alternatively, commentators have interpreted the text as a sharp realist critique of the universalist claims of international law. This contribution suggests that the text features an additional analytical perspective. Scattered through the text, Schmitt analyses public international law in terms of its political economy. With the help of this perspective, he explains the development of international law in the latter half of the 19th century as the juridical form of economic globalization. The contribution then uncovers an unnamed source of the text. The work of Georg Jellinek serves as a primary target of Schmitt's critique, without ever being cited. Jellinek's early writings offer a very different reading of the political economy of 19th century public international law in the age of economic and financial globalization.