New Books Network Lys Kulamadayil, "Pathology of Plenty: Natural Resources in International Law" (Bloomsbury 2025)
Feb 13, 2026
Lys Kulamadayil, scholar of international law and natural resources, examines how legal rules shape the exploitation of resource-rich, post-colonial states. She discusses colonial continuities from Congo, crisis discourse, doctrines like effective control and usufruct, global financial enablers of grand theft, limits of carceral responses, and calls for intersectoral, anti-carceral alternatives such as earth law and posthuman feminism.
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International Law Can Be Part Of The Problem
- Kulamadayil noticed a gap: resource curse literature lacked a critical international law perspective.
- She argues international law often contributes to, not only remedies, resource-related harms.
Fieldwork Origins: Katanga Vignette
- Lys Kulamadayil opens with a Congo vignette inspired by her 2016–2017 fieldwork in Katanga.
- She uses colonial continuities to show present inequalities stem from historically created power structures.
Reject Crisis Talk About The Discipline
- 'International law is not in crisis' but much of the world and the planet are in enduring crisis.
- Crisis-talk about the discipline misdirects attention from systemic planetary and social emergencies.
