A Brazilian Universalist: Manuel Alvaro de Souza Sá Vianna and international law in Brazil in the early twentieth century

Abstract

The purpose of this contribution is to shed light on Sá Vianna’s universalist approach to international law, considering his theoretical perspective and trajectory as a jurist in Brazil. Without seeking to exhaust all the nuances of his thinking in this article, we will explore his academic trajectory and the ways in which Sá Vianna analyzed issues related to the universal character of international law. Despite the impact of Sá Vianna’s ideas on the work of Brazilian, Latin American, and even European and US jurists in the early years of the twentieth century, Sá Vianna’s marked universalist perspective, as opposed to Álvarez’s regionalism, seems to have been forgotten. However, a detailed analysis of Sá Vianna’s thinking constitutes a fundamental step in mapping the contours of a Brazilian approach to international law.

Keywords

• Sá Vianna
• Latin American International Law
• regionalism
• history of international law