Speaker: Yoriko Otomo

　　One of the questions asked by the Center for Philosophy's 'Secularization, Religion and the State' program is: "In order to realize the coexistence of humankind, what relationship should be established between the three elements?" While the Center is approaching this question of the tension between secularization and religion on a country-by-country basis, this paper examines it through the cross-cutting theme of international law.
　　Relying upon Julia Kristeva's critical account of revolt, this paper addresses the possibility or otherwise of a secular international law (or secular relations between sovereign states). The discussion unravels this question concurrently with the question of the possibility of a secular feminine within the psychoanalytic story.

Yoriko Otomo:
　　PhD candidate at the inter-disciplinary Institute for International Law and the Humanities ('IILAH'), School of Law, University of Melbourne (Australia). She is currently completing her doctoral thesis,
entitled: 'Decision-Making in International Law: Towards an Ethics of Occupation and Exchange'. Most recently Otomo has worked as a Research Fellow at IILAH and as a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics (UK).

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