13 February 2026
Reflexive Law as Anti-Colonial Practice
The adoption of the discourse of decoloniality by the Hindu right in India, as well as by other ethnonationalist governments around the world, points to the problem that any decolonial project faces: Who is to define which normative alternatives we should appeal to when seeking to rid concepts and institutions of their colonial legacies? This brings us to the underlying question: What is the purpose of reflecting on colonial legacies in law? Continue reading >>
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12 February 2026
Towards an Endogenous African Constitutionalism
African constitutionalism stands at a pivotal moment in its evolution. After more than six decades of independence for most African countries, it has become imperative to examine the nature, foundations, legitimacy, and institutional architecture of the constitutional systems governing the countries making up the continent. Drawing on our different fields of research, we propose to explore pathways towards a truly endogenous constitutionalism, rooted in Africa’s socio-political, cultural, economic, and historical realities. Continue reading >>
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11 February 2026
International Law and the Imperial Ordering of the International
International law is an ordering language. It is predicated upon an imperial, western-centric, and hierarchical structure. It is a language of domination, of exclusion, of differentiated inclusion, but also of promise. The language of international law, which the Global South uses and appeals to, does not simply hold the promise of rectification; it also reproduces the problems it is supposed to help solve. This short reflection addresses such contradictions and how reflexivity in international law could help mitigate them. Continue reading >>
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10 February 2026
Who Decides, Who Pays, Who is Sacrificed
The energy transition has become a central normative axis of global climate action. However, the acceleration of renewable energy, frequently presented as inherently positive, is not politically neutral. On the contrary, it unfolds asymmetrically across territories marked by deep historical power imbalances, particularly in the Global South. This article puts forward the proposition that a truly reflexive energy transition necessarily requires not only recognising harms and measuring impacts but also dismantling entrenched forms of control, authority, and epistemic hierarchy within the governance of the transition itself. Continue reading >>
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06 February 2026
The Code Noir as an Archive of Resistance
What does it mean to examine political modernity from below, specifically from the position of the enslaved person – not as a metaphor or a footnote, but as a lens for analyzing foundational political and legal concepts? I argue that foregrounding the position of the enslaved provides a productive point of departure for understanding how colonial and racial epistemologies, imaginaries, and institutions have shaped core Western concepts, such as democracy and the rule of law. Continue reading >>
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01 August 2025
A State Without Statehood
One year after New Caledonia was tormented by violent demonstrations, resulting in the deaths of 14 people and causing over 2 billion euros worth of damage, representatives of New Caledonia and the French State signed the Bougival Accord to bring an end to the situation and pave the way for peace. While Emmanuel Macron hails the Accord as “historic”, the overseas minister Manuel Valls celebrates it as “the best response to the fear”. However, a closer look at the agreement reveals that the Accord continues to entrench the French hold on the island and renders New Caledonian independence more elusive than ever. Continue reading >>
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06 June 2025
“For the Sole Reason of Being Born Mixed-Race”
Where there is a will, there is a way. This phrase could sum up the logic behind the recent judgment of the Brussels Court of Appeal which condemned the Belgian government to compensate for the damage resulting from the abduction and racial segregation of children of white fathers and Black mothers during its colonisation of the Congo. The judgment sets a historic precedent: it is the first time that a domestic Court has ordered the government to pay financial compensation for acts that could have had amounted to crimes against humanity during its colonial past. Continue reading >>
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25 April 2025
The (TikTok) Ban Is Dead, Long Live the Ban
In 2024, amidst social unrest, the French government banned TikTok in Kanaky-New Caledonia. In April 2025, the Council of State reviewed the ban. This post examines the implications of the judgment through the lens of the legal doctrine on emergency powers – particularly its impact on the separation of powers – and situates it within the broader context of Kanaky-New Caledonia’s ongoing decolonization process from France. Continue reading >>
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02 April 2024
Colonialism, Criminal Law, and the Dustbin of History
In a ruling that is important beyond Kenya, the Kenyan High Court has delivered a milestone judgment. By striking down a provision of the Kenyan Criminal Code on subversion, the Court takes a significant step towards further doing away with the colonial legacy in the Kenyan legal system. The judgment exemplifies how judges in postcolonial contexts interpret the law against the backdrop of the country’s history. Continue reading >>
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05 April 2023
Humanizing Warfare as a Project of Power Politics and Colonial Exclusion
The myth of the Geneva Conventions as a liberal, inclusive project has been thoroughly deconstructed. Two recent books, Boyd van Dijk's "Preparing for War. The Making of the Geneva Conventions" and Hugo Slim's "Solferino 21. Warfare, Civilians and Humanitarians in the Twenty-First Century" delve into the history of the humanitarian project and shed light on its imperial and postcolonial contexts. A review essay. Continue reading >>
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