Decolonizing Law? Methods, Tactics & Strategies
April 2 & 3, 2018
Art Gallery of Windsor
Colonialism, imperialism, and settler colonialism continue to affect the lives of people around the world. Law has played an active role in the dispossession and disenfranchisement of colonized people. Law and its various institutions are the means by which colonial, imperial, and settler colonial programs continue to be reinforced and sustained. Law has the potential to decolonize our respective communities and societies. There are recent and historical examples in which law has played asignificant role in dismantling colonial and imperial structures set up during the process of colonization. Nevertheless, law has not been successful in completing the decolonial processes.
Our conference will explore synergies and divergences relating to the meaning and scope of decolonization at the intersection of both Indigenous and Third World decolonial movements. We seek to transcend disciplinary boundaries and explore various conceptions of decolonization with scholars, writers, and activists working within and from the Global South and Indigenous communities. Questions organizing our gathering include: Is decolonization of law(s) possible? Is decolonization of law(s) warranted? How can we decolonize law(s)? What does the decolonization of law(s) look like? What type of law(s) ought to be decolonized? Who will decolonize law(s)? How have scholars and activists deployed the term decolonization in law (and society)? Can the array of movements of Indigenous Peoples and the peoples of the Global South working to decolonize, stand in solidarity with one another within the process of decolonization? What are the various methods, tactics and strategies in decolonizing law and the respective societies it governs?
Confirmed speakers include: Dr. John Borrows, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, Dr. Usha Natarajan, Department of Law, American University of Cairo and Liliana Obregón from Los Andes University in Colombia.