CRITICAL LEGAL THINKING
LAW AND THE POLITICAL
CRITICAL LEGAL THINKING
LAW AND THE POLITICAL
The UK, Rwanda, and the Spectacle of Deterrence
On 14th April, it was reported that a deal has been made between the UK and Rwanda to establish a system of off-shore processing for asylum seekers who arrive irregularly to the UK. This means that people who arrive in the UK without a valid visa or permission to enter the state would be sent to Rwanda to have their asylum claim processed. The agreement between the UK and Rwanda makes it clear that once someone is sent to Rwanda to have their asylum application assessed, any refugee status that they acquire will be granted by Rwanda, and as such there will be no possibility to enter the UK on the basis of being recognised as having protection needs. Under current UK law, people who lodge an asylum claim in state cannot be removed until a decision has been made on their application. This applies even in cases where the person has arrived irregularly to the state – for example, without a valid visa. This reflects protections implied in the Refugee Convention and elaborated by UNHCR and...
ARTICLES
Colonialism and the Epistemology of Ignorance: A Lesson from Afghanistan
Kabul, Photo by Mohammad Rahmani on Unsplash The abrupt and chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in mid-August filled the news around the world. With more or less variations, these were the main topics: humiliation for the U.S. and its European allies; a repeat of...
In Memoriam Jean-Luc Nancy
Jean-Luc Nancy (26 July 1940 – 23 August 2021) Jean-Luc Nancy passed away on August 23. It is a huge loss of someone who both as a philosopher and as a friend was so important to many of us. His talk last January at the 'Left Theory in the 21st century’...
The Redress of Politics
Emilios Christodoulidis, The Redress of Law: Globalisation, Constitutionalism and Market Capture (Cambridge University Press, 2021). Page reference in brackets refer to the book. The Redress of Law is a major achievement. Major in every sense. It is large, a...
Neoliberalism’s Anthems
As I sit down to write a response to John Reynolds, Julia Emtseva, and Richard Clements, who generously reviewed my book, the musical accompaniment are the tunes of the Olympic Games of Tokyo 2020. National anthems in particular ring out. The familiar tunes and lyrics...
Books: Reading ‘Diplomat’ magazine through Marketing Global Justice
Concluding our engagement with Marketing Global Justice (CUP 2021), Richard Clements explores a particular moment of marketing the spectacle of global justice. ‘And here is now another example: I am at the barber's, and a copy of Paris-Match is offered to me. On the...
Books: Tools for Navigating Neoliberalism
Continuing our engagement with Christine Schwöbel Patel's Marketing Global Justice Julia Emtseva explores the role of donors in the global justice 'sector'. Marketing Global Justice is more than a mere description of how branding strategies are used to advance...
Books: Neoliberalism’s Brand of Justice
We are thrilled to launch a series on contemporary critical (legal) books. Our first text in this series is Christine Schwöbel Patel's Marketing Global Justice (Cambridge University Press, 2021). Over three posts we will explore different aspects of the book, before...
Yes, International Law is Really Law
Public international law (PIL) is neocolonial in function. By this I mean that it continues to materialize the colonial functions of disciplining and plundering the under-developed world. Yet PIL is anti-colonial in form, officially committed to global inclusion and...
A Day in the Lives of Public International Law
Nicholas Rajkovic has recently introduced two concepts which, between them offer a fresh lens through which we can view our profession. Rajkovic developed these concepts, “performances of legality” and “vicarious litigation”, in his reflections on “lawfare”. But they...
ARI
Ari, Perugia, 2019 With Ari’s death, a radiant intensity has been extinguished. That should be mourned, but that it existed at all must be celebrated. In physics, intensity of radiant energy is the power transferred per unit area, where the area is measured on the...
‘Not a Nazi … But’: Forstater v CGD Europe
This article considers the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in the case of Forstater v CGD Europe.[1]Forstater is the most recent in a series of crowdfunded cases brought by ‘gender critical’ activists . In addition to addressing the relevant legal...
The Forstater Case: How should law deal with sex and gender?
The recent Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decision in Forstater v CGD Europe and others [2021] immediately generated headlines in most British newspapers. The Telegraph saw it as “inject[ing] some good sense into the toxic trans debate”, the Times said the “ruling...
On Israel’s Colonial Occupation of Palestine: The Final Solution Without End
Yet another ceasefire like so many others before it, in Israel’s colonial occupation of Palestine; yet another death count for the archives of oblivion; yet another occasion to ease the conscience of the international community, especially in North America and Europe;...
Law & Critique: Que(e)rying the ECHR’s ‘European Consensus’
Continuing our cooperation with the journal Law & Critique, the full text of Claerwen O'Hara's recent article can be found here. ‘European consensus’ is an interpretive method used by the European Court of Human Rights (the Court). Broadly, it refers to the...
Last seen: Black people missing & dying in the UK
Evidence waits. It has been nearly three weeks since we received an update from the Metropolitan police in regards to Richard Okorogheye’s death. I wonder if they have told Richard’s mother, Evidence Joel, but asked that she not share until their investigation is...
Law & Critique: A Corporeal Law
Continuing our cooperation with the journal Law & Critique, Joshua Shaw writes about his recent article. The full text can be found here (link). The human body and its constitutive materials and effects are formative to law, just as law is formative to the body....
How do we see ‘most of the world’ from Sheikh Jarrah?
Isn’t this simply the matter? Isn’t this what ultimately unites us? These are the questions that wandered through my head as I observed the cartoon illustrated by Doaa el-Adl. Along with the hashtag #SaveSheikhJarrah, the cartoon shows a woman getting dragged from the...
Beware of the Cry of Expropriation
Santiago, October 2019, thousands of people occupied the streets asking for economic structural reforms. A demonstration that started with students complaining about an increase in the metro fare escalated quickly in a national movement demanding significant changes...
On the Government of the Faceless and the Deathless
It seems that in the new planetary order that is gaining form two things, apparently unrelated to each other, are destined to be completely removed: the face and death. We will endeavour to inquire if they are not somehow connected and what the meaning of their...
Defense or Domination: The Categories of Israel’s Occupation
In Sheikh Jarrah Palestinian man stands next to graffiti, which reads 'we will not leave'. The story started with protests in Jerusalem against racist policies of the Israeli government, it escalated with the parallel threat of yet another act of displacement against...
The Colombian Unrest – Tax Reform, Neoliberalism & Riot Cops
In recent weeks Colombia has seen massive unrest, with a general strike, huge crowds across the country and significant violence from ESMAD - the riot police. This short piece seeks to clarify the background and underline the significance of this revolt against...
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