International Law and Racism Today: Colonial Legacy or Structural Necessity? A public seminar featuring Dr Robert Knox (University of Liverpool) and co-organised by the School of Law and the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh.Whilst critics of international law have characterised it as a racist legal order, recent crises – the War on Terror, the invasion of Ukraine and the slaughter in Gaza to name a few –, and the ‘failure’ of international law to respond effectively to them, have brought the debates around international law’s racial biases to the forefront. For defenders of the international legal order, international law cannot be racist: it is based on the formal equality of its participants and in fact is officially ‘against’ racism. For the more critical of these defenders – and indeed for many critics of international law in general – the problem lies less in any racism of international law itself, but rather in its unequal application and enforcement. For them, were internationally law properly and universally enforced, it could not be turned to racist ends.In this talk I contest such claims. Whilst of course, international law can be selectively applied, I argue that the putative equality of international law is wholly compatible with – and indeed is productive of – racism. I begin by challenging the liberal account of racism as simple discrimination, before outlining the structural connections between international law and racism. Engaging with historical and contemporary events, I demonstrate that international law’s deep connections with capitalism and imperialism mean that it embeds racism at its very core. I conclude by demonstrating how this plays out in the present day, and what promise international law might hold for combatting and defeating racism and imperial violence.Dr Robert KnoxRobert Knox is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool. He is an Editor of the journals Historical Materialism: Research in Critical Marxist Theory and the London Review of International Law and the blog Legal Form. His research interests broadly encompass the relationship between law and the political-economic structures of capitalism. His work focuses on international law, particularly its relationship to race and empire; public law, with a focus on its relationship to neoliberalism, and legal theory, especially critical and Marxist approaches to the law.Chaired by Dr Nora JaberNora Jaber is a Lecturer in Law in the Globalised Muslim World, based at the School of Law and the Al-Waleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World.Nora’s research intersects law, feminist theory, and political economy. Her work primarily examines the role and limitations of international law in achieving justice in non-Western contexts, with a focus on gender justice in the Arab and Islamic world. It captures and centres non-Western/non-liberal frameworks and epistemologies that are largely overlooked in Western scholarship. In 2022, Nora was awarded the Leigh Douglas Memorial Prize (BRISMES) for her doctoral research on legal activism and struggles for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.More broadly, Nora’s work examines the relationship between law and social justice and is interested in how law strengthens and limits political struggles for justice. In 2024, Nora co-established the ‘Juridification of Justice' research network, which brings together scholars and others whose work addresses related questions. Feb 05 2025 16.00 - 17.30 International Law and Racism Today: Colonial Legacy or Structural Necessity? A public seminar featuring Dr Robert Knox (University of Liverpool) and co-organised by the School of Law and the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh. MacLaren Stuart Room Old College Edinburgh EH8 9YL Find Venue Register Here
International Law and Racism Today: Colonial Legacy or Structural Necessity? A public seminar featuring Dr Robert Knox (University of Liverpool) and co-organised by the School of Law and the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh.Whilst critics of international law have characterised it as a racist legal order, recent crises – the War on Terror, the invasion of Ukraine and the slaughter in Gaza to name a few –, and the ‘failure’ of international law to respond effectively to them, have brought the debates around international law’s racial biases to the forefront. For defenders of the international legal order, international law cannot be racist: it is based on the formal equality of its participants and in fact is officially ‘against’ racism. For the more critical of these defenders – and indeed for many critics of international law in general – the problem lies less in any racism of international law itself, but rather in its unequal application and enforcement. For them, were internationally law properly and universally enforced, it could not be turned to racist ends.In this talk I contest such claims. Whilst of course, international law can be selectively applied, I argue that the putative equality of international law is wholly compatible with – and indeed is productive of – racism. I begin by challenging the liberal account of racism as simple discrimination, before outlining the structural connections between international law and racism. Engaging with historical and contemporary events, I demonstrate that international law’s deep connections with capitalism and imperialism mean that it embeds racism at its very core. I conclude by demonstrating how this plays out in the present day, and what promise international law might hold for combatting and defeating racism and imperial violence.Dr Robert KnoxRobert Knox is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool. He is an Editor of the journals Historical Materialism: Research in Critical Marxist Theory and the London Review of International Law and the blog Legal Form. His research interests broadly encompass the relationship between law and the political-economic structures of capitalism. His work focuses on international law, particularly its relationship to race and empire; public law, with a focus on its relationship to neoliberalism, and legal theory, especially critical and Marxist approaches to the law.Chaired by Dr Nora JaberNora Jaber is a Lecturer in Law in the Globalised Muslim World, based at the School of Law and the Al-Waleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World.Nora’s research intersects law, feminist theory, and political economy. Her work primarily examines the role and limitations of international law in achieving justice in non-Western contexts, with a focus on gender justice in the Arab and Islamic world. It captures and centres non-Western/non-liberal frameworks and epistemologies that are largely overlooked in Western scholarship. In 2022, Nora was awarded the Leigh Douglas Memorial Prize (BRISMES) for her doctoral research on legal activism and struggles for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.More broadly, Nora’s work examines the relationship between law and social justice and is interested in how law strengthens and limits political struggles for justice. In 2024, Nora co-established the ‘Juridification of Justice' research network, which brings together scholars and others whose work addresses related questions. Feb 05 2025 16.00 - 17.30 International Law and Racism Today: Colonial Legacy or Structural Necessity? A public seminar featuring Dr Robert Knox (University of Liverpool) and co-organised by the School of Law and the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh. MacLaren Stuart Room Old College Edinburgh EH8 9YL Find Venue Register Here
Feb 05 2025 16.00 - 17.30 International Law and Racism Today: Colonial Legacy or Structural Necessity? A public seminar featuring Dr Robert Knox (University of Liverpool) and co-organised by the School of Law and the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh.
