21 March 2024
Colonialism and EU Law
In 1957, when the Treaty of Rome was signed and founded what later became the European Union (EU), four out of six of the original Member States were colonial powers. An important methodological question for EU law research is how this historical fact has affected the development of EU law. I argue that answering the question of how Europe’s centuries long history of colonialism has shaped EU law is not just a historical exercise but also a starting point for an examination of EU law of today. Continue reading >>
2 
21 March 2024
For a Postcolonial reading of the EU
The use of the terms 'decolonial', 'postcolonial' and 'race' has become fashionable, particularly in Anglo-American legal scholarship. However few legal scholars in recent years have ventured into postcolonial approaches to European Union law. I will argue that one cannot understand the history and law of the European Union if one fails to understand and acknowledge colonialism. Continue reading >>
0
28 February 2020
The Constitutional Status of Indigenous Australians
In two recent judgments, the apex Australian court, the High Court, decided what intuitively seems obvious: that Aboriginal Australians, as that term is understood in Australian law, cannot be deported from Australia. The case exposed several fault lines that run through Australian law. Continue reading >>
0
04 March 2019
Restitution und Kolonialismus: Wem gehört die Witbooi-Bibel?
Will und kann man in den außenpolitischen Beziehungen dieselben europäischen Normen, die das koloniale Unrechtssystem begründet und aufrechterhalten haben, heute wirklich weiter zur Grundlage einer Ablehnung von Restitutionsverhandlungen machen? Die Anwendung der Maßstäbe des alten kolonialzeitlichen Europäischen (!) Völkerrechts auf die Plünderungsakte weist gerade keinen Weg aus der Eurozentrismusfalle. Continue reading >>22 April 2017