Decolonize Law! Part 2: Exploitation through Trade and Transnational Law

Colonialism is also omnipresent in law. This reality is illustrated by three documentary films in the “Decolonize Law” series, conceived and produced by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in cooperation with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, which expose key weaknesses in international law from a postcolonial perspective. Using examples from Namibia and Kenya, the 20-minute films reveal the colonial influences on law and show it law reproduces power relations and social and economic inequalities.

Activists from Namibia and Kenya report in the films on how current debates on international law and trade law are affecting their contexts. This concerns the struggles and discussions surrounding the recognition of the genocide of the Herero and Nama in Namibia (film 1), the consequences of privatization and trade agreements, and the struggles over the use of farmers’ seeds in Kenya (film 2). International law experts and legal scholars from Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Germany clearly explain how international law is still misused in many areas to legally legitimize exploitation. At the same time, however, international law is also a means of transformation and can be used to initiate and enforce positive change towards greater justice (film 3).