SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

Overview

Internal Supervisors

• Phil Clark
• Tom Young

PhD Research

The last three decades have seen courts and constitutional bodies worldwide expand their activities  beyond the application of individual rights provisions and basic procedural justice norms into what Ran Hirschl (2008) calls 'an elusive yet intuitive category of 'existential' national issues'. My study aims to explain and assess the sub-Saharan African dimensions of this shift. Its focus is on the politics of three high-profile cases from the continent's southern region: Mike Campbell (Pvt) Ltd and Others v. Republic of Zimbabwe (2008) [SADC Tribunal; Zimbabwe]; Sesana v. The Attorney General (2006) [Botswanan High Court; Botswana], and The Herero People’s Reparation Corporation v. Deutsche Bank AG, et al. (2001) [Superior Court of the District of Colombia; USA, Namibia].
These cases have all been studied and written about in great detail. My study aims to put them collectively into comparative and theoretical perspective. Located in the interpretive political science tradition, it analyses the recent judicialisation strategies of a variety of actors, most notably lawyers, donor agencies, and human rights organisations. Its conclusion attempts to draw some consequences from this for legal theory.

PhD Publications

‘A Critical Introduction to the ‘Legalisation of World Politics’’, e-International Relations, March 2012.
‘European governments and African demands for reparations’, LSE Ideas, January 2012,  .

PhD Conferences

'International Lawyers: IR theorists and practitioners', paper delivered at 'Out of the Ivory Tower', annual conference of Millennium: Journal of International Studies at LSE on October 22nd 2011.

'The MDGs and the Aid Debate in African Politics', paper delivered at 'The Road to the Millennium Development Goals' at Kingston University April 9th 2011.

'Universities as spaces of community and conflict, not activism', paper delivered at 'Activism and Academia' conference at SOAS March 12th 2011.

'Media (new and old) and the transnational governance of African public spheres', paper delivered at  'New Media: Alternative Politics' conference at University of Cambridge October 15th 2010.