Capitalism and the Legal Foundations of Global Reparations

Obeng-Odoom, Franklin

doi:10.5070/lp64162690

JLPE

2023

DOI: 10.5070/lp64162690

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Capitalism and the Legal Foundations of Global Reparations

Franklin Obeng-Odoom

Abstract: It is widely contended that Africans were complicit in enslaving other African people, that slavery was legal at the time it was in force and, hence, that demanding reparations from states can have no legal basis. Drawing on the work of Nora Wittmann, this essay questions these presumptions, advances the argument that there is a legal basis for reparations, and puts the case for grounding the legal approach within a wider political economy of reparations.

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2024

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Cited by 2 publications

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Colonialism, Genocide and Reparations: The German‐Namibian Case

Melber

2024

Development and Change

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In 2015 the German government acknowledged that the Empire committed genocide in its colony South West Africa, known since its independence as Namibia. This acknowledgement marked a new reference point in how to engage with colonial crimes. Since then, Germany has fallen short of bearing full and unconditional responsibility for and recognition of the crime in terms of restorative justice. While Germany deserves credit for its commemoration and remorse over the Holocaust during World War II, victims of other forms of extermination with the intent to destroy still crave adequate recognition, commemoration and compensation in the form of reparations. This article presents the Namibian case to illustrate the contradictions and limitations that emerge when general notions are tested and undermined by asymmetric power relations of Realpolitik.

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Colonialism, Genocide and Reparations: The German‐Namibian Case

Melber

2024

Development and Change

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Global Reparations within Capitalism: Aspirations and Tensions in Contemporary Movements for Reparatory Justice

Sylla,

Fischer,

Kaltenbrunner

et al. 2024

Development and Change

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The idea of global reparations has received increasing attention in recent years, not only with respect to legacies of slavery and colonialism, but also to interrelated issues such as climate change, debt crisis, or ongoing financial transfers from the Global South to the Global North. This article, which introduces and sets the Debate for the 2024 Forum issue on the political economy of 21st century global reparations, offers a critical perspective on contemporary global reparations agendas, including their macroeconomic and development implications for the Global South. It highlights the contentious, unresolved questions about how reparations movements should interact with the highly unequal structures of global capitalism. To what degree should they seek large redistributive gains within these structures, or else aim for more revolutionary standpoints which reject these structures? If the former, would this compromise any hope for reparations to be truly transformative and able to address the challenges presented by global white supremacy? The hope of reparations movements is to make progressive gains that could become the catalyst for more transformative changes on a global scale. At the same time, sympathetic critics question whether reparations are feasible or should be a primary focus of advocacy for achieving racial and climate justice on national as well as global levels. In outlining these points of debate, the article also considers the questions of how to make global reparations work for recipients, and how to finance them. It concludes by elaborating on the challenge of moving towards a more developmentalist emphasis of ‘systemic reparations’.

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Capitalism and the Legal Foundations of Global Reparations

Cited by 2 publications

References 9 publications

Colonialism, Genocide and Reparations: The German‐Namibian Case

Colonialism, Genocide and Reparations: The German‐Namibian Case

Global Reparations within Capitalism: Aspirations and Tensions in Contemporary Movements for Reparatory Justice

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