Decolonial Comparative Property Law
The Spring School
7-9 November 2024, Universidade Federal da Bahia
Introducing Brazilian researchers to land struggles in Cameroon, Palestine, and Ecuador as well as to global decolonial thought, the spring school took place at the Federal University of Bahia (Salvador, Brazil) on 7-9 November 2024. The course offered the occasion for participants to find commonalities that they had not foreseen in countries where a language barrier otherwise stood in the way.
25 participants had been selected across Brazil, with preference given to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) researchers and activists. All courses were delivered with simultaneous translation in Portuguese, English, and French. Running a spring school ensured a deeper connection of the project with local perspectives.
The programme welcomed 23 speakers for 5 roundtables, 5 plenum sessions, 2 break-out sessions, and a critical tour of a nearby Quilombola island (Ilha de Maré) that is endangered by corporate activities.
The event’s unique nature existed in the links drawn between scholarly work, and judicial and advocacy strategies for the advancement of land rights for marginalised communities. As such, it featured:
- “Territoriality(ies), Rights and Decoloniality(ies)” (Zacarias Rocha/Alfredo Wagner/Aïdas Sanogo/Mestre Joelson)
- “A Comparative Approach to Decolonial Thought” (Kwamou Eva Feukeu)
- “Decolonial Comparative Law” (Ralf Michaels)
- “Intersections, Decolonial Theories and Property(ies)” (Elionice Sacramento/Samuel Vida)
- "Historical Sociology, Struggles for Territories and Latin American Constitutionalism” (Flávia Carlet/Roberta Baggio)
- "Customary Land Law and Modern Land Law in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Case of Cameroon: the Resilience of Customary Law" (Léopold Miendjiem)
- “Technical Visit of the Island Ilha de Maré” (Marizelha Lopes/Eliete Paraguassu)
- “(Dis)Continuities of Property Legal Heritage and Its Transformation from the Mid-Nineteenth Century, the Example of Palestine” (Ahmad Amara)
- “Critical Perspectives on Ongoing Research and Development on Property” (Glória Cecília/Adriana Lima)
- “Rural and Urban Articulations and Decolonial Practices” (Ana Caminha/Cacique Babau/Iremar Barbosa/Karina Macedo Gomes Fernandes)
Initiated by Prof. Tatiana Emilia Dias Gomes, the highly successful event benefitted from the support of the organising committee composed of Brazilian scholars and MPI researchers. This was the second DeCoLa school and the first held in the context of a DeCoLa workshop.
In addition to our regular workshop, the inclusion of an activity intended for local people, e.g. a spring school, may become a more regular occurrence for future DeCoLa programmes. It has now been announced that the next DeCoLa programme will be run in Cameroon.
Header image: © Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law / Johanna Detering
