Conflicts of Worldviews and Private International Law

Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-1-5099-7853-3
Verlag: Bloomsbury Publishing plc

Buch, Englisch, 416 Seiten, Hardback, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 474 g

Reihe: Hart Publishing

This book connects European private international law with decolonial thinking.

Decolonial thinking calls for alternative modes of producing legal knowledge - ones that give greater weight to the worldviews of formerly colonised peoples across the globe, including in Europe. At the same time, private international law has been described as a particularly suitable field for welcoming more otherness (altérité) in European law. This book therefore develops a decolonial theory of European private international law. To do so, it begins with Western court cases involving what the author terms a 'conflict of worldviews': a clash between the legal frameworks governing the dispute and the worldviews of the formerly colonised parties involved, referred to here as 'postcolonised worldviews'. Through three case studies - respectively addressing religious arbitration, Indigenous sacred land, and sexual minorities in the Global South - the book demonstrates that courts routinely overlook these conflicts. As a result, the claims of formerly colonised parties are inadequately addressed. To remedy this structural discrimination within European private international law, the book proposes a pluralised theory of choice of court, foreign law, and international jurisdiction, more empowering of the postcolonised worldviews present in the case studies, and supportive of the emancipation of vulnerable identities among postcolonised people.

This is an important work, thought-provoking and challenging, which should be read by private international law and comparative law scholars, and more generally by legal and non-legal scholars interested in legal theory and decoloniality.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Brachotte, Sandrine

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Kolonialismus, Imperialismus
• Rechtswissenschaften Ausländisches Recht Common Law (UK, USA, Australien u.a.)
• Rechtswissenschaften Internationales Recht und Europarecht Internationales Recht Internationales Privatrecht
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kolonialgeschichte, Geschichte des Imperialismus
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Postkoloniale Geschichte, Nationale Befreiung und Unabhängigkeit

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction
1. Setting the Scene: Conflicts of Worldviews, Private International Law, Decoloniality, and a Decentring Methodology

Part 1: Conflicts of Worldviews Before Western Courts: Case Studies
2. Jivraj v Hashwani: Religious Arbitration
3. Ktunaxa v British Columbia: Indigenous Sacred Land
4. SMUG v Lively: Sexual Minorities in the Global South

Part 2: Learning from the Case Studies: A Plural PIL Framework in Europe
5. For a Plural Theory of Choice of Court
6. For a Plural Theory of Foreign Law
7. For a Plural Theory of International Jurisdiction

Conclusion: Elements of Decolonial Private International Law in Europe

Über Autor(innen)

Brachotte, Sandrine
Sandrine Brachotte is an FWO Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, and a Guest Professor in Legal Theory at UCLouvain and UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles. She is also responsible for the bibliography section of the Revue critique de droit international privé.