Decolonial Futures is excited to announce that the first in its lecture series will be delivered by renowned law scholar Iyiola Solanke, titled 'The Purpose and Priorities of A Decolonial Approach in EU Law'.

The lecture will be from 16:00-17:30. After this, guests are welcome to stay for drinks and snacks.

Abstract: A decolonial approach in EU law constitutes a new starting point for examinations of EU integration which invite us at a minimum to de-centralise ‘euro-centric’ world views and ways of seeing. This promotes a departure from 'a commitment to colonial ways of thinking” (Meghji 2020) for example, the common idea that all black people in Europe are ‘really’ from somewhere else. Perhaps most importantly, a decolonial approach to EU law can open up the world of European integration and EU law to a new generation of scholars and audiences who have hitherto not engaged with these areas of study due to the current predominance of exclusive perspectives. In this talk I will outline what I think is the purpose and priorities of a decolonial approach in EU law and provide examples to show how it can open up new avenues of knowledge and produce a new generation of knowers.

Iyiola Solanke is Jacques Delors Professor of European Union Law at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Somerville College. 

Her research focuses on institutional change, in relation to both law and organisations. Her work adopts socio-legal, historical and comparative methodologies. She is the author of ‘EU Law’ (CUP 2022), ‘Making Anti-Racial Discrimination Law’ (Routledge 2011) and ‘Discrimination as Stigma - A Theory of Anti- Discrimination Law’ (Hart 2017), as well as many articles in peer reviewed journals.

She founded the Black Female Professors Forum to promote visibility of women professors of colour, and the Temple Women’s Forum North to promote engagement between legal professionals and students in and around Yorkshire. In 2018 she chaired the Inquiry into the History of Eugenics at UCL. From 2019 – 2022 she led Co-POWeR, an ESRC-funded project looking into the impact of COVID on practices for wellbeing and resilience in Black, Asian and minority ethnic families and communities. She is currently PI on Generation Delta, a RE/OfS-funded project promoting access to PGR study for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women.

Other current projects focus on weight discrimination and law as well as decolonising European Union law.