Held on 20 November 2024, this Lecture forms part of the British Academy’s Lecture programme series which aims to showcase the very best scholarship in the humanities and social sciences.

These annual events are in recognition of the ongoing partnership between Queen’s and the British Academy, supported this year by The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s.

The lecture was delivered by Sumi Madhok, Professor of Political Theory and Gender Studies and Head of Department of Gender Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

It offered a critique of the global north framing of human rights and its relationship to imperialism and colonialism through the notion of “anti-imperial epistemic justice”, and an alternative framework of rights and justice from the global south including through the word ‘Haq’ which has much more expansive and less legalistic understanding of justice across two continents, from the Middle East, through North and East Africa and into South Asia.

The event was chaired by Kieran McEvoy, Senator George J. Mitchell Chair in Peace, Security and Justice at the Mitchell Institute, Professor of Law and Transitional Justice at Queen’s, and Fellow of the British Academy.

He commented: “We are delighted to host these lectures in partnership with the British Academy, as part of the Academy’s effort to hold such events in places beyond London or Oxbridge.

“Professor Madhok’s lecture was excellent and the discussion ranged from: the gendered implications of her framework; her methodological choices; to audience members asking questions drawing from their own research experiences in places including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Northern Uganda.  It was certainly not a parochial discussion.  We hope to welcome Professor Madhok back to Queen’s in the future.”

Watch the recording of the Lecture below: