Course Catalogue

View Specification Document | Reading List

This legal theory course examines how modern legal, economic, and political orders have been shaped by the intertwined histories of race and colonialism. Drawing on Black radical thought, critical race theory, and post- and decolonial theory, it interrogates core legal concepts such as property, sovereignty and equality. The course combines historical analyses of capitalism and empire with contemporary legal contexts - including migration, labour, and the environment - while grounding the theoretical approach in Glasgow's local histories of slavery and empire. It concludes by exploring abolitionist and reformist approaches to law as both a site of domination and a terrain of struggle.

10 x 2 hour seminars

LLB students (Scots Law and Common Law) and visiting students.

None

None.

The summative assessment entails a written part (a 3000-word essay) (70%) and an oral part (30%).

In the oral assessment component, worth 30% of the final grade, students will be asked to answer questions on their own essays and/or questions on course materials that was not assessed by the essay. The form of the oral assessment will be clearly set out at the start of the course in the course document.

In recognition of the potential disability equality impact of the oral assessment, the course team will, in line with recommendations contained in the School's Disability Handbook, adopt inclusive assessment practices and implement reasonable adjustments to the assessment as required.

This course equips students of law and legal theory to critically examine how modern legal, political, and economic orders have been shaped by the intertwined histories of race and colonialism. Drawing on Black radical thought, critical race theory, and post- and decolonial scholarship, students will engage with urgent contemporary legal contexts including migration, labour, and the environment. The course grounds discussion in Glasgow's own histories of slavery and empire, giving local context to global questions. It prepares students not only to understand law as a site of domination, but also as a terrain of struggle. It provides a theoretical framework to understand structurally embedded inequalities from a historical and contemporary perspective.

By the end of this course students will be able to: 

■ Explain the key theoretical positions in Critical Race Theory, Black radical thought, and post- and decolonial theory, and their application to legal thought.

■ Critique core legal concepts, specific legal contexts, public policy, and legal interventions through the lens of race and colonialism

■ Formulate and justify arguments on the relationship between law, race, and colonialism, drawing on relevant theoretical frameworks

Assess contemporary social and political issues in relation to structures of race, colonialism, and law.