Juris North 2026/27 Event
Sovereign Selves, Sovereign Peoples, Sovereign States: Black Self-Determination Reconsidered
Following successful roundtable events including our global response to crises in 2020, the work of Hans Kelsen in 2021 and 2022, contemporary non/anti-positivist legal theory in 2023 and queer theory, leadership and inclusion in 2024/2025, we are pleased to invite expressions of interest in a forthcoming event, “Sovereign Selves, Sovereign Peoples, Sovereign States: Black Self-Determination Reconsidered.”
This event seeks to bring together scholars, practitioners, policymakers and organisers to rethink the meaning and scope of sovereignty in relation to Black self-determination—moving beyond the state to consider the sovereignty of individuals, communities and overlapping political formations. Spanning themes such as territorial rights, political legitimacy, diaspora, economic autonomy, and shared or layered sovereignty, the event aims to foster interdisciplinary and globally grounded conversations about Black political futures.
At this stage, we are gauging interest and warmly invite those who may wish to contribute, collaborate, or participate to get in touch. Based on the level of interest, we anticipate issuing a formal call for abstracts and developing the event further.
Aims:
- To critically rethink sovereignty across scales—from the individual to the community to the state—and assess how these frameworks illuminate or constrain Black self-determination in contemporary and historical contexts.
- To bring diverse perspectives into dialogue, including scholars, practitioners, policymakers and organisers, in order to explore how different experiences, disciplines, and geographies shape understandings of Black political agency and autonomy.
- To foster collaboration and future-oriented exchange by identifying shared questions, emerging frameworks (such as overlapping or layered sovereignty) and opportunities for joint research, practice and knowledge production.
Led by:
Dr Jorge E. Núñez, Manchester Law School
Participants:
Open to all. Ideally, multi-disciplinary, transversal and inclusive (academics, policymakers, people at large from different states, religions, genders, ethnicities, etc.).
Themes:
1. Black Self-Determination and Territorial Rights
- Claims to land, autonomy, and political authority in Black communities
- Historical and contemporary cases (e.g. Liberia, Haiti, Maroon societies)
- Territorial sovereignty and its limits
- Non-territorial or shared sovereignty models
2. Black Lives Matter and Political Legitimacy
- BLM and struggles for recognition and justice
- State legitimacy and the use of force
- Protest, resistance, and political authority
- Comparative global movements
3. Colonialism, Neo-Colonialism and the Global Order
- Colonial legacies and borders
- Resource extraction and global inequality
- Reparations and historical justice
- International law and racial hierarchy
4. Identity, Nationhood and Diaspora
- Defining “a people” in self-determination
- Pan-Africanism and diasporic identity
- Cultural belonging and exclusion
- Transnational solidarity
5. Policing, Violence and the Right to Security
- State violence and racialised policing
- Surveillance and control
- Abolitionist and community-based alternatives
- Human rights frameworks
6. Economic Self-Determination and Structural Inequality
- Land, housing, and economic autonomy
- Racial capitalism
- Cooperative and alternative economic models
- Global political economy and development
7. Cultural, Epistemic and Educational Self-Determination
- Decolonising knowledge and institutions
- Black intellectual traditions
- Representation and narrative power
- Education and liberation
8. Law, Justice and Institutional Reform
- Law as a site of racial hierarchy
- Constitutional and institutional design
- Transitional justice
- Limits and possibilities of international law
9. Migration, Borders and Mobility
- Racialised border regimes
- Citizenship and statelessness
- Mobility and constraints on autonomy
- Diasporic political participation
10. Environmental Justice and Land Stewardship
- Environmental racism
- Climate displacement
- Indigenous African ecological perspectives
- Resource sovereignty and sustainability
11. Shared Sovereignty, Overlapping Claims and Black Political Futures
- Layered and shared sovereignty models
- Governance beyond the nation-state
- Resolving competing political claims
- Future-oriented frameworks for justice and stability
Participation:
If you are interested in contributing to or collaborating on this event, we warmly invite you to submit an expression of interest by email to j.nunez@mmu.ac.uk by Friday 31 July 2026. At this stage, please indicate the theme(s) you are most interested in and the capacity in which you would like to be involved (e.g. presenting, organising, or other forms of collaboration).
Wednesday 22nd April 2026
Dr Jorge Emilio Núñez
X (formerly, Twitter): https://x.com/DrJorge_World
Dr Jorge's World 