by Henry Jones, Associate Professor in International Law, Durham Law School

This blog considers different forms and justifications for violence, ultimately supporting non-violence. It is part of the Extractive Industry and Foreign Security Network blog series.

What is violence? Is it ever justified? Is it inevitable? Who does violence to whom? The question of violence is a major theme of 20^th century political theory. Rosa Luxemborg described violent struggle as the place where the proletariat become human beings.[1]   In the 21^st century, the place of violence is much more ambiguous. Partly because the violence of the state has become so much more total and all-pervasive and partly because the balance of arms is so unequal. This blog considers different forms and justifications for violence, ultimately agreeing with proposals for a radical non-violence. (more…)

by Chris Riley, Reader in Commercial Law at Durham Law School, and Irene-marié Esser, Professor of Corporate Law and Governance in the School of Law, University of Glasgow

This blog considers the extent to which UK courts are willing to adjudicate upon harms committed overseas in connection with UK company supply chains. This blog is part of the Extractive Industry and Foreign Security Network blog series.

Introduction

Recent years have seen a steady stream of litigation brought against UK parent companies for the environmental harm and human rights abuses caused by their overseas subsidiaries.  This blog considers the Court of Appeal decision of Limbu v Dyson Technology Ltd, which is significant in providing new information on how UK courts treat tortious wrongdoing in UK company supply chains. (more…)

by Dr Jane Rooney, Associate Professor in International Law at Durham Law School

This blog post is a post-colonial critique of the narrative produced by Judge Turner in the High Court decision of Kadie Kalma v African Minerals Ltd that dismantles the distance between England and Sierra Leone. This blog is part of the Extractive Industry and Foreign Security Network blog series. (more…)

by Isabel Inguanzo Associate Professor Department of Political Science & Administration, University of Salamanca, Spain.

 

In this blog post Professor Inguanzo evaluates the efficacy of free, prior and informed consent for protecting indigenous people against appropriation of ancestral land for business enterprise. (more…)

Bill Dixon Professor of Criminology, University of Nottingham.

In this blog, Professor Dixon examines the events surrounding the Marikana Massacre and provides insight into the role of violence in facilitating corporate profit and political power. (more…)

This blog features a conversation between Solomon Moses Sogbandi and Jane Rooney. Solomon discusses the impact of Amnesty International Sierra Leone’s report on MEYA mining human rights abuses; the reform of the Mines and Minerals Act 2009; the Koidu Limited Mining Company in the Kono District; and what is, if any, the UK’s role in combating human rights abuses in mining in Sierra Leone. (more…)

by Tito Magoti an Advocate of the High Court of Tanzania,

In this blog post, Tito Magoti exposes the weaknesses in the criminal justice system in Tanzania for redressing victims of police brutality in the extractive industry. (more…)