Legal Strategies in Democratic Backsliding and Resistance in Africa

Date/Time: 22 August 2022, 11:00-12:15
Venue: Kulturhuset and Zoom

This roundtable marks the publication of two books exploring the use of law and courts by African leaders for autocratic purposes: Democratic backsliding in Africa (Leo Arriola, Lise Rakner and Nic Van De Walle eds., Oxford University Press, 2022) and Undue Process (Fiona Shen Bayh, 2022). The authors are all collaborators on the Breaking BAD: Backlash Against Democracy in Africa project. The project has demonstrated how autocratic African leaders have used – and misused – law and courts to consolidate their power for a long time, but also how, at the same time, courts have been comparatively friendly spaces for the democratic opposition. Fiona Shen Bayh has used a variety of methods in her new book to explore and demonstrate the use of courts for political repression. This roundtable presents findings from the two books in conversation with scholars researching similar processes in other parts of the world.

Presentations by Lise Rakner (UiB), Fiona Shen Bayh (William & Mary University)
Participants:  Kenya Depuy (Fridtjof Nansens Institutt), Matthew Gichohi (CMI), Anastasia Leshchyshyn (McGill University), Andrés Scharager (National University of San Martín)
Moderator:  Vibeke Wang (CMI)

 This event is part of the CMI/LawTransform project Breaking BAD: Backlash Against Democracy in Africa. (RCN grant 2017-22)