Global capitalism, public debt and social justice: An international law perspective by Dr Emma Scali

28 Nov 2023, 5-6pm. Click here to join the session.

Location: Curzon C589

This seminar is co-hosted by the College of Law, Social & Criminal Justice Research Seminar Series and the Centre for Human Rights. Our series offers exciting insights into ongoing research projects within the law school and conducted by our external research partners. We often feature work from our research centres. Join us for invigorating discussion!

In this session, we hear from Dr Emma Scali. Dr Emma Luce Scali is currently Lecturer in Law and Co-Director of the LLM International Law and LLM International Human Rights at Birmingham City University.

She holds a PhD in Law from the University of Nottingham and her current research interests centre around human rights, sovereign financing, and the global economic order. In 2022, she published her first monograph with Cambridge University Press on Sovereign Debt and Socio-economic Rights Beyond Crisis: The Neoliberalisation of International Law.

She is currently a consultant to the mandate of the UN Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and Human Rights, and in 2022/23 she conducted debt-and-human-rights research also for the OHCHR South-East Asia Regional Office (OHCHR SEARO).

In this session, Dr Scali will give the following presentation, followed by an interactive Q&A:

Title: Global capitalism, public debt and social justice: An international law perspective

Abstract:

Sovereign debt currently raises at least two major parallel challenges for the international community: how to resolve (increasingly frequent) debt crises in a way that does not threaten states’ economic/social/political stability and encumber states’ ability to perform their functions, including the realisation of human rights; and what to make of the increasing (unsustainable) indebtedness of states per se, a question demanding a reflection on broader issues of global justice.

By reviewing recent legal developments (or lack thereof) and trends in the field of sovereign debt and human rights (with reference to topical examples and offered solutions), this seminar will reflect on the prospects of a fairer future for sovereign financing under international law.

If you have any questions, contact Dr Mitchell Longan, the Research Seminar Series leader, at mitchell.longan@bcu.ac.uk.