Conclusion

Abstract

AbstractThis concluding chapter maps the case for reparations across the relevant frameworks of international law, highlighting the imperial foundations of international legal thought in relation to transatlantic enslavement. Through this lens, it destabilizes the orthodox position on the legal arguments related to reparations, that slavery was definitively and internationally ‘legal at the time’. This provides space for reconceptualization of the case for reparatory justice. The challenges presented by international legal mechanisms in practice are reviewed and acknowledged. Nonetheless, this chapter outlines the relevance of international legal frameworks in considering the case for reparations in extralegal contexts, looking beyond the law. It further considers the importance of reparations discourse, even in the absence of conclusions on specific cases.