South-South Migrations and the Law from Below

Case Studies on China and Nigeria

Oreva Olakpe

• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781509958184
• eBook ISBN: 9781509958191
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Civil Law
• Index: Law

Winner of the Hart–SLSA Book Prize 2024 This book explores the narratives and experiences of people in the Global South as they encounter the impact of international law in their lives. It looks specifically at approaches to international migrations and the law, as states in the Global South confront migration-related challenges. Taking a case study approach, drawn from the experiences of undocumented and displaced migrants in China and Nigeria, the book shows how informal justice systems not only exist but are upheld. With an innovative analysis drawing both on intersectionality and a Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), it moves away from the classic international versus regional and domestic law approach to reveal the experience of the Third World in relation to the law. This fascinating study will appeal to international law, human rights and immigration scholars, as well as those in the field of development studies.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• 1. The Case for Research on South-South Migration and the Law from Below
• 2. Methods and Methodology: Researching the Law from Below
• 3. Contexts and Sites: The Background to the Case Studies
• 4. Where Migrants Stand in South-South Migrating Communities: A Look at China and Nigeria
• 5. Identity, Intersectionality and South-South Migrations
• 6. Reclaiming Justice from the Peripheries: Informal Justice in Migrant Communities in China and Nigeria
• 7. Final Thoughts
• Bibliography
• Appendix: List of Interviews (Chronological)
• Index
• Copyright Page