This course examines how international law has been utilized to support peoples’ struggles for liberation from colonial domination, foreign occupation, and systemic repression. The course explores how international instruments guarantee the collective right to self-determination, including resistance to unlawful occupation, political participation, and the pursuit of representative governance. 

Faculty address the legal foundations of self-determination, the historical and ongoing use of international law in anti-colonial movements, and the evolving jurisprudence about resistance to oppression. The course also features in-depth analyses of Palestinian, South African, and Algerian liberation struggles, including their engagement with UN bodies, human rights mechanisms, and regional institutions. These discussions highlight both the possibilities and the limitations of international law as a tool for collective emancipation.