Lusaka\u27s Colonial Legacy: Town Planning, Public Health, and the Making of a Segregated City, 1913–1963. A Study of Power, Inequality, and Urban Development

This paper explores the intersection of town planning and public health policy in Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), during the colonial period (1913–1963), which was a time of significant urban growth and transformation. British colonial authorities adapted Ebenezer Howard\u27s Garden City principles to design and manage Lusaka, but these measures perpetuated spatial control, segregation, and social engineering, thus exacerbating racial and socio-economic disparities. By analysing secondary and primary sources, including planning ordinances, zoning regulations, and public health policies, this study reveals how these measures shaped the city\u27s development and reinforced inequalities. Despite colonial intentions for a white settler-city, Lusaka evolved into an African majority urban centre, with 89% of the population comprising Africans by 1963. This research offers valuable insights for scholars, urban planners, and policymakers grappling with the legacies of colonialism and urban inequality, thus informing strategies to create more equitable and sustainable cities

Strikes and the Struggle for Democracy

The right to strike is fundamental to the development and maintenance of democratic forms of government. In struggles to construct and defend democratic regimes, strikes, including general strikes, are often an important weapon. In established democracies, the right to strike can aid the spread of democratic decision-making in workplaces and the wider economy, serving indirectly to strengthen participation and confidence in political processes and institutions. And it can underpin systems of collective bargaining that function to narrow income and wealth inequalities, in a manner that is conducive, if not necessary, to the maintenance of democratic government. Wherever the right to strike is restricted, undermined and made more difficult to exercise, so too is the capacity of ordinary citizens decreased to defend, maintain and extend democratic values, practices and institutions

Assessing Awareness and Trade Facilitation Under the AfCFTA: A Focus on Small-Scale Cross-Border Traders in the Southern African Development Community

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Trade present significant opportunities for trade facilitation reforms, particularly for small-scale crossborder traders (SSCBTs). However, the success of these initiatives hinges on the awareness and participation of these key stakeholders. This study investigates the awareness levels of SSCBTs regarding the AfCFTA, and analyses their understanding of trade facilitation reforms and their perceptions of the benefits and challenges of these reforms. Drawing on border reviews across 12 SADC commercial border posts and on interviews with traders and customs officials, the study identities significant gaps in awareness, with 56.4% of respondents unaware of the AfCFTA. The findings underscore the need for targeted educational campaigns, capacity-building initiatives, and stakeholder consultations to bridge knowledge gaps and increase the inclusion of SSCBTs in regional trade integration efforts

“Blood and Fire” in Chikankata: An Idiosyncratic Approach to Religious Conversion by the Salvation Army in Colonial Zambia, 1945–1964

This article examines distinctive strategies used by the Salvation Army to convert Africans to Christianity in the Chikankata district of Zambia. Using data from both primary and secondary sources, the article argues that the Salvation Army largely relied on African agents and the use of open-air meetings, march pasts, uniform wearing, and brass bands as methods of evangelism. This stands in contrast to academic lenses that have viewed and endorsed missionary education and healthcare provision as principal methods of evangelism in colonial central Africa

Memorandum Regarding Ireland’s Proposal to Revise the Meaning of Genocide Under International Law

Ireland’s new and far-reaching proposal regarding the suggested construction of the crime of Genocide contained in its Declaration of Intervention (Intervention) in the case brought by South Africa against the State of Israel (and echoed in its identical intervention at the same time in The Gambia v. Myanmar) in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention) runs counter to almost 80 years of established law and principle regarding genocide. In announcing its intention to intervene in the case against Israel, Ireland’s government in a statement on December 11, 2024, said that “by legally intervening in South Africa’s case, Ireland will be asking the ICJ to broaden its interpretation of what constitutes the commission of genocide by a State. We are concerned that a very narrow interpretation of what constitutes genocide leads to a culture of impunity in which the protection of civilians is minimized.” The goal of protecting civilians in all conflicts is certainly laudable, but the way to do achieve such protection is not by effectively watering down the definition of genocide. Such a result would be enormously damaging to the fundamental goals and principles that underpin the Genocide Convention

Caste Discrimination in NY - Starting a Conversation

Despite rapid socioeconomic ascent of Indian Americans in the U.S., caste hierarchies continue to structure inequality within the Indian diaspora. This working paper examines caste discrimination in contemporary New York, situating it within broader civil rights frameworks and legal precedents. Drawing from headline cases, emerging local laws, and collective bargaining agreements, the paper shows how caste operates as a social category—legally unrecognized yet experientially real. It explores both the possibilities and pitfalls of folding caste into existing categories like race, color, national origin, and religion, while grappling with arguments that frame caste protections as anti-Hindu bias. The paper concludes with a call for explicit legal recognition and sustained public dialogue to address caste-based exclusion in workplaces, campuses, and communities

Contested Class Hegemonies and the Limits of Ethnic Politics in Zambia: The Case of the 2021 Elections

Ethnic politics in Zambia is a function of the extent to which the petty bourgeoisie, who thrive largely on the ideology of tribalism, exercise strong hegemony over the other social classes in their respective ethnic groups. However, when other social classes challenge that hegemony, evidence from the Zambian experience shows that the pertinence of ethnicity as a political force is significantly reduced. The members of the petty bourgeoisie in Zambia have exercised hegemony over other social classes in the country’s post-colonial period after they successfully led the struggle for political independence. The petty bourgeoisie are, however, factionalised along ethnic lines, and the strength of each of the factions in the intra-petty bourgeois struggles depends on how much support the faction has within its ethnic group. This support has not always been assured, and the case of the 2021 elections is one such time. The United Party for National Development received votes in Patriotic Front strongholds because of the challenge to the hegemony of the petty bourgeoisie by the rich peasantry and the urban social classes, particularly the members of the déclassé, within the Bemba and Nyanja ethnic groups. This is not the only case: There are several other historical moments when such challenges have taken place producing results that did not relect the dominance of ethnic factors. Among these are the support for Sata in the Lusaka District in the 2006, 2008 and 2011 elections

In Lieu of the NLRA

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) deteriorates from constitutional attacks and political sabotage. As labor law buckles, its preemption regime, a keystone of U.S. labor governance, has become unsustainable. This Article argues that labor law must flip its federal default by empowering and expanding state-level labor institutions and expanding gaps in NLRA preemption doctrine. Eighteen states already maintain NLRA-like statutory frameworks, and fourteen more recognize workers’ rights to unionize and act collectively as a state public policy. These under-examined laws hint at an alternative labor governance model in lieu of the NLRA. Building on emerging preemption challenges, weaknesses in federal enforcement, and employers’ own challenges to the NLRA, the Article outlines legal strategies turning federal retreat into an organizing opportunity. After describing the slew of state private sector labor laws, the Article uncovers a hidden labor law principle against the use of preemption arguments to create regulatory “no-man’s lands,” where workers have no recourse in state or federal labor law. It also introduces a Catch-22 argument, whereby employers who deny NLRA coverage or authority cannot shield themselves from state law with preemption arguments. Then the Article explore how emerging state labor laws utilize novel trigger mechanisms and the ways regional cooperation can signal the outlines of a bottom-up hybrid labor governance model