Decolonising the Teaching of International Economic Law (IEL): A Critical Reflection of Two Global South Scholars Situated on Either Side of The North-South Divide

This paper offers a critical reflection of the authors’ experiences as Global South teachers of International Economic Law (IEL) while situated on opposite sides of the North-South divide, engaging with the practicalities of decolonising the teaching of IEL within our respective universities. Although some attention has been given to the decolonisation of the pedagogy of international law broadly defined and IEL as a sub-speciality of international law, limited studies have explored the comparative perspectives and experiences of Global South scholars who teach IEL in universities on opposite sides of the Global North-South divide. Adopting an autoethnographic methodology, we explore the issue of decolonisation and Eurocentrism of IEL through our personal experiences and reflective practice as decolonisation scholars. Our experiences are discussed around two core themes: knowledge production and curriculum design/teaching strategy. Specifically, this paper highlights our experiences based on our different journeys, first, as students trained in Eurocentric epistemologies and our subsequent efforts as teachers of IEL, seeking to contribute to the decolonisation of IEL teaching and scholarship in our respective institutions.