Rachovitsa: Teaching and (Un)learning International Law in Qatar

Adamantia Rachovitsa (Univ. of Groningen - Law) has posted Teaching and (Un)learning International Law in Qatar (in Teaching International Law, JP Gauci & B Sander eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

International law is experienced and taught in different ways. There is a growing scholarship attentive to the needs of a ‘global classroom’ in universities based in the West and a considerable conversation on how critical approaches should inform teaching and learning. Interestingly, not much has been written on the experience of Western-trained international law scholars who have taught in non-Western institutions. The present contribution reflects upon my personal experience (as a Western-trained international legal scholar) of having taught international law and human rights law for four years at Qatar University, Qatar. It argues for the possibility of co-producing non-conventional pedagogies which interrogate the Western and mainstream underpinnings of international law.

The book chapter discusses how fostering students’ agency and establishing a co-creative and trusting learning environment paves the way for countering the ‘parachuted’ Western features of an international law course. Specific examples are analysed on how the teaching of international law was adapted to accommodate students’ lived experiences and aspirations. Linking the legacy of (post)colonialism to the early making of international law, in connection to issues relevant to the country, and using learning tools contextually relevant to students’ identities were of paramount significance. The discussion explores techniques that engaged with and harnessed students’ sense of distrustfulness towards international law. Moreover, the distinction between civilised and ‘uncivilised’ nations, and how it formed the foundations for the making of State sovereignty and international law, not only allowed the class to unpack international law’s role in construing coloniality but also showed the enduring relevance of internalised perceptions of colonialism in the rest of the world. Finally, State creation was approached by reframing the narrative about the creation of Qatar as a State. In light of the fact that Qatar’s history is essentially based on the written colonial archive – Lorimer’s Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf –, students disrupted coloniality first by discovering and (re)telling relevant local oral storytelling (hi)stories and, second, by discovering and deconstructing Lorimer’s Gazetteer.