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The joint workshop Rethinking Legal Research in and with Africa: Legal Methods, Critical Perspectives, and Decolonial Approaches in the Context of Human Rights and Sustainable Development took place at the City Campus of the University of Antwerp from 16 to 18 March 2026, in collaboration with the Chair of African Legal Studies at the University of Bayreuth.

The workshop was designed specifically for early-career researchers (prospective doctoral, doctoral and postdoctoral researchers) and aimed to foster critical reflection on socio-legal research on human rights and sustainable development in the African context. It built on the observation that international human rights and development research, despite longstanding legitimacy critiques from the Global South, often remains shaped by Global North paradigms and tends to overlook local lived realities and plural legal orders. The workshop responded to this by engaging with critical conceptual and methodological approaches and sought, in particular, to provide early-career researchers with opportunities for exchange, self-reflection and methodological training. Central questions concerned research methods, historical contexts, audiences and researcher positionality.

This event was made possible through the generous support of the OJO grant from the Flemish Government, the Global Minds funding from VLIR-UOS and the dedicated commitment of our speakers.