A newly published article examines how development can reproduce injustice when its benefits for some come at the expense of others. It analyses the legacy of colonial land dispossession and the limited progress toward restorative justice in Namibia, and argues that decolonisation requires addressing the structural inequalities that persist and returning appropriated resources to affected communities.
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“Development” has like “justice” different meanings. In practice, development which appears as beneficial to some, can be at the expense of others. Such development turns into injustice. This is documented by a new critically analysis of the legacy of colonial land dispossession and its impacts on marginalized communities in Namibia, revealing the limitations to, if not absence of restorative justice. The article “Development as (In)Justice: The Case of Namibia“, written by Laura Camfield, Uma Kothari and Henning Melber argues that true decolonization requires commitment to substantive change through addressing the social structures that perpetuate material inequalities. It advocates a decolonial vision of justice as restorative justice, to tackle the material inequalities perpetuating colonial structures.
Decolonisation necessitates revealing the multiple and diverse meanings of justice and how these have historically shaped understandings of global inequalities and their lasting effects. Decoloniality must entail giving back appropriated resources and the undoing of economic structures that reproduce colonial inequalities. Decoloniality must have real material effects in favour of those who were the victims of colonialism.
The full article has just been published open access in the journal Progress in Development Studies and is available online.