Rethinking North–South Discourses

This volume examines the prevailing discourses on historical injustice by highlighting asymmetries between Global North and Global South perspectives. Moving beyond Western-centric notions of reparative justice, it investigates how epistemic frameworks, lived experiences, and community-based approaches from the Global South reshape debates traditionally grounded in property, territory, and reparations. The introduction outlines how discourses on historical injustices intersect with concepts based on reparations and redress and critiques normative models that risk marginalizing the agency of those most affected by colonial and systemic violence. The volume calls for a dialogical and decolonial approach that bridges Global North and Global South discourses and highlights historical continuity. Instead of addressing reparations as a unidirectional act of compensation, the contributions suggest conceptualizing them as a dynamic and contested terrain. That is, one that includes epistemic restitution, academic transformation and structural change. Through this lens, the dialogues on historical injustices can help us reimagine justice from the margins and beyond Western-centric approaches, with implications for both academic discourse and institutional practice.