Global Racism: A Challenge for the World
Racism, in all of its forms, harms millions of people around the world, but what exactly is it? The answer, Anna Spain Bradley argues, is older, more complex, and more global than we have ever acknowledged. In Global Racism: A Challenge for the World, Spain Bradley names global racism as an uncharted form of oppression operating on a global scale that interacts with the human ecosystem and world order. Global racism is ubiquitous and universally available, capable of existing anywhere and everywhere people are.
The book creates space for compelling conversations, connecting people across continents and cultures in recognition of a shared form of oppression.
In this fireside chat, Laurence Boisson de Chazournes will have a conversation with Anna Spain Bradley about her new book exploring global racism across continents and cultures, through history, international law and modern accounts. Their discussion will also reflect on deeper themes connected to peace, human rights and our shared humanity. The event will conclude with audience engagement and questions.
The book is available for purchase in advance with a 30% discount using the code AUFLY30 from Oxford University Press. The author will be available to sign books after the event. [Please note that book sales are not offered at the event.]
Speakers
Anna Spain Bradley is MacArthur Foundation Chair in International Justice and Human Rights Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law.
Professor Spain Bradley’s work focuses on international law and the promotion of human rights and peace. In her latest book, Global Racism: A Challenge for the World, she articulates racism as a universally available form of oppression operating on a global scale that poses a serious threat to humanity. The book builds upon her law review article ‘Human Rights Racism’ (2019) identifying racism as an undefined violation of human rights under international law.
Spain Bradley’s first book Human Choice in International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2021) challenges traditional assumptions about rationality in legal decision making by introducing insights from neuroscience to the study of international legal and political decision making. Professor Spain Bradley has a distinguished record of public service and international leadership. In 2024, she was appointed by President Joseph R. Biden to the World Bank ICSID Panel of Conciliators. In 2021, she was appointed as a Legal Expert to the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee addressing the prevention of racist and xenophobic discrimination.
Laurence Boisson de Chazournes is an academic and a practitioner in international law. A visiting professor at several universities, she was Professor of International Law at the University of Geneva between 1999 and 2024, and retains an honorary professorship.
Prior to joining the University of Geneva, she worked as Senior Counsel to the World Bank. Professor Boisson de Chazournes has made important contributions in the areas of international institutional law, international environmental law and dispute settlement. She is currently the President of the Council of the Center for International Dispute Settlement (CIDS) and was the Director of the LL.M. in International Dispute Settlement (MIDS) until 2024.
She acts as an arbitrator for the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Professor Boisson de Chazournes also acts as advocate and counsel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and other dispute settlement fora.
Moderation
Anne Saab, Associate Professor of International Law, Geneva Graduate Institute.
