Author Archives: Howie Rechavia-Taylor

About Howie Rechavia-Taylor

Howie Rechavia-Taylor is a Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations at LSE. He recently received his PhD in Anthropology from Columbia Univer- sity. His book manuscript, currently titled: “Grammars of the Shoah: Racial Justice in the Aftermath of Genocide”, explores the question of how the history of Jewish redress, informs the way other European histories of racial violence are narrated, contested, and repaired. He has published in venues such as the online Political and Legal Anthropology Review and E-International Relations. He has research interests beyond this in critical race and queer theory, international political theory, and settler colonial studies.

German Colonialism in the Courtroom— Law, Reparation, and the Grammars of the Shoah

Abstract: In the quest to address the lingering consequences of colonialism and slavery, activists and human rights practitioners have increasingly utilized legal channels. This article focuses on the Ovaherero and Nama people’s pursuit of reparations from Germany in hearings held in New York between 2017 and 2019. It explores the historical conditions for bringing such a case in the United States, arguing that the 1990s economy-focused Holocaust Restitution Movement is a crucial backdrop. The argument examines the implications of applying this ‘thefticide’ framework to a Continue reading → Continue reading →