Description
Reparations claims are currently gaining attention through the involvement of intergovernmental organisations such as the Commonwealth, CARICOM, the African Union and the United Nations, sparking controversial debates and aiming to redefine diplomatic relations. At the same time, non-state actors are already establishing projects under the framework of reparations, filling it with meaning and concrete practices. In particular, the British-Caribbean space is defined by actors who work towards reparations and who navigate transnational institutional structures and “dangerous arenas” (Anderl & Salehi 2025), making use of these structures and making them work for it. Bringing together feminist and critical legal approaches to cartography, this paper explores empirically these transnational reparation initiatives for colonial and imperial violence. What are the money and knowledge flows in the reparations struggle that travel in this space? What is the role of charities and philanthropy in the struggle for repair? And when is a reparations project considered legitimate, and by whom? With an approach to follow the money, this paper illustrates a cartography of people, knowledge, and power (cf. Kennedy 2016, Alexander and Mohanty 2010), mapping central figures and organisations, such as professionals and donors, how they are transnationally entangled, and how they produce and transfer knowledge.
