Bio

I have held the Chair of Global Law and Development at Tilburg Law School since 2015. I received my Ph.D. from the European University Institute, Florence (2006) on ‘The Romani Claim to Non-territorial Nationhood’; hold an LL.M. (distinction; British Academy scholarship) in International Law from the University of Nottingham (2000) and an M.A. Hons. (1st) in History from the University of Edinburgh (1999). I have worked as a researcher at the European Roma Rights Center, Budapest, and as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, Maastricht University. I have been a visiting professor at FGV Direito, Sao Paolo; Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto; and IDC Tel Aviv. I am a founder and series editor of the CUP Global Law book series; am director of the European Joint Doctorate in Law and Development (EDOLAD); and was elected a corresponding member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences (KAOW) in 2018.  

Expertise

My research straddles two fields of law: Law and Development, and Law and Globalization. My work focuses on questions of exclusion, inclusion and participation – and on the impact of law in creating exclusion, structuring inclusion and in providing space for both participation and resistance. I am particularly interested in how global (development) narratives shape and are shaped by these dynamics.

I recently completed a three-year Dutch Science Organisation (NWO) funded research project in Rwanda examining questions of the exclusion and (self-)identity of the Batwa in relation to global narratives of indigeneity; and I am currently working on the accompanying book. I head the second pillar of TLS's Global Law research programme, which focuses on what it is (ethically/ politically) to be a global lawyer.

Courses

Recent publications

  1. Equality in development - A reflection on meaning

    Goodwin, M. (2023). Equality in development: A reflection on meaning. In I. Ikdahl, K. Sandberg, J. Stewart, V. Blaker Strand, & T. Linn Waerstad (Eds.), Hellums metode : Festskrift til Anne Hellum 70 år (pp. 95-103). Gyldendal Akademisk.
  2. Away with oppressed methodology! - Reflections on an experiment in la…

    Goodwin, M., Ikdahl, I., Eenmaa, H., & Enciso Santocildes, M. (2022). Away with oppressed methodology! : Reflections on an experiment in law & development education. Verfassung und Recht in Übersee, 55(2), 187-206.
  3. Evaluating the success of decentralisation in facilitating the inclus…

    Goodwin, M. (2022). Evaluating the success of decentralisation in facilitating the inclusion of Rwanda’s marginalised. The European Journal of Development Research , 34(5), 2251-2271.
  4. Good governance

    Goodwin, M. (2021). Good governance. In K. De Feyter, G. Erdem Türkelli, & S. de Moerloose (Eds.), Encyclopedia of law and development (pp. 104-107). Eward Elgar.
  5. A comment on ‘gender-sensitive analysis of water governance - Insight…

    Goodwin, M. (2020). A comment on ‘gender-sensitive analysis of water governance: Insights for engendering energy transitions’. In J. Clancy, G. Özerol, N. Mohlakoana, M. Feenstra, & L. Sol Cueva (Eds.), Engendering the energy transition (pp. 237-240). Palgrave.

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