The Centre for Social Justice presents:
The 7th International Social Justice Conference
Welcome!
The theme of the conference is Decoloniality, Constitutional Transformation and Social Justice in the Global South: Indigenous Systems, Food Sovereignty and Pathways to Substantive Equality.
- Date: 24 August 2026
- Venue: Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), Stellenbosch, South Africa
- Format: Hybrid (in-person and virtual participation)
Concept
The 7th International Social Justice Conference (7th ISJC) invites scholars, jurists, researchers, policymakers, development practitioners, indigenous knowledge scholars and civil society actors to critically engage questions relating to constitutional transformation, decoloniality, indigenous systems and social justice within the Global South.
Thirty years into constitutional democracy in South Africa under a Constitution that entrenches social justice as one of the pillars of the blueprint the Constitution seeks to establish, social justice and related equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms on a level playing field seem elusive.
The structural inequalities that undermine social justice are not unique to South Africa but are part of a broader global context marked by persistent and intergenerationally transmitted forms of inequality, socio-economic disadvantage and exclusion, food insecurity, ecological vulnerability, and governance. Such disparities remain shaped by histories of colonialism, dispossession and legalised injustice. This is despite constitutions hailed as blueprints for transformative governance undergirded by transformative constitutionalism and socially just sustainable development.
One of the enduring structural inequality legacies of previously legalised injustices such as colonialism, is systemic inequality between the Global North and the Global South impacting on equal enjoyment of political, economic, social and cultural rights on an equal footing within and between societies, with the Global South visibly continuing to bear the yoke of colonial developmental barriers, reflected in epistemic hegemonies, culturally unfit legal systems and the marginalisation of indigenous systems of governance and production, including food production.
These realities raise important questions regarding the extent to which constitutional democracies and governance systems have meaningfully advanced substantive equality, social justice and equitable development, particularly within contexts characterised by structural inequality, food insecurity, ecological vulnerability, and unequal systems of production and distribution.
Read the full call for abstracts below.
Download call for papersThematic conference streams
Abstracts are invited in, but are not limited to, the following thematic areas. Interdisciplinary, comparative, and practice-oriented contributions grounded in social justice constitutional principles are particularly encouraged.
1. Transformative Constitutionalism, Structural Inequality and Social Justice
- transformative constitutionalism and substantive equality;
- restorative and redistributive constitutionalism;
- constitutional governance, social justice and socio-economic rights;
- constitutional accountability and implementation;
- law, inequality and structural exclusion;
- constitutionalism and lived realities; and
- judicial approaches to transformative justice.
2. Decoloniality, Constitutional Futures and Epistemic Justice
- decolonial constitutionalism;
- epistemic justice and legal knowledge systems;
- decoloniality, governance and development;
- decolonial political economy and systems of production;
- decolonising law and public institutions;
- constitutional futures in the Global South; and
- law, power and structural transformation.
3. Indigenous Systems, Governance and Legal Pluralism
- indigenous knowledge systems, constitutional governance and democratic accountability;
- indigenous systems, constitutional transformation and food sovereignty;
- legal pluralism, customary law and substantive equality;
- traditional leadership, governance and constitutional accountability;
- customary law, gender justice and intersectional equality;
- indigenous systems, sustainability and transformative development; and
- critical perspectives on indigenous systems within constitutional democracies.
4. Food Sovereignty, Food Justice and Sustainable Development
- food sovereignty and constitutional rights;
- right to food and transformative constitutionalism;
- food justice and socio-economic inequality;
- indigenous food systems and ecological sustainability;
- climate justice and sustainable livelihoods;
- local economies and community resilience; and
- governance, food systems and constitutional political economy.
5. Governance, Institutional Accountability and Transformative Development
- governance and constitutional accountability;
- local government and transformative development;
- public institutions and socio-economic rights;
- governance failures and structural inequality;
- social justice impact assessment and policy design;
- governance innovation and transformative governance; and
- governance systems and socially responsive development.
6. Restorative and Redistributive Pathways to Social Justice
- restorative constitutionalism and substantive equality;
- redistributive justice and substantive equality;
- recognition and redistribution;
- ubuntu and transformative governance;
- reparative approaches to historical injustice;
- access to justice and social inclusion; and
- pathways toward equitable, sustainable and socially just futures.
Call for abstracts
Scholars, jurists, researchers, policymakers, development practitioners, indigenous knowledge scholars and civil society actors are invited to submit abstracts of 300–400 words to socialjustice@sun.ac.za.
Submission guidelines
- Indicate the theme under which the submission is made (see the thematic streams above).
- Abstract length: 300–400 words.
- Author details: include your full name, institutional affiliation and a short biography (maximum 150 words).
- Submission email: socialjustice@sun.ac.za
Important dates
- Abstract submission deadline: 21 July 2026
- Notification of acceptance: 30 July 2026
- Conference: 24 August 2026
Accepted papers will be considered for inclusion in a post-conference peer-reviewed publication in partnership with JUTA.
Download call for papersRegistration
The conference is a hybrid event hosted at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Accepted presenters may participate either in person or virtually, and attendance is open to registered delegates nationally and internationally.
- In-person attendance: R800 per person (includes meals and conference materials)
- Virtual attendance: R100 per person
Previous Conferences
You can watch free recordings of previous summits and conferences on our website.
Contact
Please direct any enquiries to the Centre for Social Justice, Faculty of Law, Stellenbosch University at socialjustice@sun.ac.za or via the contact form below.