Tracks and traces of the law

The impact of September 11 has perhaps made the ‘post’ in postcolonialism more problematic. The contributors to this issue engage with the scene of the postcolonial in various frameworks. Current conflicts (Palestine/Israel, Tibet), international financial institutions (the IMF), the character of the indigenous (Australia), imperial history (Britain in Sri Lanka, India and China) and Islam and Islamic law are all subjected to a rigorous analysis. Historical research rubs against contemporary questions and the political is rarely absent, if understated. The authors engage with a number of prominent theorists such as Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, Bruce Kapferer and Gayatri Spivak, who all share in common an insistence on the significance of the retrieval of knowledge that colonialism sought to repress and efface.