Socio-legal news
Welcome to the news section of the SLSA website. This area is divided into the following categories:
- Events
- Publications
- Research and funding
- Vacancies
- Online resources
- Networks
- Consultations, inquiries and surveys
- Other announcements
If you would like an item added to the news section, please contact the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
New for week ending 6 December 2019 . . .
Events
Sir Richard Arnold, Westminster Law School Annual Lecture, London
University Association for Contemporary European Studies Conference: Health in Europe Panel, Belfast – call for abstracts
SLSA events and SLSA co-sponsored events
SLSA Postgraduate Conference, Edinburgh
SLS-JAC-SLSA Workshop on Judicial Appointments: ‘Academics as Judges’, Coventry
SLSA Annual Conference 2019, Portsmouth
Interdisciplinarity as Resistance, Gothenburg, Sweden
Legal Design: Concepts, methods, norms and examples, London
Publications
New book: Parental Rights, Best Interests and Significant Harms: Medical decision-making on behalf of children post-Great Ormond Street Hospital v Gard, edited by Imogen Goold, Jonathan Herring and Cressida Auckland – 20% discount
New book: Policing Compassion: Begging, law and power in public spaces, by Jonathan Hermer – 20% discount
New book: Digital Family Justice: From alternative dispute resolution to online dispute resolution?, edited by Mavis Maclean and Bregje Dijksterhuis – 20% discount
New book: Confronting Penal Excess: Retribution and the politics of penal minimalism, by David Hayes – 20% discount
Funding
British Academy Flexigrant: call for proposals for conference funding in 2021
Vacancies
Two funded PhD studentships Northumbria University
Vacancies
Two funded PhD studentships Northumbria University
Applications are invited for two studentships at Northumbria University:
- Artificial intelligence as source of police intelligence and evidence
- Police use of data from sky and space – technical advancements and national and international legal and regulatory challenges
Please follow links above for details. Closing date for both studentships: 24 January 2020.
Policy and education developments editors: The Law Teacher – call for applications
The Law Teacher: The International Journal of Legal Education is seeking to appoint a new policy and education developments editor or editor team. Please see announcement for further details. Closing date: 20 December 2019.
PhD and postdoctoral funding opportunities, York Law School
Applications are invited for the Acton Society Trust studentship. Expressions of interest are also invited in ESRC, AHRC and international funding competitions to be based at York Law School and for funding competitions for postdoctoral competitions. Please see announcement for details.
Professor of law, University of Warwick
Applications are invited for the above position. Please see website for details. Closing date: 8 December 2019.
Reader in law, University of Warwick
Applications are invited for the above position. Please see website for details. Closing date: 8 December 2019.
Call for expressions of interest to join the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Advisory Council
Expression of interest are invited to join the IALS Advisory Council. Please see attachment for details. Closing date: 17 January 2020.
Assistant professor in law (criminal law/criminology), LSE
Applications are invited for the above position. Please see website for details. Closing date: 29 November 2019.
Programme director: Youth Futures, British Academy
The British Academy is seeking to appoint a programme director to engage with a multi-year programme on Youth Futures, supported through the UK Government’s Global Challenges Research Fund. See website for details. Closing date: 11 December 2019.
Online resources
Sabinet partnership wih Jisc gives access to African law journals
For the past 35 years, Sabinet has continued to innovate and expand on ways to achieve its inaugural intent – to facilitate the sharing of library resources and access to information. One such innovation is its newest partnership with UK-based Jisc – a leading provider of digital solutions for UK education and research. Visit the website for details.
Networks
European Reproductive Justice network: call for interest
This is a call to anyone interested in being part of a European Reproductive Justice network. The aim of the network is to share knowledge of law, society and culture across Europe in relation to reproductive justice. The network recognises reproductive justice as a core element of human rights, particularly, but not exclusively for women. As such, the focus is upon, but is not limited to:
- ability and means to become pregnant
- ability and means to prevent pregnancy
- support around and for decision to remain pregnant
- support around and for decision to discontinue a pregnancy
- obstetric healthcare
- gynaecological healthcare
- obstetric violence
- economic and social support for parents or those wishing to become parents
This is an interdisciplinary network for academics, professionals and activists. If you are interested in being part of the network then please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Invitation to Join the Global Research Network
Expressions of interest are invited for SLSA members to the Global Research Network, a meeting place for doctoral and early career scholars in law and the humanities.
Network members support one another by, for example, arranging visits to their university to speak, sharing useful information about the newest developments in the field, and participating in regular webinars on key topics of interest (publication strategies, career planning, etc). There are PhD and early career writing groups that meet monthly. There is a members’ forum that includes tips and resources, job and fellowship opportunities, and conference calls and publication opportunities. We are also establishing a Think Tank (with programmes in various field of law), and inviting established scholars to act as mentors.
Please contact our This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. via email if you have any questions or fill in the sign-up form online, where you will find more information.
The Legal Cultures of the Subsoil Database – new database launched by the Institute of Latin American Studies
The Legal Cultures of the Subsoil Database compiles legal actions and documentation (artefacts) devised in the context of mining conflicts. It has resulted from an ESRC-funded anthropological project led by ILAS lecturer, Dr Ainhoa Montoya, that explored how legal languages, instruments and institutions are employed by different actors within the field of environmental politics, specifically in the context of mining conflicts. It currently contains information on six mining projects in Central America, with plans to expand to other Latin American regions in the future.
To learn more about the database and the wider 'Legal Cultures of the Subsoil' project please consult the following blog contributions:
- ‘The Legal Cultures of the Subsoil’: mapping the use of law in environmental politics in Central America
- A database of legal actions and artefacts devised in conflicts over mineral resources
The database will continue to be developed and expanded during 2020, as part of a British Academy–GCRF sponsored project, ‘The Juridification of Resource Conflicts: Legal Cultures, Moralities and Environmental Politics in Central America’. A Spanish-language version will be available by the end of 2020. If you have any questions or comments about the database or the wider research projects, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The IEL Collective: launch of a new international economic law initiative
The IEL Collective was launched on Thursday 23 May 2019. It is an initiative started by research centres based at seven law schools around the UK and we are hoping to include more partners from around the world shortly. The IEL Collective provides a space for critical reflection on the complex interactions in the growing field of international economic law and exploring how epistemological and methodological diversity in the discipline can contribute towards the development of a more holistic landscape of scholarship on law and the governance of the global economy. The Collective aims to stimulate conversations about plurality, representation and, criticality, in researching, teaching and practising international economic law and spark new conversations about the future of the discipline. Visit the website for more information
Current partners include: Cardiff Law and Global Justice, University of Cardiff; Centre for Critical International Law, University of Kent; Centre for Law, Regulation and Governance of the Global Economy, University of Warwick; Human Rights Centre, University of Essex; Human Rights Law Centre, University of Nottingham; Liverpool Economic Governance Unit, University of Liverpool; School of Law, University of Bristol; Social Critiques of Law, University of Kent.
To receive more information and get involved, please sign up here.
Consultations, inquiries and surveys
Law Commission consultation on automated vehicles
The Law Commission has published its second consultation on its review of the regulatory framework for the safe deployment of automated vehicles. Please see website for details. Closing date: 16 January 2020.
Other announcements
Call for interview participants: 'Incorporating gender and intersectional perspectives into your teaching of criminal law, criminology and criminal justice'
Are you a feminist academic? Do you incorporate gender and intersectional perspectives into your teaching of Criminal Law, Criminology or Criminal Justice? Would you like to take part in an interview (via Zoom) during November to tell us about your experiences for our SLSA-funded project? If so, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and they will send you the information and link to the doodle poll so you can select a time for your interview. Your name will not be visible to other participants on doodle and all responses will be fully anonymised after the interview. As a token of our appreciation we will be able to offer participants a £20 book voucher after the interview.