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 22 July 2021
Events
Virtual RCSL Conference and call for papers for WG Law and Popular Culture
The Matter of Silver: substance, surface, shimmer, trauma, online 3-day BA interdisciplinary conference
SLSA events and co-sponsored events
Art, Law and Borders: Borderlands in theory and the everyday, online
Migrants in Art / Migrant Artists' Rights - Value of Art: Artist showcase, online
Decolonising the Criminal Question: Colonial legacies, contemporary problems, Warwick
Doing Socio-Legal Research in a Pandemic: How, why, when, where?, online SLSA one-day conference – call for papers
Publications
Problematizing Law, Rights, and Childhood in Israel/Palestine, by Hedi Viterbo
Sentencing Council Annual Report 2020/21
Online resources
BA 10-Minute Talks: Professor Stuart Elden discusses The Early Foucault
Vacancies
AHRC New Generation Thinkers scheme: open for applications
Apply to develop and record programmes for the BBC as part of the New Generation Thinkers scheme. See website for details. Closing date: 23 September 2021.
Translator for English into Latin American legal Spanish needed for research project
Applications are invited for the above translation work. Please see announcement for full details. Closing date: 31 August 2021. The work needs to be completed in September 2021.
Teacher in Competition Law, Sheffield University
Applications are invited for this full-time, fixed-term (24-month) post in the School of Law. See website for details: reference UOS029115. Closing date: 29 July 2021.
Lecturer in Law, University of York
Applications are invited for this full-time post. Please see website for details. closing date: 29 July 2021.
UCI Global Scholars Early Career Fellowships, UCI Global Studies Conference, University of California, Irvine
Early career scholars that are doing critical interdisciplinary research on pressing global issues are encouraged to apply for a fellowship to attend the 3rd Annual UCI Global Studies Conference. The conference will be on 21 and 22 January 2022 and will be hosted by the Department of Global and International Studies at the University of California Irvine. See website for details. Closing date: 1 October 2021.
Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Oxford: fellowship opportunities
The Centre for Socio-Legal Studies in Oxford would welcome expressions of interest from early career scholars interested in applying for one of the following two schemes.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie 2021 Individual Fellowships – deadline for expressions of interest: 3 August 2021
Offers support for experienced post-doctoral researchers of any nationality to come and work at a European institution for 12–24 months. Proposals are joint submissions between the Fellow and their host Department/supervisor.
British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship – deadline for expressions of interest: 1 September 2021
Award supports a 36-month fellowship for outstanding early career researchers in the humanities or social sciences. Expressions of interest welcomed.
If you would like to discuss the possibility of being hosted by the Centre please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professor Scheme: call for applications
Applications are invited for this scheme which enables UK institutions to invite an eminent researcher from overseas to enhance the skills and knowledge of the academic staff and/or students. See website for details. Next closing date: 7 October 2021.
Virtual Knowledge Frontiers Symposium: call for participants
The British Academy and the Polish Academy of Sciences are inviting applications for early career researchers in the humanities and social sciences to participate in a virtual Knowledge Frontiers Symposium on the broad theme of 'Just Transitions'. See announcement for details. Closing date: 21 July 2021.
Two PhD opportunities, Centre for Access to Justice and Inclusion, Anglia Ruskin University
Applications are invited for the following openings.
- Framing reproductive violence as a crime distinct from sexual violence in international crime law
- An employer's right to know
Both can be undertaken on either a part-time or full-time basis. Closing date: September 2021.
Online resources
BA 10-Minute Talks: Professor Stuart Elden discusses The Early Foucault
Listen to Professor Elden discuss his book The Early Foucault in this 10-minute talk from the British Academy.
Institute for International Law and the Humanities at Melbourne Law School Podcast
The IILAH podcast is the online home of lectures and conversations hosted by the Institute for International Law and the Humanities at Melbourne Law School. Please see website for details.
KG Kannabiran Lectures on Law, Justice and Human Rights
A series of lectures organised by the family of K G Kannabiran (1929–2010) to remember him 10 years after his death: jurists, lawyers and judges who knew and worked with KG Kannabiran recall and celebrate his life, his work, and his futures. Details can be found on the YouTube Channel.
The Countersign Podcast hosted by Professor Stewart Motha
Countersign is a podcast hosted by Stewart Motha, Professor of Law at Birkbeck. Stewart and guests discuss books, films, and other materials from across disciplines which open new perspectives on law, difference, and plural existence.
The Oxford Putney Debates: All five of this year's debates now available online
This year these events livestreamed as webinar debates on 'The Sovereignty of Parliament'. The entire series, featuring Sir Adam Roberts, AC Grayling, Helen Mountfield QC, and a host of other panellists, is now available online.
Criminal Justice Natters: new YouTube channel
Dr Ed Johnston, University of the West of England, has launched a new videocast channel which will feature interviews with individuals wth an interest in criminal justice. In the first episode, Ed will be speaking to Liam Allan who was accused of rape in 2016 and took two years to clear his name. The second episode will US lawyer David Rudolf of The Staircase documentary series. See Criminal Jusice Natters on YouTube for details.
Catch-Up Webinar: Populism and the law, by Prof Daniel Smilov, hosted by the Foundation for Law, Justice and Society, Oxford
Catch up on FLJS Fellow Prof Daniel Smilov's webinar exploring the link between the rise of populism and the rule of law in liberal democracies. Prof Smilov challenges prevailing wisdom on populist regimes in Eastern Europe, offering instead a provocative 'anti-paternalist' thesis to argue that populism in fact fits well with many liberal constitutional principles. See website for details.
Catch-Up Webinar: The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty, hosted by the Foundation for Law, Justice and Society, Oxford
A panel of experts discuss The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty, a crucial new big-picture framework that answers the question of how liberty flourishes in some states but falls to authoritarianism or anarchy in others, by Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson, the authors of the international bestseller Why Nations Fail. See website for details.
Doing Ethnography Remotely: Stanford Centre for Global Ethnography – six video interviews with researchers
In this video series, the Center's co-directors Sharika Thiranagama (Anthropology) and Sylvia Yanagisako (Anthropology) interview six ethnographers who have conducted research remotely. See website for details.
IEL Collective: call for contriutions to IEL Pop-up Collection
The IEL (international economic law) Collective invites contributions for its online pop-up collection of artefacts (objects or images). Please see website for details.
Networks
'Utopian Legalities, Prefigurative Politics, and Radical Governance': New international CRN of the LSA
Organisers Davina Cooper, Amelia Thorpe, Bronwen Morgan have launced this new Collaborative Research Network (CRN) of the Law and Society Association (LSA) – membership of the LSA is not required to join the network. See announcement for full details. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are interested in joining.
Queer Lawyers of Tomorrow: Breaking barriers to assist the next generation of LGBTQIA+ lawyers
This new network's key aim is is to support the queer aspiring lawyer community across the UK with the creation of an inclusive, informative network. It seeks to support the development of professional relationships enabling likeminded people to connect. Queer Lawyers of Tomorrow is also planning to create a calendar of events that are of particular interest to queer aspiring lawyers whilst holding a few annual events of its own. Social mobility will also be put at the forefront of the network's activities with all its events and opportunities being accessible to all. For further information, please see announcement and website for details.
Pracademia Network: new network for UK and international pracademics
The new Pracademia Network aims to:
- inform the development of training programmes
- encourage and share best practice and
- facilitate internal/external collaborations
for the benefit of a much wider group of local, national and international stakeholders; including academics, students, Higher Education Institutions, and other organisations. The network has been set up with the help of Advance HE following research at Sheffield Hallam University around former/current practitioners who now lecture/research in HE. See the website for further details.
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
Can you help a team at the Oxford Centre for Socio-legal studies support people attending hearings online?
A team at the Oxford Centre for Socio-Legal studies, led by Linda Mulcahy, has been funded by the ESRC to help develop some short introductory films for tribunal users who are due to appear in court online. The team are working in partnership with HMCTS on this project. They have developed a short pilot film aimed at helping members of the public and are in the process of testing it out with as many people as possible in the hope of better meeting the information needs of lay users. Do you have 15 mins to watch the film and give the team some feedback?
The film and survey are accessible via this link.
If you know of anyone else who may be interested in taking part, then please feel free to circulate the survey to them as well.
For more information or to discuss this project with me or another member of our project team, then please don’t hesitate to get in contact with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Postdoctoral Researcher, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford. Thanks for your help!
Call for submissions for the Law Commission’s 14th Programme of Law Reform – call to academic colleagues from Sir Nicholas Green
Sentencing Council: Consultation on new sentencing guideline for importation of firearms offences
On 17 June the Sentencing Council opened a consultation on a draft sentencing guideline covering importation of firearms and ammunition under two Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 offences. Please see website for details. Consultation closes: 8 September 2021.
Sentencing Council: Consultation on revised sentencing guidelines for burglary offences
Plans to revise sentencing guidelines for domestic, non-domestic and aggravated burglary offences in England and Wales have been published for consultation by the Sentencing Council. See website for details. Closing date: 1 September 2021.
Law Commission Consultation: Regulating Coal Tip Safety in Wales
The Welsh Government has asked the Law Commission to evaluate current legislation and to consider options for new legislation to ensure a robust, integrated and future-proofed regulatory system which adopts a uniform approach to inspection, maintenance and record-keeping throughout the life cycle of all coal tips from creation to abandonment to remedial works. See website for details: 10 September 2021.
The Law Commission Consultation Paper on Electronic Trade Documents
The Law Commission is conducting a public consultation on provisional proposals to allow for electronic trade documents, such as electronic bills of lading and bills of exchange, to have the same effect in law as their paper equivalents. Please see website for full details. Closing date: 30 July 2021.
Law Commission Call for Evidence on Digital Assets
The Law Commission is considering reform of the legal treatment of cryptoassets and digital assets. The call for evidence is the first step in this process and seeks information from stakeholders and market participants on how such assets are being used and dealt with and about how the law might accommodate them now and in the future. See website for full details. Closing date: 30 July 2021.
Sentencing Council: Sexual offences guideline – consultation
The Sentencing Council is consulting on proposals to revise sentencing guidelines for child sexual offences in cases where no sexual activity takes place or the targeted child does not exist. The revised guidelines will clarify how courts in England and Wales should sentence offenders convicted of these offences. See announcement and website for details. Closing date: 13 August 2021.
Other announcements
Teaching LGBT+ rights in UK law schools: invitation to take part in a survey
Dr Senthorun Raj from Keele University is undertaking a study on LGBT+ rights teaching in UK law schools. If you are an academic who teaches an undergraduate module about LGBT+ rights at a UK law school, please complete this anonymous online survey. This survey is designed to gather data on the emotional experiences of designing, teaching, and managing an LGBT+ rights module. It should take between 5-10 minutes to complete. If you have any concerns or questions about the survey, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
IALS Library Virtual Roadshows: find out how IALS Library can support you and your PGR students
Access to scholarly legal information is crucial to teaching and researching the law. The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Library (IALS Library) is considered to be the national library for legal research and we provide academics and the postgraduate legal research community with access to the most extensive collections of foreign and international law in the UK. What’s more, membership of IALS Library is freely available to all academic staff and law PGR students.
Each year the librarians at IALS Library take to the road to talk to law school faculty and PGR students across the UK about our collections and the ways in which we can support legal research. We call this the IALS Library roadshow! Covid has meant we have had to adapt and so, for now, the roadshows have moved online. If you think your academic staff and PGR students would benefit from knowing more about the resources on offer at IALS Library (including how to access subscription research databases which may not otherwise be available to them) email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to set up a virtual roadshow at your law school.
Tribute to Don Harris, former director of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Oxford University
Staff at the Law Faculty at Oxford University were saddened to hear of the death of Donald Harris on 10 August 2020. One of his many achievements was the centre role he played in establishing the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at Oxford in 1972. He was the centre's director for 21 years. The current director, Professor Linda Mulcahy, commemorates his work and legacy on behalf of her colleagues at the centre.
Tribute to Reza Banakar, Professor of Legal Sociology, Lund University
Following the recent death of Professor Reza Banakar, the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, has published a tribute to its former colleague. Reza held the Paul Dodyk Resarch Fellowship at the centre from 1997 to 2002. He was also Professor of Law at the University of Westminster before moving to a Chair in Legal Sociology at Lund University. He was also a lifelong member of the SLSA.
Law and Society Association commemorates the life of its former president, Professor Sally Engle Merry
The Law and Society Association is inviting expressions of condolences following the recent death of Professor Sally Engle Merry. Sally was a pre-eminent law and society scholar, who won many prestigious awards during her career and whose work was hugely influential. Those who knew her either personally or through her work are invited to contribute to the condolences page.