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 14 February 2020
Events
Poisoned Air: Are Courts the Antidote?, London
Inequality within International Tax, Copenhagen: call for papers
SeNSS Socio-Legal Conference: Using quantitative methods in socio-legal research, Colchester
Lay Participation in Criminal Proceedings, London
Lawyers in Society: A celebration of the work of Philip Lewis and his legacy, Oxford
TLI Discussion on Medicine, Expertise and Liability, London
Supporting Law Students in 2020 and Beyond: Exploring the why, what and how, Leeds
Science and Justice: The family courts, London
The People versus Jack the Ripper with Michael Mulford, London
British Academy of Forensic Sciences Friends Annual Dinner, London
International Roundtables for the Semiotics of Law – IRSL 2021, Rome, Italy: call for papers
SLSA events and SLSA co-sponsored events
Legal Design: Concepts, methods, norms and examples, London: call closes TODAY 14 February 2020
SLS-JAC-SLSA Workshop on Judicial Appointments: ‘Academics as Judges’, Coventry
SLSA Annual Conference 2020, Portsmouth
Interdisciplinarity as Resistance, Gothenburg, Sweden
Publications
New Book: Transnational Law and State Transformation: The case of extractive development in Mongolia by Jennifer Lander
Vacancies
Two lectureships/senior lectureships in law, University of Sussex
Applications are invited for these two permanent posts:
Closing date for both vacancies: 27 February 2020.
Indian equality law visiting fellowships, Melbourne Law School, Australia
Applications are invited for the above fellowships. See website for details. Closing date: 15 February 2020.
Impact chair in Indo-Pacific studies and engagement at the University of Victoria, Canada
Applications are invited for the above post. Closing date: 13 March 2020.
Transnational Law Summer Institute, Bogota 2020: Mobilizing transnational law – call for applications
Applications are invited for this week-long summer school from 6–14 June 2020, at Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de los Andes. See announcement for full details. Closing date: 15 March 2020.
Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Birmingham
Applications are invited for this full-time fixed-term post. Please see website for details. Closing date: 23 February 2020.
University of California Irvine, Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship in Criminology, Law and Society
Applications are invited for the above fellowship. See website for details. Closing date: 1 November 2020.
Fellowships in interdisciplinary legal studies, Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, University at Buffalo, New York
Applications are invited for the latest round of Baldy Center fellowships 2020–21. Please see website for details. Closing date: 20 March 2020.
American Bar Foundation Doctoral Fellowships Program
Applications are invited for this year's American Bar Foundation doctoral fellowships. See website for details. Closing date: 15 February 2020.
Assistant professor and associate professor, School of Law, University of Warwick
Applications are invited for these two full-time permanent posts. Please see website for details. Closing date: 23 February 2020.
Lectureships in constitutional law and criminal law, Kuwait International Law School
Kuwait International Law School (KILAW) is seeking to appoint outstanding candidates to lectureships in constitutional law and criminal law. KILAW is a new law school with faculty drawn from across the world and an international orientation with teaching being conducted in both Arabic and English. Candidates should have a degree in law and a PhD, as well as a strong commitment to innovative teaching at LLB and LLM levels and a developed interest in advancing research in their chosen specialisms. For further details of the posts and the attractive renumeration and support packages available contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Lecturer in law, York Law School
Applications are invited for the above full-time post. Please see website for details. Closing date: 25 February 2020.
Research associate, York Law School
Applications are invited for the above full-time fixed-term post. Please see website for details. Closing date: 2 March 2020.
Online resources
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
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
British Academy research funding consultation
The Academy is consulting researchers and institutions about the support which it currently offers through some of its research funding schemes, particularly its funding and training offer for early career researchers. Researchers are invited to contribute via a short survey by Friday 7 February 2020.
Other announcements
Professor David Sugarman receives award for ground-breaking legal history scholarship and dedication to mentoring
Professor Emeritus David Sugarman has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the American Society for Legal History for his 'scholarly distinction and leadership in the field'. He is the first legal historian of modern England (as distinct from medieval or early modern England) to be so recognised. The award recognises his pioneering role in opening-up and developing a socio-legal history of modern England, and his dedication to mentoring and supporting other scholars. See website for further details.
Sir Ernest Ryder to join the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies as a senior associate
The Centre for Socio-Legal Studies is delighted to announce that the Rt Hon Sir Ernest Ryder will be joining the Centre as a senior associate. Sir Ernest will also be taking over the Mastership of Pembroke when Dame Lynne Brindley steps down at the end of June this year. Sir Ernest is a distinguished member of the judiciary, who was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in 2013, and the Senior President of Tribunals for the UK in 2015. As Senior President he has led a £1bn change transformation programme for the justice system which aims to modernise the courts and tribunals system. He is also the Chair of the Administrative Justice Council and a Trustee of the Nuffield Foundation where he has played an important part in developing a sustainable model for research in justice, welfare and education and building capacity in the field. The Centre for Socio-Legal Studies is looking forward to working with Sir Ernest on itsprogrammes of research in dispute resolution, administrative justice and regulation. See website for further details.