News: socio-legal publications
This page contains details of socio-legal publications including books, journals, reports, papers and newsletters/bulletins.
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Latest publications ...
Latest from Frontiers of Socio-Legal Studies: Learning from Disability Scholarship
Sentencing Council: response to an independent research review of the domestic abuse guideline
Latest from the JLS Blog: three new posts
Books
New book: Leading Works in Law and Anthropology, edited by Alice Margaria and Larissa Vetters
The academic disciplines of law and sociocultural anthropology have a long but at times contentious history of drawing on each other in order to study and understand law and human experience in its diverse manifestations. This volume provides an innovative and engaging format by giving established and emerging scholars from diverse jurisdictions the opportunity to discuss and reflect upon what they consider to be a ‘leading work’. See website for details. Use code EFLY03 for 20% discount.
New book: Family Law Reform Now: Proposals and critique, edited by Charlotte Bendall and Rehana Parveen: 20% discount
This collection provides a snapshot of big ideas in family law reform. It asks: if you could change one part of family law, what would it be? This deceptively simple question is answered by 10 family law experts and debated within the volume by expert respondents.
The book puts the proposal first, forcing authors (and their respondents) to critically engage with what family law should look like, and where the development of law is needed to address the changing landscape of family life. Cultural and religious plurality, the use of technology, and changes in societal attitudes have all had an impact on the continuing evolution of families. As a consequence, the law has some complex challenges to address in its attempt to regulate familial diversity. See website and flyer for details and discount code.
New book: Rethinking Human Rights: Critical insights from Palestinian youth by Erika Jiménez: 20% discount
Drawing on research in the occupied West Bank, this book explores the three layers of marginalisation faced by Palestinian young people—the occupation; the Palestinian pseudo-state; and patriarchal structures—to show how these barriers influence their understanding of, and scepticism towards, human rights. Influenced by decolonialist theories, this book illuminates how space needs to be created for the counter-narratives of the oppressed in human rights discourse which may not align with more orthodox representations of human rights. It contends that human rights in the Palestinian context (and beyond) needs to be critiqued, decolonised and ultimately transformed. See website for details. Use code GLR BD8 at checkout.
New book: Gender, Sexuality and Law: A Textbook, edited by Chris Ashford and Alexander Maine: 25% member discount
This textbook combines pioneering feminist and queer judgments and statutes with critical and intersectional theories, to provide a comprehensive overview of the field of gender, sexuality and law. A diverse range of socio-legal experts set out the theoretical and legal foundations of the topic, before examining the ongoing struggle for rights and contemporary dissenting voices. See website for details. Use code SLSA25 for SLSA member discount.
Journals
Laws special issue: Repelling Asylum-Seekers in Europe? Asylum-Seekers as an 'Anomaly' in EU and UK Migration Laws and Policies: call for papers
Laws is inviting submissions for a special issue. To find out more please see the website or flyer. Closing date: 30 October 2025.
Latest issue of Law and Society Review published by Cambridge University Press
Law and Society Review 58(3), the journal of the Law and Society Association, has just been published by Cambridge University Press. See website for details.
'The Hidden Histories of the Pinochet Case', by David Sugarman: open access article
See website for full access to this open access article in the Journal of Law and Society.
Protection and Assistance to the Family: Interpreting and Applying Article 10 ICESCR from Learnt and Lived Experiences
This article by Koldo Casla and Lyle Barker is published in the Journal of Human Rights Practice. See website for details.
International Journal of Law in Context – open access from 2025 volume
Cambridge University Press, the publisher of the International Journal of Law in Context, has announced that from volume 2025 the journal will be open access (OA) and that any authors without OA funding will have the OA payment waived. See the journal's website for full details and submission information.
Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly: special issue on 'The Windsor Framework – guarantees, gaps and governance' just published
The Windsor Framework – the name given to the reworked protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland – is the subject of a recently published special issue of the Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly edited by Tobias Lock, Mary Dobbs and Karen Lynch Shally of Maynooth University.
Please see announcement for further details or visit the website to access the whole issue which has been made available open access.
New journal: Gender and Justice - call for submissions
Gender and Justice is a new, international and transdisciplinary feminist journal dedicated to advancing critical feminist scholarship on justice in the social sciences and from different methodological perspectives.
The journal aims to showcase innovative contributions that are theoretically-driven and/or empirically-grounded approaches to various forms of gender inequality, injustice and exclusion which influence and shape individuals' lives across diverse and global contexts. The editors’ conception of justice is comprehensive. It encompasses economic, social, criminal, distributive, environmental, cultural and political dimensions.
The editorial team is led by Dr Sharron FitzGerald (Cresppa-GTM, Paris, France), Professor Anna Carline (University of Liverpool, UK) and Professor Lesley McMillan, (Glasgow Caledonian University, UK).
The first issue will publish in the Spring of 2025. The journal is open for submissions! Learn more about Gender and Justice.
Legalities: The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Law and Society – call for papers
Legalities is the official journal of the Law and Society Association of Australia and New Zealand (LSAANZ), and the premier journal for socio-legal studies in the region of Aotearoa, Australasia and the Global South. The editors are seeking submissions for the next general issue of the journal, due to be published in October 2025. See announcement and website for details.
GRUR International: Journal of European and International IP Law: call for contributions
Continuously publishing impactful intellectual property and competition law research for over 70 years, GRUR International welcomes submissions on a wide range of content, from copyright and neighbouring rights to the law of personality. See website for details.
Journal of Human Rights and the Environment: new publication model
The Journal of Human Rights and the Environment has announced an innovative ‘slow publication’ model overtly aimed at celebrating depth, imagination and rigour, and resisting the spiralling pressures in our sector for more frequent publications and issues. In addition, the journal now invites longer submissions of 20,000 words or so, as well as much shorter submissions that might explicitly be experimental, out-of-the-box, imaginative, critical and prefigurative work. See announcement for full details.
Blogs and other online resources
Sentencing Council: response to an independent research review of the domestic abuse guideline
The Sentencing Council has published its response to an independent research review of the domestic abuse guideline conducted by Nottingham Trent University. See website for details.
British Academy: Mapping SHAPE provision – cold spots
This new pilot project from the British Academy explores the changing provision of subjects in the social sciences, humanities and arts in UK higher education institutions. The project uses data to visually demonstrate Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts for People and the Economy (SHAPE) provision in the UK’s higher education system, and how it is changing. It does so through a series of maps which depict contractions and expansions in provision by a variety of different measures. See website for details.
Soundings: New sound artwork featuring recordings from Senedd Cymru, the Welsh Parliament, Cardiff Crown Court, Speakeasy Law Centre and Cardiff University/Prifysgol Caerdydd Law School
This new sound artwork Shane Burke, Cardiff University is at the UTS Data Arena in Sydney, Australia, as part of the ArTechLaw Hacking Visual Culture conference. See announcement for full details.
AcSS & ESRC Project: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Hub
The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Project is a joint programme between The Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS), its member Social Science Societies and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Its purpose is to encourage and facilitate greater awareness of, and actions to support, EDI across member social science societies, by working together to share resources, learning and to maximise the potential to effect real and positive change. See website for details.
SAFESOC: end of project publications
October 2024 marks the end of this UKRI-funded project based at the University of Nottingham. The following publications are available:
- SAFESOC Newsletter – Project End
- Improving prisoner death statistics – Policy Brief
- Improving death investigations to promote safety – Policy Brief
- Learning across death investigations – Event Report
From Pillar to Post: Barriers to dealing with deductions from Universal Credit: PLP Report
New research from the Public Law Project, authored by Jagna Olejniczak, has revealed the harmful impact of the Department of Work and Pensions applying deductions to people’s benefits, which affects over half of households on Universal Credit. See website for details.
Remote Immigration and Asylum Advice: What We Know and What we Need to Know: PLP Report
The Ministry of Justice urgently needs to conduct further research and develop best practice guidance for the use of remote legal advice, PLP’s new report warns. See website for details.
Centre for Sport and Human Rights Blog: Human Rights in the context of climate action in, around, and through sports
As with numerous other sectors, sports and sports events contribute to the worsening of the climate crisis. Many actors across the sports ecosystem are responding with important new strategies, partnerships, and initiatives. Yet analysis of the impact of the climate crisis on the effective enjoyment of a range of human rights has been notably absent from discussions on sport and climate. In this blog, the authors highlight the need to build a clear understanding and consensus on how the climate crisis affects people in, around, and through sports and its events in all their diversity, and the human rights consequences of the climate crisis in relation to sports risk being neglected and potentially escalating.
Leverhulme Trust Newsletter – September 2024
Find out more about the work of the Leverhulme Trust by reading the latest newsletter.
Sentencing Council: Effectiveness of sentencing options – review of research
The Sentencing Council has published a review of existing research looking at the effectiveness of sentencing. See website for details.
Declarations: The Human Rights Podcast
The Podcast, based at the Centre of Governance & Human Rights at the University of Cambridge, has now published its Season 8 around the theme of 'Human rights at 75: horror, hope & human'. The authors reflect on the 75 years of the UDHR and ask questions such as: who are human rights for? Where is the 'human' in 'human rights'? What have we learned about human rights conceptually, as well as in practice, over the last 75 years? In eight episodes this season, the authors discuss various topics including the western hegemony in human rights debates, politics, human rights defenders, captivity and prisons, gender-based violence, rights through protest and revolution in Syria and human rights due diligence in sports events. Input and feedback is welcome.
'It’s time to talk about research culture and the REF' by Research England Executive Chair Jessica Corner
In this WONKHE blogpost, the chair of Research England broaches a sector-wide debate.
Baldy Center, University of Buffalo: latest newsletter
Read the latest news from the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy.
New podcast series: Not for Want of Trying, hosted by Sharon Thompson & Erica Rackley
This is a new legal history podcast that uncovers key events in women’s legal history during the Interwar years. Erika Rackley and Sharon Thompson talk to leading experts – including Lady Hale, Kay Crosby, Caroline Derry, Rosemary Auchmuty and others – about key legal landmarks for women and why they still matter today. Available to download from Apple and Amazon Music. Listen to trailer here.
Webinar recording: The illusion of level playing fields: on the myth of meritocracy
Hear Shubham Jain, from the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge talk about the 'gentlemen's game', challenging perceptions of cricket and the myth of meritocracy in the game. See website for details.
Centre for Sport & Human Rights: Human Rights Playbook
The Centre has announced the launch of the Human Rights Playbook series – an initiative designed to empower sports bodies worldwide to make robust human rights commitments. The two guidance documents offer a detailed walkthrough of the human rights due diligence process and a thorough framework for creating robust human rights policies through a series of strategic guiding questions. See website for details.
Nuffield Foundation latest newsletter: November 2024
Read the latest updates from the Nuffield Foundation.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation: October Newsletter
The latest JRF newsletter is now available.
National Centre for Research Methods: Methods News November 2024
Read the latest issue including details of the NCRM's many events and training opportunities.
Public Law Project: latest news bulletin
For the latest Public Law Project news, see the full update here.
Academy of Social Sciences: October ebulletin
See the latest AcSS eBulletin for news of all Academy of Soscial Sciences activities.
Judicial Appointments Commission: latest issue of Judging Your Future
The Judicial Appointments Commission has published its latest newsletter. See webpage for details.
Latest from the JLS Blog
Meet the book author
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The Migrant’s Jail: An American History of Mass Incarceration by Brianna Nofil, The College of William & Mary
Meet the JLS author
- Trust at the border: reality TV, securitization and the construction of (in)credibility by Laura Smith-Khan, University of New England
General post
Latest from Frontiers of Socio-Legal Studies
Learning from Disability Scholarship
Professor Linda Mulcahy talks to Dr Flora Renz (Kent Law School) about doing research that engages with disability in legal contexts. They discuss the importance of taking intersectionality into account, the complexity of research, and how we should reflect on the limitations of our research. Flora invites listeners to think about how to make one’s methods more accessible and not purely extractive. Listen to the full podcast here, which is part of the blog’s Talking About Methods podcast.
The blog always welcomes submissions providing analysis of recent socio-legal research, methodological issues, ethical issues, and publications from around the globe: Frontiers can be found at Frontiers of Socio-Legal Studies and on Twitter @OxfordCSLS.
Other
British Academy response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review call for evidence (England)
The Academy has responded to the Department for Education’s call for evidence as part of its review of the current system of curriculum and assessment. This is part of the Academy's efforts to champion its disciplines, strengthen pathways into the study of SHAPE subjects, and advocate for a broad and balanced curriculum. Following Fellows’ workshops, the Higher Education & Research Policy team has coordinated both a cross-discipline response and a separate response for languages, reflecting the extensive policy work of our long-standing Languages programme.
See British Academy response to the Department for Education’s Curriculum and Assessment Review Call for Evidence: General response published on 24 November 2024.
AcSS Report: Beyond the ballot: social science insights on eight key policy challenges
A new report by the Academy of Social Sciences' Campaign showcases a breadth of social science-based research, ideas and evidence relevant to addressing some of the country’s political and social challenges, many of which are relevant to the UK Government’s policy agenda. See website for details.
AcSS response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review for England
The Academy of Social Sciences has responded to the UK Government’s Curriculum and Assessment Review. The focus of the Academy’s response was on the contributions that the study of social sciences in the curriculum make to learning, skills, and to the preparation for further study and work. See website for details.
Bar Council: new report – Race at the Bar: Three years on
This report is a follow-up to the Race at the Bar report in 2021 and Race at the Bar progress report in 2022. It reveals there has been some progress on access, retention, progression and culture since the Race at the Bar report in 2021. In particular, the overall diversity of the Bar is improving year by year. But there is much more work to do, particularly in relation to the experience of Black barristers and Black aspiring barristers, students and pupils. See website for full details.
British Academy: Global (Dis)Order – call for discussion papers
This call is seeking to commission up to 40 discussion papers that will contribute to the first year of activity of the Global (Dis)Order Programme. The launch conference will take place on 13 and 14 January 2025. See website for details. Call for expressions of interest closes: 12 December 2024.
(IN)VISIBLE: A Chorepoetry Film on Women in Law
Cambridge Festival has published a short film titled (IN)VISIBLE, produced by Bhumika Billa (Doctoral Candidate at Cambridge Law Faculty). The 3-minute-short film brings together spoken word, movement, colour, and sound to interrogate and present the lived realities of women lawyers in India. The film was recently launched in Delhi alongside a panel discussion celebrating '100 Years of Women in Law'. A short video about the making of the film is available here. You can read more about the film in the Frontiers of Socio-Legal Studies blog. To provide feedback, record reactions, follow this project, or get in touch, please fill this quick form.
Being a SHAPE Researcher: British Academy synthesis report
On 23 September, the British Academy published our 'Being a SHAPE researcher' synthesis report, the first report in a major British Academy project to increase understanding of the careers of SHAPE post-doctoral researchers in academia and beyond. The synthesis report is the culmination of evidence that gathered through various engagement activities to date, including a series of online workshops, a large-scale survey of researchers conducted in partnership with the Careers Research and Advisory Centre, and an unconference with a range of stakeholders. The report focusses on the key emerging themes of drivers and motivators, identity, and mobility. See website for details.
Sentencing Council Annual Report 2023/2024 published
The Sentencing Council’s annual report for 2023/24 is Lord Justice William Davis’s second report as Chairman. It documents the Council’s achievements of the year 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 in the context of the objectives set in the Council’s five-year strategy, Sentencing Council strategic objectives 2021-2026. See website for details.
REF2029 Steering Group Open Access Policy for REF2029 announcement
The REF 2029 Open Access Policy will be published later this year. On Wednesday the 14 August 2024, we set out some early policy decisions relating to implementation dates for journal articles, conference proceedings and longform outputs. This responds to sector concerns raised in consultation and in recognition of the broad set of challenges currently facing the sector.