Category: News

Over 120 researchers and practitioners take part in the 3rd annual conference of the Law and Development Research Network (LDRn)

On 19-21 September 2018, the third annual conference of the Law and Development Research Network (LDRN) was hosted by the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society of Leiden Law School at the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, The Netherlands.

The theme of this edition of the conference, ‘Interfaces’, highlighted the diverse and interdisciplinary nature of the field of law and development. Over 120 researchers and practitioners from almost 30 countries participated in a combination of panels, plenary sessions and working groups, which were brought together by a focus on the role of law in addressing problems of development and governance, especially regarding access to justice. 

Keynote lectures were delivered by Stephen Golub (independent), Christian Lund (University of Copenhagen) and Waheeda Amien (University of Cape Town).

Once again, the conference was a valuable opportunity for researchers working on issues related to law and development worldwide to connect with each other and with the Law and Development Research Network. A set of recommendations was also produced, which will be relevant to both researchers and practitioners.

See Leiden University’s website for more conference news and documents

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(All photo credits: Bernardo Almeida)

 

Deadline extended (30 September) – Call for applications: SUSTLAW postgraduate programme on Sustainable Development and Human Rights Law | University of Antwerp, Belgium | 11 February – 3 May 2019

The Law and Development Research Group at the University of Antwerp Law Faculty is pleased to announce the call for applications for the fourth edition of its innovative postgraduate programme on “Sustainable Development and Human Rights Law” (SUSTLAW) from 11 February to 3 May 2019. The SUSTLAW programme runs in conjunction with the University of Antwerp Master of Laws (LL.M). It offers an intensive, in-depth legal training, providing both critical and contextualized insights.

The programme brings together a diverse group of leading experts from the North and South to introduce salient features of their disciplines, and to engage students in understanding and reflecting on key challenges for sustainable development and global justice. Thanks to the generous support of the Belgian development cooperation (VLIR-UOS), we are able to provide up to 12 scholarships to participants from the global South (mainly from least developed countries, please consult the eligible country list.)

The deadline for scholarship applications has been extended to  30 September 2018.

What SUSTLAW offers:

SUSTLAW programme participants will join an intensive and comprehensive teaching programme rooted in the research lines of the Law and Development Research Group. These research lines contribute to SUSTLAW’s four compulsory anchor courses, i.e.:

·       international sustainable development law;

·       human rights and global justice;

·       law in developing countries; and

·       external actors in economic global governance.

These courses provide entry points for interactive learning and contribute to the two key strengths of SUSTLAW: first, the combination of theoretical insights with hands-on training; second, the diversity of the student body and teaching staff. These features ensure that the SUSTLAW programme connects the Global South with the Global North for a unique educational experience.

After successful completion of the programme, students receive a certificate of completion and can obtain ECTS credits upon submitting a research paper.

Who should apply?

Previous editions of SUSTLAW attracted a diverse body of young professionals – lawyers, scholars, and development practitioners – of demonstrated intellectual and academic excellence from around the world. Participants have a unique opportunity to increase their theoretical knowledge and practical skills through a mix of teaching, moot courts and other role-playing exercises, making it a rich and intense learning experience with practical application in a diversity of careers.

Participants should have at least a bachelor-level degree and a basic knowledge of human rights and international law.

Further information:

For further information, please visit the SUSTLAW website.

LDRn individual member profiles are online

Individual research profiles of LDRn members are now online on the website. Meet our members here and see who shares your research interests!

If you are an individual researcher who would like to join LDRn (beyond subscribing to the newsletter), please apply to become an individual member.

We will only publish information on the LDRn website with your explicit consent (i.e. if you choose this option on the application form, or give your written consent in an e-mail). If you have already joined LDRn and would like to give / withdraw your consent to having your profile on the site (or change your profile information), please contact editor [at] lawdev [dot] org

Please note that joining LDRn does not automatically subscribe you to our newsletter – sign up for our newsletter here.

Reminder – Call for Papers: Security, Borders and International Development: Intersections, Convergence and Challenges | Warwick University, UK | 25 – 26 April 2019

On 25 – 26 April 2019, the Criminal Justice Centre and the Centre for Law, Regulation and Governance of the Global Economy at Warwick Law School will host a workshop on “Security, Borders and International Development: Intersections, Convergence and Challenges“.

Papers are welcomed from socio-legal scholars, policymakers and practitioners which address the linkages between the securitization of borders, humanitarianism and international development cooperation.

The deadline for paper proposals is 30 September 2018.

See further details and the full call for papers here.

Students tackle vulnerability & ‘methodological anxiety’ at first LDRn PhD School

During the week of 11 – 15 June 2018, fifteen PhD candidates from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North America gathered for the first annual Law and Development Research Network (LDRn) PhD school, hosted by the Institute for Human Rights, Åbo Akademi University, Åbo, Finland.

Titled “Vulnerability and Resilience: Questions for the North and South“, the week’s programme focused on these cross-cutting themes in terms of both substance and methodology, and offered plenty of opportunity for lively exchanges with peers and experts, receiving individual feedback, and sharing questions and advice on the research and writing process.

See the full programme

All photo credits: Åbo Akademi University

The range of specialist sessions included an introduction to Law and Development research methodology by LDRn partners Prof. Koen De Feyter (University of Antwerp), Assoc. Prof. Celine Tan (Warwick University) and Asst. Prof. Carolien Jacobs (Leiden University), as well as paper feedback sessions and methods clinics with Prof. Elina Pirjatanniemi and colleagues from host LDRn partner Åbo Akademi University, joined by guest experts.

Don’t want to miss next year’s LDRn PhD School? Sign up for our newsletter!

Post-Doctoral Fellowship Opportunity: University Centre of Brasília

The Law Faculty of the University Centre of Brasília opens a call for fellowship application under a post-doctoral scheme.

The selected candidate who will be attached to the Master’s/PhD Program will have the following obligations:

  1. Organize two seminars of at least nine hours each per semester.
  2. Participate in at least one of the Program’s research group.
  3. Co-supervise masters’ theses.
  4.     Help in the administration of the Brazilian Journal of International law or of the Brazilian Journal of Law and Public Policy.

Interested candidates must fulfil the following requirements:

  1. Be the holder of a doctoral (PhD) degree in law.
  2. Be fluent in Portuguese and/or English.

            The selected candidate will be granted a scholarship of 4,100 Brazilian reais (about 1,100 dollars net) per month. Payment shall be made in reais. The deadline for applications is 1st August 2018.

Contact: Prof. Nitish Monebhurrun, University Center of Brasília, nitish.monebhurrun[at]gmail[dot]com

Call for papers: Bilingual Special Issue of the Canadian Journal of Development Studies – Law, Governance and Development: Critical and Heterodox Approaches

The myriad legal and policy instruments in the governance of development have shifted and evolved in significant ways in recent years, posing challenges to scholars, policy-makers and practitioners on how to effectively map, analyse and critique their nature and effects.

Contributions are being sought (in French and English) for a bilingual Special Issue to explore these questions from heterodox and critical perspectives. The aim of this Special Issue is to critically examine the role of law and the nature of legality in specific initiatives focused on ‘development’, and its implications for the evolving nature and governance of the relationship between states, markets, peoples, communities and the natural environment at levels and scales that transcend that of the nation state. We invite submissions on engagements between law, governance and development from a wide range of critical perspectives, including feminism, TWAIL and postcolonial scholarship, history and ethnography, critical geography, critical IR and political economy, Marxist and materialist perspectives, etc., and that focus on developments both within and between the Global North and South, and on particular scales and sites of governance.

 

Proposals of 500-750 words, as well as a short CV, should be sent to mark.toufayan[at]uqo.ca  and siobhan.airey[at]ucd.ie by July 20, 2018. For the full text of the call, see here.

Call for Papers: Journal of Law, Social Justice and Global Development

The Journal of Law, Social Justice and Global Development – based in the Global Research Priority in International Development, University of Warwick, UK – is an international, peer reviewed, multidisciplinary open source journal. The journal is supported by an international Advisory Board and has historically carried articles which cover a range of perspectives and approaches, with a particular focus on encouraging scholars from the Global South to submit papers for review. 

The journal welcomes commentaries, reports on contemporary developments or recent conferences, case summaries and analyses, and book reviews. The journal is committed to diversity in disciplinary, theoretical and regional-cultural backgrounds and especially welcomes contributions from scholars and practitioners (e.g. teachers or activists) based in the global South and transitional economies. An example of past themes and topics include: gender and globalisation, domestic violence, migration and refugee rights, role and funding of NGOs, legal discourse around displacement, reproductive health, politics and ethics of public health, reports on tribunals and World Bank meetings, human trafficking, child labour, education, neoliberal economic globalization and development and culture.

The journal is making a call for papers for its next general issue. Following on from the two special issues due to be published imminently, we are now in the position to accept abstracts on any topic within the journal’s remit. These are wide in ambit, and we encourage multi-disciplinary collaborative papers as well as single authored papers.

Abstracts of 250-500 words and a short bibliography to be submitted in the first instance, by 15 June 2018 to the journal’s Editors in Chief:

Dr Rajnaara Akhtar: rajnaara.akhtar[at]dmu.ac.uk

Dr Jonathan Vickery: J.P.Vickery[at]warwick.ac.uk

Full papers of between 5,000 – 8,000 words will be invited for submission (and peer-review) by 30 September 2018.

 

Centre for Law and Global Justice – Writing Workshops | Accra, Nairobi, Bangalore and Recife | October – December 2018

The Centre for Law and Global Justice at Cardiff University is running a series of writing workshops in collaboration with partners in the global south, UK socio-legal journals and the British Academy.

These are being run as mentoring, learning and advice sessions for scholars interested in developing and publishing socio-legal work. Workshops will be held in Accra, Nairobi, Bangalore and Recife.

The application deadline for all workshops is 30 June 2018.

More details here

 

 

Human Rights Inside and Outside | International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague | 31 May – 1 June 2018

The Integrating Normative and Functional Approaches to the Rule of Law and Human Rights (INFAR) Research program at Erasmus School of Law and the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam are hosting a conference on human rights at ISS.

Human rights are a core normative idea for law, but need to be instrumentalized/mobilized by various actors in order to function. The conference brings together an international mix of scholars to address related questions in a socio-legal context, and focuses on four thematic areas: the law and politics of citizenship, constitutional crises and contestation, rethinking corporate social responsibility, and realizing rights in extractive industries. A keynote address will be delivered by Professor Jonathan Klaaren of the University of the Witwatersrand on 1 June.

See the programme and register here.