Call For Papers: Law & Society in South Asia (LASSA) Workshop
ABOUT THE LASSA WORKSHOP
15-17 December 2023 | Lahore, Pakistan
Global Collaboration Grant, Law & Society Association (LSA)
For details about the proceedings of the workshop held in Dec 2023, please visit https://lassa-workshop.webflow.io/.
The LASSA Workshop is a North-South collaboration among Law & Society scholars working on Pakistan and postcolonial South Asia more broadly. The Workshop is envisaged as a key platform for bringing together diverse and multidisciplinary scholars to deepen Law & Society research and methods regarding South Asia. It has two primary objectives: (i) to enable and facilitate connections between global LSA networks and local communities of sociolegal researchers on South Asia with limited access to Global North institutions and networks, and (ii) to strengthen South-South mentoring and collaboration on Law & Society in South Asia.
The LASSA Workshop is co-organized by Maryam S. Khan (University of Wisconsin & IDEAS), Yasser Kureshi (University of Oxford), Zoha Waseem (University of Warwick) and Jeff Redding (University of Melbourne). It is hosted by the Institute of Development & Economic Alternatives (IDEAS), a research and policy institute in Lahore, Pakistan. As a hub for advancing and informing democratic reform through robust empirical and evidence-based research in Pakistan, IDEAS will act as an institutional bridge between local researchers and LSA for socio-legal knowledge production across the South Asian region.
The LASSA Workshop is generously supported by the Global Collaboration Grant 2023, LSA.
WORKSHOP STRUCTURE
The inaugural LASSA Workshop is an intensive three-day in-person event seeking to incubate a South-South and North-South intellectual exchange on sociolegal research in postcolonial South Asia. Intended as a counterpoint to doctrinal approaches pervading law teaching and scholarship in the region, the Workshop aims to stimulate new and rigorous thinking on sociolegal research in South Asia and to promote high-quality publishable academic writing in the field by local researchers.
We are seeking original empirically-informed research papers grounded in a broad range of sociolegal themes or methods on postcolonial South Asia. We also seek to move beyond disciplinary silos and invite papers from across a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, including but not limited to law, sociology, criminology, political science, political economy, urban studies, anthropology, and history. Successful applications will demonstrate in their initial abstracts how their proposed paper fulfils the parameters of sociolegal research – whether thematically or methodologically or both – what literature and intellectual frameworks it draws from, and how it transcends the prevailing focus on formal legal doctrine.
Selected participants will not only workshop their own papers but also read, actively engage with, and critique all other participants’ papers. In addition, each participant will be assigned to a specially invited discussant who will provide detailed comments on the paper with a view to preparing it for publication. The Workshop will also curate lectures by global Law & Society scholars on sociolegal approaches and methods.
WHO SHOULD APPLY
The LASSA Workshop is aimed at emerging and mid-career sociolegal scholars and scholar-activists working on postcolonial South Asia. Eligible applicants may be resident anywhere in the Global South, and may be independent or affiliated with a Global South institution. Prior publication is not a requirement. Women and other underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply.
The three-day workshop will be held at the IDEAS office in Lahore, Pakistan. We hope to provide funding for travel to and accommodation in Lahore for all Workshop participants.
HOW TO APPLY
Applicants are requested to submit the following by 18 August 2023:
- A long abstract of your paper (800-1000 words). The abstract should include your name, institutional affiliation (if any), paper title, and email.
- A brief CV (no more than 2 pages).
Successful applications will be notified by 18 September 2023, and will be requested to confirm their participation within a week of the notification. Confirmed participants will be required to submit a complete draft of their Workshop paper (5000-8000 words) by 13 November 2023 for circulation to all Workshop participants a month in advance of the Workshop scheduled for the middle of December 2023.
IMPORTANT DATES
- Submission of long abstracts: 18 August 2023
- Decisions sent out: 18 September 2023
- Participation confirmation: 25 September 2023
- Submission of full papers: 13 November 2023
- Tentative workshop dates: 15-17 December 2023
Please email your inquiries and long abstracts to: lassapak2023@gmail.com