The seminar features editors and authors of three new books discussing the social dynamics of law in the Latin-American region and beyond:
· Handbook on Law and Society in Latin America, edited by Rachel Sieder, Karina Ansolabehere & Tatiana Alfonso (Routledge 2017, forthcoming)
· Demanding Justice and Security: Indigenous Women and Legal Pluralities in Latin America, edited by Rachel Sieder (Rutger 2017)
· Social Rights Judgments and the Politics of Compliance – Making It Stick edited by Malcolm Langford et al. (Cambridge University Press 2017)
The increasing judicialization of politics and social struggles in Latin America over the past decades – from demands for transitional justice, and constitutions recognizing indigenous rights, to judicialized environmental conflicts and an ‘epidemic’ of health rights litigation – is also reflected in the scholarship in and on the region. But while the body of literature is growing, both within law and the social sciences, it is still a fragmented field.
The Handbook on Law and Society in Latin America, edited by Rachel Sieder, Karina Ansolabehere & Tatiana Alfonso aims to provide a comprehensive overview and analysis of the state of Latin American law and society scholarship. The editors will present snapshots and outline the main contributions of the socio-legal literature towards the understanding of Latin American society and politics-as and highlight the contributions that study of the region has made to this literature.
One focus of the discussion is the struggles of indigenous women. This is also explored in a new book edited by Rachel Sieder on Demanding Justice and Security: Indigenous Women and Legal Pluralities in Latin America (Rutger 2017).
The panel will also discuss what makes authorities comply with court orders. This is increasingly a focus in the law & society literature in Latin-America and beyond and is explored in a recent book edited by Malcolm Langford, César Rodríguez-Garavito & Julieta Rossi: Social Rights Judgments and the Politics of Compliance – Making It Stick (Cambridge 2017)
Participants include: Rachel Sieder (CIESAS/CMI), Karina Ansolabehere (UNAM/Flacso México), Tatiana Alfonso (UNAM/University of Wisconsin), Malcom Langford (University of Oslo), Bruce Wilson (University of Central Florida/CMI)
Followed by reception & social event (open to all subject to space, register at post@lawtransform.no)