In the 50 years since the founding of the Center for the Study of Law and Society at the University of California, Berkeley by Philip Selznick with funding from the Russell Sage Foundation, the field of law and society has been firmly established in research centers and academic associations, in doctoral programs and in the legal academy. But law and society may be at a time of transition, and the time to consider the future direction of the field is upon us. What are the key questions to ask moving forward? What will be the field’s substantive strengths? Its theories? Its methods? Its institutional homes? In this Conference we bring together law and society scholars at the forefront of a range of disciplines and ask them to consider the future of the field from the lens of their own research questions, theories and methods. Through their choices of topics, theory and methodology, and through their career paths and the direction of their students, they are shaping the future of the field.And the line-up:
SESSION 1: HISTORY AS PROLOGUEOn-line registration and additional information are here.
Harry Scheiber, University of California, Berkeley, Chair
Jerome Skolnick, New York University
Malcolm Feeley, University of California, Berkeley
Robert A. Kagan, University of California,
Lawrence Friedman, Stanford University
SESSION 2: LAW, RIGHTS AND SOCIAL CHANGE
David Lieberman, Chair/Discussant
Michael McCann, University of Washington
Javier Couso, Universidad Diego Portales (Chile)
Laura Beth Nielsen, Northwestern U. & American Bar Foundation
Charles Epp, University of Kansas
SESSION 3: LAW, CULTURE AND INEQUALITY
Catherine Albiston, University of California, Berkeley, Chair/Discussant
Kitty Calavita, University of California, Irvine (Emerita)
Leti Volpp, University of California, Berkeley
Kathleen Hull, University of Minnesota
David Wilkins, Harvard University
SESSION 4: GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
Jonathan Simon, University of California, Berkeley, Chair/Discussant
Tom Ginsburg, University of Chicago and American Bar Foundation
Sida Liu, University of Wisconsin
Sally Engle Merry, New York University
John Hagan, Northwestern University and American Bar Foundation
César Rodríguez-Garavito, Universidad de los Andes (Colombia)
SESSION 5: IN THE ACADEMY
Calvin Morrill, University of California, Berkeley, Chair/Discussant
Austin Sarat, Amherst College
Laura Gomez, University of California, Los Angeles
Edward Rubin, Vanderbilt University
Lauren Edelman, University of California, Berkeley
An UPDATE from the Center: Online registration has been closed. Those who have not yet registered "are invited and encouraged to register at the Conference." The Thursday dinner and Friday lunch are now filled, but "there is plenty of room at all the conference panels" and at the Closing Reception on Friday.
