Law and Society Association Meeting 2017 (Mexico City)

2017: CRN 28: Realist and Empirical Legal Methods Schedule of Event

1.Law, Racism, and Discrimination (Thursday, June 22, 10:00am-11:45am), Salon Session

In this session, we would like to address the issue of racism and discrimination in the field of law. Two approaches on the subject will be considered: the analysis of forms of attention and institutional care and legislation in relation to the issue of racism and discrimination; and studies that seek to account for the occurrence of discrimination and racism within the law, within the legal and judicial institutions. The papers presented at the session will discuss studies that show empirical experiments and theoretical analysis that comprehend not only the phenomenon itself, but the questioning around its conception and definition in the field of law and social studies.

ChairMARÍA TERESA SIERRA CAMACHO, CIESAS

DiscussantOlivia Joanna Gall Sonabend Gall Sonabend, CEIICH UNAM

Presentations: 

-Evandro Duarte, University of Brasilia (UnB): Coloniality of Law and Institutional Racism: racism as an interpretative key of institutional legal practices in Brazil.

-Rebecca Lemos Igreja, Universidade de Brasilia and Nathalia Vince Esgalha Fernandes, CEPPAC (non-presenting co-author): Discrimination and public policy: the fight against discrimination in the field of law

2. Law and Public Policies in Latin America (Thursday, June 22, 8:00am-9:45am), Paper Session

Law and public policies are related issues. There are increasing legal studies about the instruments and the rules for the adjudication of public policies. Similarly, court ideologies and the judicial control over the formulation and implementation of public policies are in the agenda of political sciences studies. In the Latin American context, this session is proposed to discuss relations between law and public policy, in particular in the following aspects: formal institutional arrangements for the formulation and implementation of public policies, instrumental use of law to achieve goals public policy, implementation of public policies through the justice system and public policies for the justice system. In addition to the theoretical debate, the subject of discussion papers are necessarily the result of empirical research, contributing to a better understanding of the reality of the subcontinent.

ChairFabio de Sa e Silva, Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea); Harvard Law School’s Center on the Legal Profession

Discussant: Mariana Valverde, University of Toronto

Presentations:

-Bernardo Medeiros, Instituto de Pesquisa Economica Aplicada, Ipea:  Analyzing access to justice strategies in Brazil

-Laura Santos, Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and Antonio Maristrello Porto, Getulio Vargas Foundation (non-presenting co-author):  Economics instruments for environmental protection and the Law – considerations about the Brazilian framework

-Fernando Fontainha, IESP/UERJ: Law and political crisis in Brazil: can courts bring about political change?
-José Roberto Xavier, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro: New horizons in legal research in Brazil: the emergence of empirical legal research
-Oliver David Meza Canales, CIDE and Edgar Guerra blanco, CIDE: State and Drug Policies: A mitigation-of-risk policy appraisal

-Paulo Eduardo Alves da Silva, Universidade de Sao Paulo: Theories and policies on access to justice in developing countries – Brazil

3. Between Empirical Research and Critical Theory: New Horizons? (Friday, June 23, 12:45pm-2:30pm), Salon Session

The salon is an invitation to explore the tensions that emerge when scholars combine empirical research with critical perspectives, often from social theory and from critical theory approaches — such as feminism, critical race theory, class crit theory, queer theory, and many related offshoots of critical approaches. Is is possible to combine the strengths of empiricism and of theories derived from social science research — some more critical than others? What are the ethical dilemmas to which sociolegal and legal scholars must attend in doing this kind of work? How can critical theory contribute to empirical research and vice versa?

Facilitator: Tamara O’Doherty, Simon Fraser University

4. Law and Public Policies in Latin America 2 (Friday, June 23, 12:45pm-2:30pm), Paper SessionLaw and public policies are related issues. There are increasing legal studies about the instruments and the rules for the adjudication of public policies. Similarly, court ideologies and the judicial control over the formulation and implementation of public policies are in the agenda of political sciences studies. In the Latin American context, this session is proposed to discuss relations between law and public policy, in particular in the following aspects: formal institutional arrangements for the formulation and implementation of public policies, instrumental use of law to achieve goals public policy, implementation of public policies through the justice system and public policies for the justice system. In addition to the theoretical debate, the subject of discussion papers are necessarily the result of empirical research, contributing to a better understanding of the reality of the subcontinent.

ChairRebecca Lemos Igreja, Universidade de Brasilia

DiscussantDaniel Eduardo Bonilla Maldonado, Universidad de los Andes

Presentations:

-Florencia Corbelle, Universidad de Buenos Aires – CONICET: Derecho y políticas públicas en materia de drogas. De reformas legales y debates parlamentarios: un enfoque etnográfico sobre el caso argentino

-Maira Machado, FGV Direito SP: How many are coming in and how long they will stay: prison overcrowding in Brazil between law and public policies

-ALEXANDRE DOS SANTOS CUNHA, IPEA: The new Uruguayan cannabis regulation policy and its effects on the Uruguayan-Brazilian border area