Social & Legal Studies Journal

Social & Legal Studies, Editors’ Choice Award 2026 The Social & Legal Studies Board announces the winner of its annual Editors' Choice Award...

Social & Legal Studies, Editors’ Choice Award 2026

The Social & Legal Studies Board announces the winner of its annual Editors' Choice Award...

Emilios Christodoulidis (3rd September 1963 – 3rd February 2026) We mourn the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Emilios Christodoulidis, distinguished legal theorist who, for many years, was an active editorial board member for Social & Legal Studies. I first met Emilios over thirty years ago, when we were both graduate students at the EUI in Florence. Emilios was there as a visiting PhD student from Edinburgh to work, in particular, with Gunther Teubner on law and systems theory, something that was to be central to his work for the rest of his life.

Emilios Christodoulidis (3rd September 1963 – 3rd February 2026)

We mourn the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Emilios Christodoulidis, distinguished legal theorist who, for many years, was an active editorial board member for Social & Legal Studies. I first met Emilios over thirty years…

Diluting legal social control over asylum-seekers at Spain’s borders “The problem is that I am blocked here. I can’t go further or back. And it hurts”. These were the words of Ben, an asylum-seeker who, like many others, managed to cross the barbed wire fences separating Morocco from Melilla, only to discover that the police prevented him from moving to the Iberian Peninsula. As the reader may know, Ceuta and Melilla are two Spanish exclaves in Northern Africa that have become a symbol of the “fortification” of Europe.

Diluting legal social control over asylum-seekers at Spain’s borders

“The problem is that I am blocked here. I can’t go further or back. And it hurts”. These were the words of Ben, an asylum-seeker who, like many others, managed to cross the barbed wire fences separating Morocco from Melilla, only…

Kudoboard for Emilios Alexandros Christodoulidis | Kudoboard Collaborate to create a unique, online memorial. Add memories, photos, or videos; invite others to contribute; visit online anytime and print it out as a book of remembrance.

Members of the Board of Social & Legal Studies were all deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our friend and colleague, Emilios Christodoulidis.

Those who want to share their memories of Emilios can do so via a book of condolences available to sign at www.kudoboard.com/boards/Ljppy...

Now Available: Social & Legal Studies 35(1), February 2026 The latest issue of Social & Legal Studies is now available!

Now Available: Social & Legal Studies 35(1), February 2026

The latest issue of Social & Legal Studies is now available!

Nature and Transitional Justice: On Journeys, Castles and Connections During this time, I also increasingly started to question why the field of transitional justice – and indeed my own scholarship on transitional justice – has paid so little attention to more-than-human worlds. As Killean and Newton highlight, ‘transitional justice mechanisms have rarely engaged with the harms inflicted on Nature’. Relatedly, I wanted to find out whether my own desire to feel a greater sense of connectedness to more-than-human worlds, and to extend care to them, could be fulfilled, at least in part, through my work on transitional justice.

We have a new blog out today from Janine Natalya Clark, 'Nature and Transitional Justice: On Journeys, Castles and Connections'

Decriminalised into Invisibility: Section 377, the BNS, and the Penal Hierarchy of India’s Transgender Rights Act 2019 From a queer-theoretic perspective, these legal moves exemplify how law reorganises the field of grievability; certain harms are made legible as grievous, others as minor, and others not at all.

We have a new blog from Jaideep Singh Lalli, 'Decriminalised into Invisibility: Section 377, the BNS, and the Penal Hierarchy of India’s Transgender Rights Act 2019'

Empirical Research with People Experiencing Homelessness in Australia: Challenges Faced and Lessons Learned By the end of the project, we had undertaken 164 interviews with people experiencing homelessness across the 10 locations. We obtained a rich dataset that detailed their interactions with police, courts, corrective services and the social service system. Some of the stories were heartbreaking, and some were inspirational and uplifting. We could not have achieved this without the hard work and dedication of the staff of our partner organisations. It also would have been more difficult to obtain ethical clearance for the research without them. Their involvement meant that participants were respectfully interviewed by highly skilled professionals. Participants had their legal needs met, and appropriate referrals were made to address any social and emotional concerns that arose during the interviews.

We have a new blog from Tamara Walsh (Queensland) - Empirical Research with People Experiencing Homelessness in Australia: Challenges Faced and Lessons Learned

Why legal culture matters for climate mobilities – and what our Maputo research reveals Climate change is increasingly shaping where and how people live. Rising sea levels, flooding and coastal erosion are already forcing difficult decisions about whether to stay put, move temporarily, or relocate altogether. These movements are often described as climate mobilities. Much of the existing research explains them in environmental, economic or social terms. In our recent article in Social & Legal Studies, we argue that something else also matters in important ways: legal culture.

We have a new blog post from Simon Halliday 'Why legal culture matters for climate mobilities – and what our Maputo research reveals'

Comparing legal responses to criminal exploitation: insights from Scotland and England & Wales The inspiration for this event came from a chance meeting with Alicia in London last year at the launch of the Defendants as Victims Report by Dr Kate Leader and Dr Ailbhe O’Loughlin. We quickly found ourselves deep in conversation about how our respective jurisdictions handle legal matters related to modern slavery and human trafficking (MSHT).

We have a new blog from Grant Barclay (Glasgow) and Alicia Heys (Wilberforce Institute, Hull), 'Comparing legal responses to criminal exploitation: insights from Scotland and England & Wales' - links to the report, podcast and SIPR blog at the end of the post!

New Issue of Social & Legal Studies – vol. 34(6) December 2025 Social & Legal Studies (2025) 34(6) is out! Table of Contents Emma Marshall, ‘Reconsidering the Asylum Lottery: Refugee Determination and the Structure of Luck’ (Open Access) Bénédicte Stoufflet, ‘Between ‘I’ and ‘They’: Distributing Authorship for Evidence-Making: How Asylum Lawyers Construct Credible Accounts Before the French Court of Asylum Law’ Helena Tužinská ‘The Communicative Space: Painting the Evidence and Plausibility in Asylum Court Hearings…

New Issue of Social & Legal Studies – vol. 34(6) December 2025

Social & Legal Studies (2025) 34(6) is out! Table of Contents Emma Marshall, ‘Reconsidering the Asylum Lottery: Refugee Determination and the Structure of Luck’ (Open Access) Bénédicte Stoufflet, ‘Between ‘I’ and ‘They’: Distributing…

Dancing Law | Law Dancing: A conversation on ballet and law with Dr Maria Federica Moscati and Prof Marett Leiboff The lawyer is not meant to have a body. We cloak ourselves in robes, in particular forms of uniform dress and all the rest of it, but we have a very happy time telling bodies what to do or not to do - abject bodies that don't conform, people whose bodies do things that they're not “meant to” – and happily regulating those people and their bodies, but we do it through what we're meant to do as lawyers, which is to practice techniques which divorce us and the things that make us.

Dancing Law | Law Dancing: A conversation on ballet and law with Dr Maria Federica Moscati and Prof Marett Leiboff

The lawyer is not meant to have a body. We cloak ourselves in robes, in particular forms of uniform dress and all the rest of it, but we have a very happy time telling bodies what to…

Persecuting Queerness: Can gender-based persecution encompass non-heterosexual and non-conforming gender identities at the Rome Statute? This post will analyse the facts of the case and whether Gender-Based Persecution, especially through the concept of gender under the Rome Statute, can encompass non-heterosexual and non-conforming gender identities. Additionally, this post, with the aid of queer theory, will address that, at the trial and sentencing phases, the Trial Chamber will have to address LGBTQIA+ victims specifically. Finally, the post will argue that the “one size fits all” clause must not invisibilise real and concrete queer victims of gender-based persecution.

We have a new blog, Vinícius Alexandre Fortes de Barros on Persecuting Queerness: Can gender-based persecution encompass non-heterosexual and non-conforming gender identities at the Rome Statute?

“Climate (Im)Mobility: Legal and Policy Pathways to Displacement and Entrapment in the Global Climate Emergency” Reflections from the Southampton Workshop On 9 June 2025, a hybrid workshop “Climate (Im)Mobility: Legal and Policy Pathways to Displacement and Entrapment in the Global Climate Emergency” was held at the University of Southampton with the funding support of the Social and Legal Studies journal. Thanks to their generous support, the organisers Andrea Maria Pelliconi, Sara Arapiles and Pratik Purswani convened the event, which brought together ten scholars to exchange ideas at the intersection of law, climate justice, sovereignty, and displacement…

Read Andrea Maria Pelliconi (Southampton), Sara Arapiles (Lund), and Pratik Purswani's (Galway) write up of their S&LS Sponsored event - Climate (Im)Mobility: Legal and Policy Pathways to Displacement and Entrapment in the Global Climate Emergency

Family Reunification and Domestic Marriage Law: Implications of Legal Pluralism Beyond Borders he unexpected ramification of these unregistered marriages is that they may also be a barrier for those seeking reunification with spouses abroad, notably those who have sought asylum abroad.

In our latest blog Holly Dunn explores "Family Reunification and Domestic Marriage Law: Implications of Legal Pluralism Beyond Borders"

Institutional racism? We need to talk about the UK government’s role in institutionalising racism. Whatever the anti-racist intentions of well-meaning parliamentarians and campaigners, however, families have experienced FGM safeguarding policies as racism-in-action.

Our latest blog, 'Institutional racism? We need to talk about the UK government’s role in institutionalising racism', written by Natasha Carver, Bristol University, is available to read now.

Follow Natasha on BlueSky at @mmbuob.bsky.social and see also @uob-policystudies.bsky.social

Social & Legal Studies Editors’ Choice Award 2024 The joint winners of the 2024 Social & Legal Studies Editors' Choice Awards are .... Santer, K. O. (2024). Governing Through Scalar Elasticity: An Analysis of the Accountability Gap in Migration Control in the Central Mediterranean. Social & Legal Studies, 33(1), 3-20. and King, T. J., Shaw, J. D., & Kennedy, L. (2024). Documenting the Document: The Forensic Hospital Report and Its Knowledge Moves.

This blog post records the winners of the Social & Legal Studies Journal, Editors' Choice Award 2024.

Legislation as Disinformation We studied the impact of such discriminatory legislation on vulnerable sections of society, in this case, inter-faith couples. We argue that the nature of these legislative developments and their role within the ideological framework of Hindu nationalism necessitates an urgent re-evaluation of the presumptions that underlie the characterization of India as a “democracy” in the contemporary period.

Our first post following the Spring Vacation 2025 is from Yash Sharma, University of Cincinnati, 'Legislation as Disinformation'

Criminalising the ‘Other’ In this blog post, I want to further discuss the routineness, almost mundanity, of the mechanisms of criminalisation which can directly bear upon language minoritised peoples who come to be targets of criminal ‘justice’ intervention. I will write here about an Australian case of wrongful conviction in which language difference played a significant role.

In our latest blog post of 2025, Joseph van Buuren (RMIT) examines the 'routineness, almost mundanity, of the mechanisms of criminalisation which can directly bear upon language minoritised peoples' in his blog post 'Criminalising the Other'

Anchoring justice at sea? Foreign aid to manage a fishy business The sea opens opportunities to study socio-legal implications of rights and forms of justice. It is borderless and global, while most people rely on its resources. Despite concerns about climate change and marine extinction, economic interests often impede preservation and equitable resource distribution. The sea’s importance draws donors and parties like the United Nations (UN) to establish global rules and regulations for its use and exploitation.  

Our fifth blog post of 2025 comes from Randi Solhjell, University of Oslo, 'Anchoring justice at sea? Foreign aid to manage a fishy business'

Learned Helplessness or Missed Opportunity? Reviving Sectoral Collective Bargaining under the Minimum Wage Directive in Hungary With the implementation of the Minimum Wage Directive, the Hungarian government has once again missed an excellent opportunity to involve autonomous social partners in addressing economic and social issues. This decision represents yet another step away from a well-functioning pluralistic democracy and from the broader realization of social justice in Hungary...

Learned Helplessness or Missed Opportunity? Reviving Sectoral Collective Bargaining under the Minimum Wage Directive in Hungary

With the implementation of the Minimum Wage Directive, the Hungarian government has once again missed an excellent opportunity to involve autonomous social partners in…

Our first issue of 2025 is now live at @slsjournal.bsky.social. We hope you enjoy it - VOLUME 34!

Decentering Narratives: Intellectual Lived Experiences and Critical Reflections on Race and Law Academic writing often neglects to explore or acknowledge the intellectual inspirations and experiences that shape a scholar's approach to their work. Specifically, while methodology (the “how” of research) is often explicitly discussed, the broader intellectual and experiential contexts—or “intellectually lived experiences”, such as the personal, cultural, and intellectual encounters that influence a scholar’s thinking (the “why” behind their perspectives)—are often overlooked.

In our third blog of 2025, Asta Zokaityte and Will Mbioh (Kent Law School, University of Kent), write about 'Decentering Narratives: Intellectual Lived Experiences and Critical Reflections on Race and Law'

Lawyers as Constructive Ideologists of Corporate Capitalism The adaptability of law also provides scope for emancipatory creative lawyering, although to play an effective part in movements for wider social change it must be grounded in both a grasp of the wider political economy and political practice. However, law’s versatility also means that such movements can be accommodated or reintegrated with modifications of power structures.

In our second blog of 2025, one of our founding editors, Sol Picciotto, writes about 'Lawyers as Constructive Ideologists of Corporate Capitalism'

Time and torture Despite the seeming indeterminacy, advocates and adjudicators have tried to pin time down as a proxy for structuring experiences and ascribing values. Ultimately, I found that time functions as a proxy, it is central to the judicial imagination, a register of recognition, and a sense-making device – albeit largely implicit and intuitive.

Our first new blog of 2025 'Time and Torture', comes from Ergün Cakal.

Can The Law Change Us? And yet, even when the law is identified as a source, when not the source, of injustice, it is paradoxically also seen as the main remedy to such injustice, as debates usually focus on the need for…

Another blog from the archives - 'Can the Law Change Us?', by Henrique Carvalho @henriquecarvalho.bsky.social socialandlegalstudies.wordpress.com/2024/03/25/c...

The Form of Forms: what next? Application forms not only impose administrative burdens on people, they also exact an emotional toll. The response to the paper has illuminated the pressing need for lived experience research on a…

While we're getting started on Bluesky, we'll be delving into our blog archive. Our first blog from the archive is Aisling Ryan's 'The Form of Forms: what next?', first published in March this year - which you can read here socialandlegalstudies.wordpress.com/2024/03/04/t...

Social & Legal Studies - Volume 33, Number 6, Dec 01, 2024 Table of contents for Social & Legal Studies, 33, 6, Dec 01, 2024

As Editor, it is always with a sense of achievement that I announce a new issue of Social & Legal Studies. Our December issue has now gone live. A big issue to finish 2024. journals.sagepub.com/toc/SLS/curr... #academicsky