Doing Socio-Legal Research in a Pandemic: How, Why, When, Where?

“The ways we do, talk, and think about socio-legal research have altered. State and university responses to Covid-19 have disrupted sites of power and privilege, of inclusion and exclusion, of access to resources and ability to be heard. Our approaches to research practices have shifted as a consequence. While research across the social sciences has adapted rapidly to substantively explore new practices and structures, questions of how we go about socio-legal research (methodology and epistemology) remain largely unaddressed.

Sponsored by the SLSA, this one-day conference seeks to bring together diverse voices from across the socio-legal community to collaboratively and creatively draw together experiences of the pandemic on our research practices. The conference seeks to understand what impacts have arisen, how these have manifested and why, and aims to start a dialogue on changes in existing challenges and opportunities along with how such shifts give rise to new possibilities.

For example, while a shift to virtual interaction might have democratized access for some and allowed for innovative approaches and methodologies, for others it might have created or exacerbated barriers to full participation in the socio-legal research community.

We are seeking contributions that engage critically – both empirically and/or theoretically – with the shifts in how we approach socio-legal research. Papers might consider, for example, postcolonial, feminist, transnational and/or poststructuralist approaches to any of the following issues:

▪ The structure of the workday

▪ Access to materials or resources

▪ Ability to be “present”, in any form this might take

▪ Methods and methodologies you might have needed to develop or alter

▪ Shifts in research focus

▪ The role of care work and/or emotional labour in sustaining research and research communities

▪ The relationship between structural inequalities and research

We welcome contributions from early- and mid-career researchers, as well as those focusing on the intersection between socio-legal research and minoritized identities, e.g., around class, race, gender, disability, etc.

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words to the organisers by 16th August 2021 at C.Williams-678@kent.ac.uk AND F.Renz@kent.ac.uk

Confirmed speakers include Professor Amanda Perry-Kessaris (Kent Law School) and Dr Suhraiya Jivraj (Kent Law School).

Amber Anderson will be present for the day as a live scribe, providing a creative and visual record of the discussions.

We also have a small budget available to subsidize care costs for presenters, available on a first come, first served basis. Please contact Flora or Clare for further information.

Finally, we welcome audience attendance, and please use the EventBrite link to register for the event to be part of the discussion.