(Apologies for any cross-posting)
7th ETHNOGRAPHY AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH CONFERENCE
Bergamo (Italy) – June 6-9, 2018 (
http://www.etnografiaricercaqualitativa.it/)
Cfp14: CONTESTED RIGHTS: MINORITIES AND JUSTICE
Convenors: Paola Bonizzoni (University of Milano) & Alberta Giorgi
(University of Bergamo)
A growing body of literature focuses on the concept of Eurolegalism and,
more broadly, judicialization of politics, to highlight the increasing
relevance of the courts and the ‘language of rights’ for dealing with
politically controversial issues.
Indeed, the increasing role of the judicial power in politics has been
connected to the difficulties in accessing the political venue, to the
growing dissatisfaction with the principles and institutions of
representative democracy and to the demands for transparency and
accountability. According to some scholars, thus, the expansion of the
judicial field may be interpreted as a form of democratization, to the
extent that it provides windows of opportunity for otherwise unheard
voices, by increasing groups’ and individuals’ opportunities to bring
rights claims, and to intervene and participate to the collective
regulation of societies.
On the other hand, ‘turning to law’ and mobilizing the judiciary may be
costly (requiring different forms of cultural, economic or relational
capital) and even risky, unintentionally jeopardizing public processes of
issues’ legitimation. Moreover, groups may have other, relevant, reasons to
restrain from taking legal action (such as cultural and identity-related
preferences and considerations).
In this sense, cultural understandings of the law, attitudes toward the
judiciary and broader processes of social inequality can be understood as
relevant factors to explain to what extent minorities decide (not) to “turn
to the law” either individually or collectively, to challenge
discrimination, as well as to claim and expand their rights.
In this session, we solicit ethnographic and qualitative studies (including
comparative ones) that examine, from different angles, methods and
theoretical perspectives, the judicialization of minority groups issues –
particularly in the fields of religion, immigration, and LGBT, women’s and
Roma rights.
We especially welcome studies tackling:
- Strategic litigation, either through national and
supranational/international courts (to overcome national veto-players
through processes of venue-shopping). How do minority groups conceive of
and mobilize the law?
- Rights claim via lobbying activities and public campaigning centred on
issues of legal reform and/or the mobilization of the ‘language of rights’
to frame minority issues.
- The role played by gatekeepers (legal and para-legal experts) in
providing individuals and groups critical resources to navigate the law and
concretely mediate access to rights.
(call website:
http://www.etnografiaricercaqualitativa.it/?p=1028)
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: January 15, 2018. Info:
http://www.etnografiaricercaqualitativa.it/?page_id=27
