New Law in Societies Cluster at Wolfson

Starting in Michaelmas Term 2022 the new permanent Cluster 'Law in Societies' is to be an interdisciplinary scholarly platform upon which the members can explore various facets of legal phenomena. It will bring together those with an interest in the rules, both formal and informal, by which social order has been organised in different times and in different cultures. Reflecting on the most pressing contemporary issues, the cluster will initiate exchanges of legal and social science expertise to generate new ideas and offer solutions.  Examples are human rights and international law on military engagements; regulation and governance of environmental resources; access to justice and informal means of problem solving; the emerging culture of transnational laws and the regulation of the digital domain.

Intellectually, the members of the cluster are eager to draw upon the diverse expertise available at the College. The clusters already established at the College provide an infrastructure for productive co-operation from which the new cluster can benefit, while also contributing to most of them by offering socio-legal themes in studies of the Ancient World, regions such as Tibet and Himalaya, the operation and regulation of Digital platforms and the methodology of life writing.  

The core partner outside the College is to be the Centre for Socio Legal Studies (CSLS), since close links with Wolfson go back for decades. CSLS was set up by the University in close association with the College nearly 50 years ago. Two socio-legal scholars at the Centre are currently members of Wolfson's Governing Body, including the Oxford Chair in Socio-Legal Studies. For years Wolfson had two Research Fellow positions designated for Fellows of the CSLS. Wolfson is the most likely choice for DPhil students in socio-legal studies and is currently home to the largest cohort of graduate students in the field in Oxford.  A number of former colleagues who have left the Centre retain a close association with the College through Common Room Membership. The proposed cluster will act as a magnet to bring together and make full use of all this potential to generate synergy for a vibrant intellectual space.  

If you are interested in joining the cluster please email lawinsocieties@wolfson.ox.ac.uk