Call for Papers | Workshop by NLSIU in Collaboration with the University of Zurich Law School
October 18, 2024
The National Law School of India University (NLSIU) is hosting a workshop from December 2-6, 2024, aimed at doctoral students, post-doctoral and early career scholars in collaboration with the University of Zurich Law School at its Bengaluru campus. The idea is to have a small group of scholars interacting intensively to improve the content of their individual projects both in substance and in the writing, and to build collaborative links for ongoing and future research. Papers presented at the workshop are expected to show that extensive work has been put into them already; research proposals or outlines of research to be conducted will not be accepted.
To this end, a total of not more than 12-15 scholars will work together over two full days to present papers and act as discussants and commentators for other papers. To maintain a broad thematic coherence, all papers will be on the topic of ‘Equality and the Law,’ interpreted broadly. Individual presentations can be from any substantive area of the law, but must engage with the theme of Equality in some discernible manner.
NLS invites interested participants from the NLS community who meet the criteria set out below to apply for the workshop by 5 pm on November 12, 2024. We are inviting applications for 6 slots in the workshop.
The relevant details are below:
| Theme | ‘Equality as a legal concept’ (for more details, see below). Note: applications on private and commercial law, or those dealing with any branch of law and politics are welcome. This is not an event focusing only on public law. |
| Application Deadline | 5 pm on 12 November 2024. This is an outer deadline. Applications can be sent in as soon as possible. Sending in your application early is preferable as this will help with planning. Final decisions will be made by November 15, 2024. |
| Requirements | 1. A draft paper not exceeding 8,000 words, with an abstract that identifies the connection to the theme of Equality. 2. A single page long Statement of Purpose setting out why the applicant is interested in being part of the event. |
| Eligibility | PhD students, and Early career scholars affiliated to NLSIU are eligible to apply. For the purposes of this call, the following categories of people are defined as early career scholars: 1. Academic fellows and others holding a research position at NLSIU who have completed their Master’s degree or PhD within the last 7 years; 2. Faculty members who have completed their Master’s degree or PhD within the last 7 years. |
| Where to submit | Submit applications/queries through email to |
Main Theme
Equality is a foundational concept of legal systems. It is a bedrock principle of the rule of law. Equality before the law and the equal application of law are centerpieces of legal systems. The legal means to do so are manifold and differentiated.
There is wide ranging and, in many aspects, controversial discussion about what equality means within this general legal framework and in the practice of law. It certainly encompasses formal equality, but it is usually understood to demand more than this formal equality, namely some form of substantive equality. What this means in detail is far from clear and is constantly renegotiated in legal systems. These questions are not only questions affecting legal systems but concern problems that have deep roots in the long reflection about what justice in ethics and politics actually means.
Aim of the workshop
The aim of the collaborative workshop is to deepen the participants’ understanding of problems of equality in a theoretical, doctrinal, sociological and political sense. Furthermore, the workshop and its successors will serve to establish a fruitful research dialogue between junior and senior scholars of the participating institutions. This could be the basis for an informal network of scholars.
Format of Workshop
Selected applicants will participate in a two-day workshop to be held between 3rd and 4th December at NLSIU. Events associated with the workshop will be held for the Swiss participants also on December 4 and 5, 2024, and the Indian participants are encouraged to attend them if possible.
While the exact details of the format of the workshop will be communicated to the selected applicants at a later date, it will see active participation and presentations from all the participants, with a view to facilitating deeper exchanges between them as a collective. In addition to presenting/responding to comments on their own work, participants will comment on and discuss the papers of the others. Participants will be expected to be present throughout the two-day workshop (attendance at other events is not mandatory) and will be expected to both read all 15 papers and participate in each session. Members of the faculty of both NLSIU and the Facutly of Law of the University of Zurich will also contribute with introductory remarks, and participation in the discussion as commentators or respondents.
Funding
The expectation is that presenters will be ordinarily resident in Bangalore and are regular attendees at the campus. [If you are a PhD scholar or faculty member who is not in Bangalore on the dates of the event, please emphasise this]. The meals during the days of the workshop will be served at the venue of the workshop itself. The event will also consist of day trips to legal NGOs in Bangalore and perhaps a day trip to Mysore. All expenses related to these events will be covered for all participants by the event organisers.