(Write On! is an occasional item about notable calls for papers.) Evil is the subject of a call for papers just received from organizers of the 3d Global Conference on "Evil, Law, and the State: Issues in State Power & Violence," to be held March 13-15, 2009, in Salzburg, Austria.
Perspectives on the conference topic are sought from scholars "in any field relevant to the study of law and legal culture: anthropology, criminology, cultural studies, government/politics, history, legal studies, literature, philosophy, psychology, religion/theology, and sociology," and from persons "working in civil rights, human rights, prison services, politics and government (including NGOs), psychiatry, healthcare, and other areas." Possible areas of inquiry:
► when and why is law evil or a source of evil?
► state violence and coercion
► enforcement of criminal law and other legal prohibitions
► law, citizenship, and political identity
► justifications for punishment, including capital punishment
► circumstances under which the adversary or inquisitorial models of legal process generate, tolerate, or allow evil outcomes
► equality and distributive justice in law
► consequences of legal error
► intersection of law with issues of choice, responsibility, and diminished responsibility
► state responsibility for terrorism, war, intervention, ethnic cleansing, and other problems of international law and international relations
As detailed here, deadline for submission of a 500-word abstract is October 3, 2008; papers will be due February 6, 2009. Send submissions to this year's organizers: University of Massachusetts History Professor Ruth Miller, at mailto:ruth.miller@umb.edu, and Inter-Disciplinary.Net Founder Rob Fisher, at els3@inter-disciplinary.net.(Thanks to last year's conference organizer, our Lewis & Clark Law colleague John T. Parry, for the head's up.)
