Welcome to CSLS
For over fifty years the Oxford Centre has been at the forefront of research into the nature and role of law in society. Our researchers study law as a historical and culturally specific mode of social organisation that takes a variety of forms within and across societies. Our expert staff bring together a wide variety of disciplinary expertise, including law, sociology, anthropology, politics, international relations, human rights, economics, geography and art history, to examine the interface of law and society.
Explore Our Work
Frontiers of Socio-Legal Studies Blog
In this week's Frontiers of Socio-Legal Studies, Dr. Hafidz Hakimi reflects on interviews with policymakers and youth leaders in Malaysia, discussing the conditions that fuel hate speech. Read the full article, which is published as part of the blog's Borderlands section. If you would like to receive a summary of all of Frontiers’ latest posts, please sign up to receive our bi-monthly newsletter.
Dr. Florian Grisel reviews Pierre Legrand’s book, Negative Comparative Law: A Strong Programme for Weak Thought. Read the full article, which is published as part of the blog's A Good Read section. If you would like to receive a summary of all of Frontiers’ latest posts, please sign up to receive our bi-monthly newsletter.
Professor Linda Mulcahy talks with James Campbell about walking interviews and how moving through space can bring the materiality of law into sharper view. Listen to the full episode, which is published as part of the blog's Talking about Methods podcast. If you would like to receive a summary of all of Frontiers’ latest posts, please sign up to receive our bi-monthly newsletter.
Our Graduate Students
"I set out to do an ethnography among Adivasi (tribes/indigenous communities) groups in the South Gujarat region of India. I wanted to understand the evolution of customary norms relating to kinship, land, and forests. Over the course of my fieldwork, I began to learn that the narratives framed around the past provide crucial groundwork towards an ethnography of the present.
-Aastha Prasad
