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Join a leading centre for socio-legal research. We offer rigorous graduate programmes, close academic supervision, and a vibrant intellectual community.

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Welcome to CSLS

For over fifty years the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies has been at the forefront of research into the nature and role of law in society. CSLS researchers study law as a historical and culturally specific mode of social organisation, which takes a variety of forms within and across societies. They bring together a wide variety of disciplinary expertise, including sociology, anthropology, politics, international relations, human rights, economics, geography and art history, to examine the interface of law and society throughout the world.

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Frontiers of Socio-Legal Studies Blog

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Utopia as a Method

In this week's Frontiers of Socio-Legal Studies, Professor Linda Mulcahy talks to Aislinn Fanning, Cristy Clark, Zoe Tongue, and Ruth Houghton about utopia as a method. 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.

Listen to the full episode
closeup-gavel-judgement
Census Records and Group Biographies as a Tool for Researching Women’s Citizenship

Dr. Kay Crosby(Newcastle University) reflects on her approach to researching women's participation in the criminal jury system after 1919. Read the full article, which is published as part of the blog's Methodological Musings section. If you would like to receive a summary of all of Frontiers’ latest posts, please sign up to receive our bi-monthly newsletter.

Read the full blog post
Small boat in the ocean
Local Legal Practices in the DRC and Their Unexpected Formality
Reframing “Informal Justice”

Julien Moriceau discusses his experiences conducting fieldwork in the Kongo-Central and Kasaï-Central provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 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.

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Our graduate students are at the heart of the Centre’s research community. Meet our current DPhil and MPhil students and explore Notes from the Field, where they reflect on fieldwork, methods, and the practice of socio-legal research.

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Notes from the Field

News

Daniel Herszberg Wins Social Sciences Prize at 2026 Research Presentation Competition

02 March 2026
Daniel Herszberg
DPhil Socio-Legal Studies

Now open for registration: Mobilizing Human Rights and Resistance Workshop — Media, Law, and Accountability in Wartime Ukraine

24 February 2026
Agnieszka Kubal
Associate Professor of Socio-Legal Studies
Hanna Oliinyk
DPhil Socio-Legal Studies, Researcher in Sociology of Human Rights

New monograph by CSLS DPhil student Sarah Levy explores direct action and marine conservation law

23 February 2026
Sarah Levy
DPhil Socio-Legal Studies

Upcoming Events

09

March

2026

How much is enough? Dignity and debt in the work of a South African law clinic

Event time

11:30 - 13:00

Venue

Hybrid - Manor Road Building - Seminar Room G & Online - Zoom

Speaker(s)

Professor Deborah James, London School of Economics

12

March

2026

Socio-Legal Discussion Group: Phenotype, scientific racism, and colonialism: the reintroduction of colonial categories of race in committee proceedings within Brazil

Event time

12:30 - 14:00

Venue

Manor Road Building - Seminar Room B

Speaker(s)

Ann-Marie Debrah

12

May

2026

Socio-Legal Annual Lecture

Event time

17:00 - 18:30

Venue

Leonard Wolfson Auditorium Wolfson College

Speaker(s)

Professor Sida Liu

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James Campbell

DPhil Socio-Legal Studies (Part-time)

Irene Han

DPhil Socio-Legal Studies

Nikki Macmichael

Centre Manager

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