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A Research Committee of
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Adam Podgòrecki Prize >>> 2009
At the root of the socio-legal work of Boaventura de Sousa Santos is his seminal research Law against the Law (1974), a thoughtful analysis of conflict resolution mechanisms developed in a Brazilian Favela. After this fieldwork experience, he succeeded in setting up a comprehensive research device in Coimbra – in the Portuguese speaking world certainly the most productive on socio-legal topics – including a research centre: the Centro de Estudos Sociais (created 1978); a journal: the Revista crítica de ciências sociais (launched 1978); as well as a Permanent Observatory of the Portuguese Justice System (established 1996). In the meantime, he managed to strengthen his links with the American Law and Society movement, notably by publishing numerous papers in journals in English, and engaging in several important debates (see e.g. "Room for Manoeuver: Paradox, Program or Pandora's Box?", Law and Social Enquiry, 1989; and "Three Metaphors for a New Conception of Law: The Frontier, the Baroque, and the South", Law and Society Review, 1995). In maintaining narrow connections to these two worlds, he managed to keep distance from both of them, thereby creating distance to the world as a whole, and favourable conditions for the observation of the contemporary globalization process. In recent years, he has given crucial contributions to the World Social Forum launched in Porto Alegre, 2001, contributions based both on his theory of globalization, and on his pluralistic concept of a New Common Sense, seeking to decolonize and to reconcile the components of our postmodern experiences. Boaventura de Sousa Santos has given new momentum to the discussion of crucial socio-legal concepts such as legal pluralism or production of law. He reminds us of the unavoidable link between science and politics, and gives us reasons to believe that international scientific networks may have a force of their own in the process of globalization. (RCSL Newsletter Fall 2009) 2009 Call for Nominations: see our Archive page
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