2012 Honolulu, Hawai’i

Joint Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association and the Research Committee on Sociology of Law (International Sociological Association), co-sponsored by the Canadian Law and Society Association (CLSA), the Japanese Association of Sociology of Law (JASL), and the Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA), UK.

Building on a phrase coined by noted Polynesian scholar Epeli Hau‘ofa, our conference theme alluded both to the location of our meeting in Hawai‘i, with its complex cultural and legal terrain and contemporary struggles over sovereignty and indigenous rights; as well as to the uniqueness of this opportunity for scholars from the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, North America, and other world regions to engage in conversation. So we offered papers, panels, and roundtables aimed at stimulating conversations to build bridges across the seas of law and society and at the same time redirect their currents; about issues and ideas that are at once locally grounded and globally relevant; that seek to make the familiar strange and the strange familiar; that cross national, cultural, and disciplinary boundaries.