24th Annual Conference of the
Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law
Canberra, 30 June - 2 July 2016
International Law of the Everyday:
Fieldwork, Friction & Fairness
The 24th Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL) will take place from Thursday 30 June 2016 to Saturday 2 July 2016 at University House, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. The Conference Organising Committee now invites proposals for papers to be presented at the Conference, either individually, or as a panel proposal.
Call for Papers & Panel Proposals: Deadline 26 February 2016
Much is made of international law’s chequered past and vaulting (or sometimes despairing) visions for the future. Yet international law also has a rich and variegated present and informs daily life in many ways. These senses of the present will be the focus of this year’s ANZSIL Conference. Participants are invited to reflect on what comprises the everyday of international law and how international law shapes the everyday. Is the former, for instance, made up of states’ reporting and meeting under multilateral treaties; the cyclical, ritualised work of international institutions; the rhythms of claim and counter-claim characteristic of dispute resolution; the routine advisory work of international lawyers embedded in corporate, public sector, military or advocacy environments; the mostly unseen work of consular servicing and diplomatic protection carried out by governments; the implementation and monitoring of sanctions regimes; popular mobilisation of international legal argument in the media and public debate; the operationalization of international law by NGOs and others working in the field; the familiar dramas of the classroom or the conference room; or something else? How does international legal normativity get enacted, affirmed or called into question in such mundane settings and how might we compare and contrast the versions of international law so produced? And how do these various activities register in daily lives commonly understood in national or local terms? Can we, indeed, conceive of an everyday or a present for, of or around international law at all, when the conditions under which people live across the globe are marked by such disparity? What is at stake in assembling a particular moment – a “now” – in which international law might operate and what is the history of the present international law purports to inhabit? Can international law speak meaningfully to quotidian concerns – the question of how to live any one day – and what guidance (if any) does it offer in that respect? What are, or should be, international lawyers’ most pressing tasks for the here and now?
The Conference Organising Committee invites paper submissions reflecting on these themes in any area of public and private international law including (but not limited to): human rights; the law of the sea; international humanitarian law; international trade law; international investment law; international financial regulation; international environmental law; international criminal law; global administrative law; diplomatic and consular law; international legal pedagogy; international legal theory; international legal history; anthropologies, sociologies or geographies of international law; and/or the ethics or politics of international law. Also invited are proposals for panels comprised of three to four papers in circumstances where the presenters concerned are already in conversation, or would find it useful to be so assembled. Please also note that the Conference Organising Committee has decided that all panels will contain balanced gender representation. Those proposing panels are also invited to seek out a diversity of presenters in other respects as well; the Conference Organising Committee would particularly like to encourage collaboration among those at different stages of their careers and/or from different types of workplace, discipline or sub-discipline, as applicable. In the tradition of ANZSIL Conferences, the Conference Organising Committee also invites and welcomes proposals on international law topics not connected to the conference theme.
Submission of Paper Proposals
Those proposing papers for presentation at the Conference should submit a single document comprised of:
- a one page abstract;
- a one page curriculum vitae of the presenter; and
- 150-200 words of bio-data (for possible inclusion in the conference program).
Submission of Panel Proposals
Those proposing panels for presentation at the Conference should submit a single document comprised of:
- 150-200 words explaining the rationale and theme of the panel; and
- three or four paper proposals, including in each case the information requested above.
The information requested above should be submitted in a single document by email to the ANZSIL Secretariat (anzsil@anu.edu.au) no later than Friday, 26 February 2016. Please include the heading on your email message ‘ANZSIL Conference 2016 Proposal: [Your Name]’. The Conference Organising Committee will inform applicants of the outcome of their proposals by the end of March 2016. Further information about the Conference, including program and registration details, will be available on the ANZSIL website.
