CONFERENCE: The Centaur Jurisprudence Project Conference - The Legalization of Culture and the Enculturation of Law

The Centaur Jurisprudence Project Conference: The Legalization of Culture and the Enculturation of Law
Friday, 21 February 2014, Faculty of Law, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

This one-day conference will explore the potential of legal pluralism to account for the varied and dynamic roles of culture within legal discourse. Can legal pluralism create a richer model of legal knowledge, one that reflects plural cultural narratives, while still offering a normative foundation for formal legal processes? Or does it entail abandoning a distinctively legal discourse in favour of an assemblage of anthropological and legal knowledge or "centaur discipline"? In short, can legal pluralism bring culture within the domain of law?
PANELISTS: Featuring four panels of distinguished speakers, the conference will explore these questions from a multidisciplinary perspective in the context of the recognition/accommodation of minority cultural practices, aboriginal law, alternative dispute resolution, and international law. Confirmed panelists are:

Panel 1, chaired by Prof. Alison Dundes Renteln (Law/Anthropology, USC):
- Prof. David Howes (Anthropology, Concordia)
- Prof. Pascale Fournier (Law, Ottawa) & Preet Kaur Virdi (SOAS, London)
- Prof. Anthony Connolly (Law, ANU)
- Prof. Lucia Belucci (Law, Milan)

Panel 2, chaired by Prof. Ron Niezen (Law/Anthropology, McGill):
- Prof. Kirsten Anker (Law, McGill)
- Prof. Justin Richland (Anthropology, Chicago)
- Prof. Jennifer Hendry (Law, Leeds)
- Mr Thomas Burelli (Law, U Ottawa)

Panel 3, chaired by Prof. Frederic Bachand (Law, McGill):
- Prof. Eric Reiter (History, Concordia)
- Prof. Morgan Brigg (Pol Sci, Queensland)
- Prof. Bruce Arrigo (Criminology, UNC Charlotte)
- Prof. Kristin Doughty (Anthropology, U Rochester)

Panel 4, chaired by Prof. Annie Bunting (Law & Society, York):
- Prof. Rene Provost (Law, McGill)
- Prof. Kamari Maxine Clarke (Anthropology, Yale)
- Prof. David Chandler (IR, Westminster)
- Ms. Genevieve Painter (Law & Social Policy, UC Berkeley)

FURTHER INFORMATION: More information on panelists and papers are available at: http://www.mcgill.ca/culture-law

REGISTRATION: You may register at http://www.mcgill.ca/culture-law/registration

Registration is open until January 21.