In 1998, Karl Klare wrote an article, published in the South African Journal on Human Rights, in which he sets out an alternative understanding of law and constitutionalism informed by his theoretical roots in Marxist and critical legal theory in the context of the US, his following of South African law and struggle politics over many years, and his specific experience in a number of judges’ conferences in the mid-nineties. The article, titled ‘Legal culture and transformative constitutionalism’, read, reread and cited by many scholars has played an important role in shaping South African discourse. His views have been interpreted and taken up in multiple and divergent ways.
25 years after the publication of the article may be a good time to reflect on the ideas, concepts and suggestions made in the original piece and on the discourse that followed. Despite the inclusion of legal culture in the title of the article, most of the engagements focused on transformative constitutionalism. We invite abstracts that focus in particular on legal culture but those who focus on transformative constitutionalism will also be considered. Abstracts engaging with other approaches followed over the past 25 years are also welcomed. Specific issues to consider include:
- The meaning(s) of legal culture
- Legal culture and symbolic representation (popular culture/ aesthetics/ architecture/ spatiality)
- Legal culture and legal education/ the university
- Legal culture and legal history
- Legal culture and gender
- Legal culture and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission 25 years on
- Legal culture in the courtroom
- Transforming legal culture
- Neoliberalism and legal culture
- Legal culture and specific substantive fields of law
Please send 200-word abstracts by 14 June 2023 to Law-Events@uwc.ac.za
