An article by Kent Law School Professor Rosemary Hunter and a book by Senior Lecturer Dr Rose Parfitt have been shortlisted for a Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) prize.

Professor Hunter’s article, ‘Feminist judging in the “real world”‘ (Oñati Socio-Legal Series, vol 8, n9, 2018) is shortlisted for the SLSA Article Prize. The article presents Professor Hunter’s empirical research on real world feminist judging. Drawing on case study and interview data it explores the how, when and where of feminist judging, that is, the feminist resources, tools and techniques judges have drawn upon, the stages in the hearing and decision-making process at which these resources, tools and techniques have been deployed, and the areas of law in which they have been applied. The article goes on to consider observed and potential limits on feminist judicial practice, before drawing conclusions about the comparison between ‘real world’ feminist judging and the practices of feminist judgmentally projects.

Dr Parfitt’s book, ‘The Process of International Legal Reproduction: Inequality, Historiography, Resistance’ (Cambridge University Press, 2019) is shortlisted for the SLSA Socio-Legal Theory and History Prize. The book explores the legal historiography of the state and features new archival research. It draws upon both anti-colonial and Marxist theory for a critical examination of the role of international law in establishing and perpetuating inequalities of wealth, power and pleasure. The book has also been nominated, in the US, for the Law and Society Association’s J Willard Hurst Book Prize for socio-legal history.

Research for Dr Parfitt’s book was funded in part by a Discovery Early Career Research Award from the Australian Research Council. The grant, awarded in 2015, was for a three-year project on ‘International Law and the Legacies of Fascist Internationalism’.