WELLINGTON 27 - 30 AUGUST 1992
HOSTED BY THE LAW FACULTY OF THE VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON
Notice of this Congress follows
If you are interested in attending please complete and return the form
provided as soon as possible
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WELLINGTON 1992
Full-fledged Commission Congress
First Call for papers
Dates: 27-30 August 1992
Venue: Faculty of Law, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
About Wellington
New Zealand's capital city of Wellington is clustered on the hills surrounding
a stunningly beautiful natural harbour. As the seat of government all the
institutions are easily accessible for the visitor (parliament and court
buildings, National Museum, National Library, Gallery, etc.). It has a good
range of restaurants.
The weather in August is likely to be fresh (12 degrees C) and windy. The
city is within a few hours' drive of superb ski resorts, and all the major New
Zealand cities can be reached by regular and relatively cheap internal air
flights.
Given the Pacific location, peoples of the ocean and of Aotearoa will be
present at the conference, and it is hoped that participants will take the
opportunity to visit other parts of New Zealand as well as neighbouring
Pacific lands.
Conference theme: **Resources, Rules and Identity - a Reassessment**
Introduction
We propose a conceptual flavour, but wish to make it clear from the outset
that this should not be seen as a conference of obscure theory. We will seek
explanations within what will hopefully be the usual wide range of ideas and
information presented at a Commission conference.
The objective is to invite discussion highlighting the inter-relationship
between resources, identity and rules in the general area of legal
pluralism and unofficial law. The organisers intend that discussion will not
be focused on any one human group (e.g. indigenous peoples, or migrant
minorities), but will cover the breadth of individuals, groups or peoples who
might be the subject of inquiry in the field. Conference participants will
of course choose divergent ways in which to define these notions and to
explore the inter-relationships in their area of study. Bringing out the
differences and the common themes, will be one of the purposes of the
conference.
Sessions
With the above general themes in mind, we invite papers under three main
headings, one for each day of the conference. Obviously the ideas will be
inter-related, as will many of the contents. Still our purpose is to
encourage contributors to frame ideas within these headings since we think
each highlights slightly different aspects of the reassessment of resources,
rules and identity. And in each of the sessions we would hope papers will
mark the developments in the area of study, reflect on their directions, and
re-assess.
1. Law and State
A good deal of social control, cooperation, competition and conflict is
channelled through the institutions of the state and involves the law. There
are often conflicts between official and unofficial rule systems. We invite
papers highlighting the role of law and state in promoting, defeating or
defining resources and identity (and the interactions between them) in
relation to the individuals, groups or peoples which form the basis of our
study in the Commission.
2. People and Culture
We are shapeless without identity. How is this formed? By what
socialisation processes? The conglomeration of rules of a group we might
call culture, including such matters as language, religion and ideology.
How important to cultural identity is the control over resources, in
individual or group settings? How do different socialisation processes
survive in the modern state? By what rules, or customs do individuals mark
themselvs off from groups, and groups from other groups? How do we value
different people? How is this shown in official and unofficial rule systems?
We might consider ethnic differences, gender questions, discrimination,
religion, the formation of unofficial networks of identity and their
inter-relationships to resources (e.g. family businesses in ethnic
communities, religious support groups, 'old school ties', etc.) and dispute
resolution.
3. Land and Natural Resources
People take many notions of identity from territorial descriptions - the
state, a city, the family house. One question thus might be, how important
is land to identity, in the groups under study? What is the
inter-relationship? Why is this important? Although a likely focus is on
land, we might include of course any other natural resources, such as fish and
forests, air and water. What rules tie groups to their natural resources?
What rules tie groups to their natural resources? What rules (e.g. law)
either prevent or help the securing of these resources?
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As always, the organisers are hoping to encourage papers which bring new
material (whether ethnographic or otherwise), those which develop conceptual
frameworks from previous works or freshly), and those which do both. There
are of course a great many ways in which participants will want to research
and forumulate ideas. For example, it has been common in this general field
to focus on disputes because it would appear, it is possible therein for the
researcher to see differing rules and power systems most clearly. Whether
relying on a dispute-focus or not, we invite authors to assess their
methodology of research as part of the re-assessment objective.
The notion of a reassessment carries two main implications. First, at the
explanatory or theoretical level there is the suggestion that the importance
of these inter-relationships needs to be re-examined. As we are continually
reminded, not least by the break up of many of the iron curtain states,
earlier reports of the death of rule-pluralism in the modern state, were much
exaggerated. The state has not extinguished pluralism, ethnic identities, or
the demands by groups for resources which enhance their different identities.
What are the possible explanations?
Other areas of discussion could be at a more anthropological level. For
example, scholars have for a long time debated the interaction between kinship
rules and economic base. It is this sort of theoretical debate that we seek
to revisit and reassess in this conference whether conducted in traditional
anthropological contexts, within the framework of the state, or otherwise.
Secondly, there are enormous practical issues involved in this reassessment.
There are ever-increasing demands for the recognition of identity and for
related resources. These are not of course confined to the better known
demands from indigenous peoples. All over the world groups are reasserting
separate identities, based on a variety of criteria (language, gender ethnic).
It seems appropriate to examine these demands, to reflect on their likely
direction, and to project some possible effects they may have on the areas of
legal pluralism and unofficial law.
These issues can be tackled at different levels of course. Picking up the
theme of the state, we might ask at what point might the state itself be
threatened by the recognition of pluralism if we lose the umbrella of state
law? Does it matter anyway if the state loses its dominance? Are we
returning to the confusions of personal law which existed in earlier times.
Are we moving back from contract to status?
Other papers might focus on extra-judicial dispute-resolution in a group, and
re-assess what understandings have developed, what progress has been achieved
in coming to terms with different identities in the formal legal process (e.g.
relevance of ethnic customs in assessing guilt or sentence under criminal
law).
The possible range would thus be very broad, covering for example
dispute-resolultion, customary laws, environmental issues, health care, family
law, and native fishing matters. The point is that a focus on resources and
identity will bring out the conflicting value systems tied up with pluralism
and unofficial law and seek ideas. And the suggestion is that the
conference will re-evaluate past developments and seek ideas about future
directions.
Call for Papers
Early indication of interest and title: as soon as possible
First abstracts: 30 September 1991
Revised abstracts: 31 January 1992
Papers: 30 June 1992
Inquiries and Correspondence
For a fuller description of the conference proposal and the themes, see above.
All queries and correspondence should initially be directed to:
Professor Tony Angelo
Faculty of Law
Box 600
Wellington
New Zealand
[Tel: (64-4) 721000; Fax (64-4) 499 1778]
Email responses to:
Ian Macduff
<ian.macduff@vuw.ac.nz>
Faculty of Law,
Victoria University of Wellington,
PO Box 600,
Wellington,
New Zealand.
tel: 64-4-712-467
fax: 64-4-499-1778
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Application/Registration
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THE COMMISSION ON FOLK LAW AND LEGAL PLURALISM
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CONGRESS 1992
Faculty of Law
Victoria University of Wellington
P O Box 600
Wellington
New Zealand
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