16 April 2025 – Book Launch - Law and Film: Critical Perspectives on a Field in Motion
The Labour Law and Development Research Laboratory was proud to present the the book launch of , co-edited by Dr. Edward van Daalen (LLDRL Postdoctoral Fellow). Born from the seminar series ‘Eating Popcorn Like a Lawyer’, the book considers the need to turn to film and what this means for how we come to understand law and its absences. The chapters explore a variety of narratives, aesthetics, cinematic epistemologies and legal phenomena; from assessing law in social debates to film as legal critique, from notions of justice to contemplations on evil, and from masculine vigilantism to the female gaze. Taken together, they constitute an inspiring body of work that embodies an urgency for diverse and subversive ways to challenge law’s formalism and authority; and to think about and respond variously to law’s impotence, its disappointment, or its boredom.
Moderation: Prof. Nandini Ramanujam
Presentation: Dr. Edward van Daalen (editor)
Discussant: Prof. Vrinda Narain
9 April 2025 - The Climate Crisis: Working Children’s Perspectives
In collaboration with the Labour Law and Development Research Laboratory, the Children and Work Network marks the 25th session of its research series with a special event on the climate crisis and children’s work. The all-encompassing and far-reaching effects of the climate crisis on children’s lifeworlds are undeniable, and work remains a vital aspect for millions of them. Now more than ever it is crucial to listen to children about what they observe, do and demand. To foster conversation and action, we will discuss: the latest findings from the literature on climate change and child labour; working children’s activism and political participation; and the results of a consultation on climate change with children from all around the world.
Speakers
Elisabeth Muyinganyiki, child rights and environmental activist from the Nyarugenge District, Kigali, Rwanda.
Claire O’Kane, international child rights practitioner and researcher with 30 years of experience working with children and young people in diverse contexts.
Edward van Daalen, researcher at the Labour Law and Development Research Laboratory of ºÚÁÏÍø where he works on the intersections of international law, children’s rights, and development studies.
21 March / 4 April - Qualitative Methods Workshop Series for Doctoral Students
In continuation of the Creative Legal Research Workshop that they conducted year last year, the LLDRL and ºÚÁÏÍø’s Faculty of Law supported the efforts of doctoral candidates Rhona Goodarzi and Charles Lurquin to run a second series focused on qualitative research methods. Through this initiative, the pair sought to fill a gap in the Law Faculty’s curriculum concerning the teaching and practical application of non-doctrinal legal research methods. The two workshops, both of which took place this spring, experimented with two different modalities and explored the following themes.
Workshop #1: Introduction to Qualitative Methods (21st March 2025)
This first session offered an initial overview of qualitative methods and their underlying ontologies, followed by a deep dive into two different applications. First, this featured a discussion with Professor René Provost about the extensive ethnographic research he conducted in line with his acclaimed book Rebel Courts: The Administration of Justice by Armed Insurgents (Oxford University Press, 2021). Second, Professor Sébastien Jodoin presented in detail the process tracing method that he applied in his doctoral thesis, Forest Preservation in a Changing Climate: REDD+ and Indigenous and Community Rights in Indonesia and Tanzania (Cambridge University Press, 2017) and the research materials that he aided him in this endeavour.
Workshop #2: Peer Review Session – Empirical Legal Research Projects (4th April 2025)
Moving from a presentation to a peer review format, this second session offered doctoral students an opportunity to receive concrete feedback on the empirical components of their research projects and to learn from the approaches of their peers. The participants were asked to submit a summary of their research hypothesis, questions and methodology, highlighting the empirical components, and to prepare feedback on each of their peers’ submissions. They received personalised feedback from Professor Sébastien Jodoin and their fellow attendees. The session also featured a short tutorial by DCL candidate and O’Brien Fellow at the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism (CHRLP), Katherine Lofts, on Taguette, an open source qualitative data analysis tool often used for interviews.
Charles and Rhona wish to express their sincere gratitude to the LLDRL for their support with the facilitation of these workshops. We hope that their ongoing collaboration with the Lab will allow them to effect concrete change regarding how non-doctrinal legal research methods are taught and perceived at ºÚÁÏÍø’s Faculty of Law.
----
Suite à l'atelier sur la recherche juridique créative qu'ils ont organisé l'année dernière, le LLDRL et la Faculté de droit de ºÚÁÏÍø ont soutenu les efforts des doctorants Rhona Goodarzi et Charles Lurquin pour organiser une deuxième série d'ateliers axés sur les méthodes de recherche qualitative. Cette initiative visait à combler une lacune du programme de la Faculté de droit en ce qui concerne l'enseignement et l'application pratique des méthodes de recherche juridique non doctrinales. Les deux ateliers, qui ont eu lieu ce printemps, ont expérimenté deux modalités différentes et ils ont exploré les thèmes suivants :
Atelier n°1 : Introduction aux méthodes qualitatives (le 21 mars 2025)
Cette première session a offert un aperçu initial de l'ensemble des méthodes qualitatives et de leurs ontologies sous-jacentes, suivie d'une plongée en profondeur dans deux applications différentes. Tout d'abord, une discussion a eu lieu avec le professeur René Provost sur les recherches ethnographiques approfondies qu'il a menées dans le cadre de son livre acclamé Rebel Courts : The Administration of Justice by Armed Insurgents (Oxford University Press, 2021). Ensuite, le professeur Sébastien Jodoin a présenté en détail la méthode de traçage des processus qu'il a appliquée dans sa thèse de doctorat, Forest Preservation in a Changing Climate : REDD+ and Indigenous and Community Rights in Indonesia and Tanzania (Cambridge University Press, 2017) et les documents de recherche qui l'ont aidé dans cette démarche.
Atelier n°2 : Session d’évaluation par des pairs – Projets de recherche empirique en droit (le 4 avril 2025)
Passant des présentations à un format d'évaluation par des pairs, cette deuxième session a offert aux doctorants l'opportunité de recevoir un retour concret sur les éléments empiriques de leurs projets de recherche et d'apprendre des approches de leurs pairs. Les participants ont été invités à soumettre un résumé de leur hypothèse de recherche, de leurs questions et de leur méthodologie, en mettant l'accent sur les éléments empiriques, et à préparer des commentaires sur chacune des soumissions de leurs pairs. Ils ont reçu des commentaires personnalisés de la part du professeur Sébastien Jodoin et des autres participants. La session a également été l'occasion d'un bref exposé par Katherine Lofts, candidate au DCL et O'Brien Fellow au Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism (CHRLP), sur Taguette, un outil d'analyse de données qualitatives à code source ouvert souvent utilisé pour les entretiens.
Charles et Rhona souhaitent exprimer leur sincère gratitude au LLDRL pour son soutien dans l'animation de ces ateliers. Nous espérons que leur collaboration continue avec le Laboratoire leur permettra d'apporter des changements concrets quant à la façon dont les méthodes de recherche juridique non doctrinales sont enseignées et perçues à la Faculté de droit de ºÚÁÏÍø.
17 March 2025 - DCL Legal Research Methodology Series: Comparative Methodology
Sponsored by the Labour Law and Development Research Laboratory, the DCL Legal Research Methodology Series held a session on Comparative Methodology led by Prof. Mark Antaki, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, ºÚÁÏÍø, and Co-Director of the Paul-André Crépeau Centre for Private and Comparative Law. During the interactive workshop Prof. Antaki addressed doctoral candidates’ concerns regarding the application of comparative methodology, offering valuable insights into its scope, theoretical foundations, and methodological challenges.
During the discussion, students explored various conceptual and practical aspects of comparative methodology, including its relationship with legal pluralism, its role in analyzing international regimes, and its application in private and public law. Questions were raised about the normative and descriptive dimensions of comparative law, the use of genealogical analysis, and how comparative research can be framed within a postcolonial perspective. A key point of reflection was Prof. Helge Dedek's article, "The Tradition of Comparative Law: Comparison and its Colonial Legacies," which examines how global power structures have historically shaped comparative methodology. Participants engaged in a critical discussion on the colonial underpinnings of comparison, its evolution, and its relevance for contemporary legal research.
The session provided valuable guidance on refining comparative legal research and integrating a historically informed, critical perspective. Overall, the workshop was a productive and intellectually engaging experience, equipping doctoral students with a deeper understanding of comparative methodology and its application in their work.
27 February 2025 – Fourth Annual Lecture in the the Laws of Social Reproduction. Care Work and the Global South: Shifting the Frame on Labour Law’s Founding Narratives
ILO Convention No. 182 was decisively built around regulatory innovation that emerged primarily from the Global South. How much does this starting point shift the narrative on how labour law’s founding narratives are understood? The contention in this lecture is that the emancipatory potential of focusing on care work requires researchers to build resolutely on methodological starting points that understand the Global South not as a site of ‘diversity’ but as an epistemological starting point, places of deep knowing and of alternative disciplinary conceptualizations that can and increasingly must inform regulatory developments, transnationally.
Seminar Speaker:ÌýProf. Adelle Blackett, Canada Research Chair in Transnational Labour Law, Faculty of Law ºÚÁÏÍø
Moderator:ÌýDr. Neha Wadhawan, ILO Delhi, National Program Coordinator of the Work in Freedom Project
