Gad Barzilai, an international expert on comparative politics and law, will speak on “Beyond Relativism: Where is Political Power in Legal Pluralism?” on Friday, April 16 at 12:00 p.m. in Thompson 620. The talk is part of the Center for Public Policy and Administration’s Mellon-funded Grants Workshop Speaker Series in collaboration with the Departments of Political Science and Legal Studies.
Barzilai is Professor of International Studies, Law & Political Science in the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. Prior to 2005, he was a professor in the Department of Political Science at Tel Aviv University. He is active in international, Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian human rights organization and has served as an advisor to politicians and NGOs on issues related to law and politics. He is the author of the award-winning book, Communities and Law: Politics and Cultures of Legal Identities, and has helped to garner more than $4 million in support of academic projects under his direction.
Barzilai will focus in his talk on how theoretical constructs of legal pluralism—multiple legal practices in various jurisdictions—have challenged traditional notions of jurisprudence, but also on how research concerning legal pluralism can be enhanced through acknowledging the role of political power. According to Barzilai, the politics of identities, non-ruling communities, and neo-liberal globalization are all sites of political power in the praxis of legal pluralism, and the dynamic interactions of local, national, and global agents generate forms of power that are often obscured behind the rhetoric of globalized pluralism. Barzilai will propose new constructs that can enable scholars to unveil political power in the context of decentralized legal pluralities.
While at UMass, Barzilai will also mentor Assistant Professor of Legal Studies and Public Policy David Mednicoff, who is developing a grant proposal for support of his research on the rule of law in contemporary Arab societies. Mednicoff is a Fellow in the 2009-2010 CPPA Grants Workshop, which is supported by the UMass Amherst Office of Faculty Development’s Mutual Mentoring Initiative, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This talk is free and open to the public. Brownbag lunches are welcome.