Wednesday 14th July - Saturday 17th July 2004
Mansfield College, Oxford

This inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary conference seeks to explore issues surrounding evil and law, with a focus on state power and violence. Perspectives are sought from those engaged in any field that touches on the study of law and legal culture: anthropology, criminology, cultural studies, government/politics, history, legal studies, literature, philosophy, psychology, religion/theology, and sociology, as well as those working in civil rights, human rights, prison services, politics and government (including NGOs), psychiatry, healthcare, and other areas.

Papers, reports, work-in-progress and workshops are invited on issues related to any of the following themes:

• when and why is law evil or a source of evil?
• state violence and coercion
• justifications for punishment, including capital punishment
• whether and under what circumstances the adversary or inquisitorial models of legal process generate, tolerate, or allow evil outcomes
• issues of distributive justice in law, including distributing the costs of legal error
• the intersection of law with issues of choice, responsibility, and diminished responsibility
• state responsibility for terrorism, war, intervention, ethnic cleansing, and other problems of international law and international relations

Papers will be considered on any related theme. 300 word abstracts should be submitted to both the Organising Chairs; abstracts may be in Word, WordPerfect, PDF or RTF formats. and must arrive no latewr than Friday 19th March 2004. If an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full draft paper should be submitted by Friday 28th May 2004.

The conference will consist of roughly 30-35 people grouped primarily in consecutive panels so that each person may hear and respond to each paper. Non-presenters are welcome to attend and participate as well.

Selected papers accepted for and presented at this conference will be published, in a revised and developed format, in a themed volume. In addition, all papers accepted for and presented at the conference will appear in an ISBN eBook.

Evil, Law, and the State is part of a larger series of ongoing conferences, run under the general banners At the Interface and Probing the Boundaries. This series aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore various discussions which are innovative and exciting. For further information, see http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/ati.htm