Opportunity for Post-Graduate Students in the Field of the Law of Property and Slavery Studies
Slavery as the Powers Attaching to the Right of Ownership
The Project
Does ‘slavery’ exist today? If so, what is to be considered slavery an what is not; in other words what are the legal parameters of this notion of slavery? The Project seeks to answer that question and establish what is to be considered slavery in law.
A group of twenty scholars, experts in their fields will meet on two occasions to give presentations and exchange ideas as to what the legal term ‘slavery’ means. These presentations will then be collected and published in an edited book and disseminated through concise ‘International Guidelines’ meant to assist judges and legislators in holding people account for modern cases of slavery. This Research Network will seek to establish the outer limits of the definition of slavery which hinges not on the concept of ‘ownership’ of human beings, but on the ‘powers attaching to the right of ownership’ that is: de facto ownership.
Beyond its main objective, the Research Network comprises a number of early career academics and postgraduate students who will benefit from their interaction with leading scholars. The Network will also comprise individuals from outside the research community, working for the leading anti-slavery NGOs in the United Kingdom and in the United States.
Call for Papers
Leading academics in the field of the law of property and slavery studies extend an invitation for two postgraduate students (LLM, LLD, Masters or PhD) to join their inter-disciplinary Network.
The Research Network, established with the assistance of a United Kingdom Arts and Humanities Research Council Grant entitled: ‘Slavery as the Powers attaching to the Right of Ownership’ seeks two postgraduate students to join, based on a successful one-page abstract, the Network and participate in two symposia (the first in the summer of 2010 in Europe; the second in the summer of 2011 in the United States), developing a chapter-length piece on the parameters of either de jure or de facto ownership as may be applicable to human beings.
The successful candidates will have their travel and accommodations paid; will be full members and participants in the activities of the Research Network; and will develop their research as a chapter to be included in an edited volume of the work of the Network.
The Research Network consists of, inter alia: Kevin Bales, Seymour Drescher, Stanley Engerman, Paul Finkelman, Richard Helmholz, Antony Honoré, Orlando Patterson and Rebecca Scott.
The Research Networks seeks to give content to the ‘powers attaching to the right of ownership’ which is the basis of the accepted international definition of slavery, by determining the parameters of both de jure and de facto ownership of human beings. The Network is thus looking for Papers which will consider different elements of ownership as they may manifest themselves in situations of historical or contemporary slavery. The Network would welcome Papers which had an Asian dimension.
The deadline for submissions of one-page abstract is 15 March 2010. Abstracts should be sent to Jean Allain at: j.allain@qub.ac.uk.
For more information see the Queen’s University Website – here