Dr Sara Dezalay

Biography

Qualifications 

2011 PhD of Laws, Department of Law of the European University Institute, Florence, Italy

Revamping Law by Circumventing the State. Non-governmental organizations in the international management of social violence on the African continent, 637 p., under the co-supervision of Prof. P.-M. Dupuy, and J. Siméant

2006 Master of Research of Laws of the European University Institute of Florence

Finding your way in conflict mapping: Drawing the field of non-governmental agents and legal or para-legal resources mobilized for the resolution of internal armed conflicts, 88 p., under the supervision of Prof. P.-M. Dupuy

2005 Master of Research in Political Science of International Relations, Institute of Political Sciences of Paris, France, with distinction

Des mises en récit de la crise ivoirienne: ce que ‘gérer’ un conflit veut dire. Étude du cas d’Amnesty International (Reading the Ivoirian crisis: what ‘managing’ a conflict means. A case-study of Amnesty International), 134 p., under the supervision of Prof. D. Bigo

2004 M.A. in political science of the Institute of Political Sciences of Paris (“Sciences-Po Paris”) France

Bilingual mention (English-French). Major in International Organizations

2002 Master of Laws, Major in public and international law. University Panthéon-Assas, Paris II, France

2001 B.A. of Law University Panthéon-Assas, Paris II, France. One-year ERASMUS exchange at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, with specialization in European and International Law in 2000-2001

Honours and awards

2016-                Associate Research Fellowship, Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders”, Goethe Universität, Frankfurt, Germany

2016-                Senior Research Fellowship, Global Justice Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

2016-               Visiting Fellowship, Dickson Poon Transnational Law Institute, King’s College London, United Kingdom

2015-2016        Member of the Organizing Committee, Law and Society Annual Meeting

2012-2013        Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Program of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada

2011-2013        Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Canada Centre for Global Security Studies, University of Toronto

2007                 Visiting Doctoral Fellowship, Hauser Global Law Program of New York University (autumn)

2006 Finalist, European Law Moot Court Competition

2000-2001 ERASMUS exchange, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

1996 Grantee of the Strasburg Prize (Proficiency in German)

Professional memberships

Professional bodies and learned societies

2016- Initiator, creator and convener, Informal network: ‘Extractive Resources in Africa: Transnational Law, Markets and Contests’: network of over 70 researchers and practitioners in law, political economy, anthropology and social geography across Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and North America

2015-               Co-initiator, co-creator and convener, with S. Ballakrishnen (UCI Irvine), International Research Collaboration (IRC) Invisible institutionalisms. What can we see when we are looking? Law and Society Association and Research Committee on the Sociology of Law

2015-               Elected member, Association des chercheurs de Politique africaine (ACPA, Association of researchers on African politics)

2014-               Co-initiator, co-creator and convener, with Wesley Pue † (UBC), Sub-Group Lawyers and Legal Imperialism(s), International Working Group for Comparative Studies of Legal Professions, Research Committee on Sociology of Law, International Sociological Association. Research network comprising members from across Europe, USA and Canada

2014-               Member, Research Committee on Sociology of Law, International Sociological Association

2008-               Member, Law and Society Association

2006-               Member, TJ Network - Network of transitional justice researchers

2006-2010        Member, CNRS Research Group ‘Responding to Extreme Crises’

Academic positions

Employment history

Full time academic appointments

2013-2016        Research Fellow, Cluster of Excellence ‘The Formation of Normative Orders,’ Goethe Universität, Frankfurt, Germany

2011-2013        Postdoctoral fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto

2009-2011        Fixed term lecturer and researcher (Attachée temporaire d’enseignement et de recherches -A.T.E.R.), Institute of Political Sciences of Lille (“Sciences-Po Lille”), France

2005-2011 Doctoral Researcher, European University Institute

Other appointments

2014-2015        Guest Lecturer, Goethe Universität (Winter)

2011-2013        Fixed-term lecturer, Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Toronto (Autumn)

2012                 Guest lecturer, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto (Spring)

2010-2011        Guest lecturer, HEC School of management of Paris

2009-2011        Guest lecturer, Institute of Political Sciences of Paris (“Sciences-Po Paris”)

2006-2009        Research assistant of Prof. W. Sadurski, Law Department, European University Institute

2003-2006        Research assistant of Prof. R. Benson, Culture and Communication, New York University (Summer)

2001                 Research assistant of Prof. D. Cassel, Northwestern University School of Law (Summer)

Speaking engagements

International conferences and annual congresses (most recent)

2019                 “Africa’s lawyers. Between imperial legacies and transformations in global capitalism”, Law and society Annual Meeting, Washington DC (May 30-June 2)

2017                 With Peter Brett, “Who gets on the bench? Constitutional judges and the judicialisation of politics in Sub-Saharan Africa,” 7th European Conference on African Studies ECAS, Basel (29 June-2 July)

2017 “Building a political sociology of legal professions on the African continent: stakes for an open research agenda,” “New Lawyers in Society panels” (coord. by R. Abel, O. Hammarslev, H. Sommerlad and U. Schultz), Law and society Annual Meeting, Mexico City (June 20-23)

2017 With Ron Levi and Philip Kastner “Responses to Mass Violence: Managing the Tension between the Universal and the Particular,” Law and society Annual Meeting, Mexico City (June 20-23)

2017                 Roundtable panelist “Global pro bono: Diffusion, contestation, learned lessons” (coord. by F. de sa e Silva and L. Trubek), Law and society Annual Meeting, Mexico City (June 20-23)

Other conferences and workshops (most recent)

2020                 “From legalization boom to cartelisation bust? The social and professional structure of the field of international justice”, With M. Burgis-Kasthala, Workshop, Lawyers and Developments in International Law, London School of Economics (21 February)

2020                 “Africa’s lawyers: between imperial legacies and transformations in global capitalism”, Brown-bag seminar, Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies, Geneva (18 February)

2019                 “Africa’s lawyers. Between imperial legacies and transformations in global capitalism”, ISRU seminar, Cardiff School of Law and Politics (11 December)

2019                 “Defense practices at the International Criminal Court. Professional markets, national turf battles and the fragmentation of the field of international criminal justice”, The 21st anniversary of the Rome Statute: forgotten perspectives during the 20th celebration party, iCourts, University of Copenhagen (14-15 November)

2019                 Roundtable around K., Carlson’s Model(ing) Justice: Perfecting the Promise of International Criminal Law (Cabridge University Press, 2018), George and Irina Schaeffer Center for the Study of Genocide Human Rights and Conflict Prevention, American University of Paris (17 October) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ButXTSX-3Fw

2019                 “Lawyers and the new extraction in Africa”, Workshop “The Consequences of Colonialism and Decolonisation”, Cardiff School of law and politics (23-24 May)

2019 With Ron Levi, “Beyond Backlash: Rethinking the Relationship between Africa and the International Court as a Convergence of Dispositions and Dispositifs of Global Justice”, ICourts, Centre of Excellence for International Courts, University of Copenhagen, “The Power of international courts” (20-21 May)

2019                 Participant, Doing IPS Roundtable “Law and International Political Sociology in Conversation”, Queen Mary University (3 May)

2019                 “Africa’s lawyers. Between imperial legacies and transformations in global capitalism”, War on law, war through law? Reflections on the “past of the present” of the War on Terror, Cardiff Centre of law and Society Annual Conference, Cardiff School of Law and Politics (30 April-1 May)

2019 Discussant, “Journée de lancement du MOOC ‘Des prisons en Afrique’, Paris Université Panthéon-Sorbonne Paris I (22 February)

2018                 “International humanitarian law and conflicts”, Students for Global Health, Cardiff University (25 October)

2018                 Discussant, “Knowledge production and international law”, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (7-8 September)

2018                 “Africa against the International Criminal Court? Looking beyond an apparent backlash towards futures of global justice”, Workshop “Redress and the Ethics of the International,” Australian National University, Canberra (22-23 March)

2018                 “AfriMine GCRF Workshop”, University of Cape Town (14-16 March)

2018                 “Le Barreau ‘africain’ à Paris. Économies extractives et histoires connectées de mondialisation du droit,” Conference “Le sociologue en globe-trotter. Réceptions et usages de la sociologie d’Yves Dezalay”, Centre européen de sociologie et science politique, Université Paris I – EHESS (18-19 January)

Committees and reviewing

Editorial boards

2018 -               Member, Editorial Committee, Actes de la Recherche en Sciences Sociales

2014-                Assistant editor, Journal of intervention and state building

Reviewer for peer-reviewed journals and university presses

UK/US Presses (including: Cambridge University Press, Studies in Law and Society; Routledge); and UK/US and French journals (including: Law and Policy; Journal of law and society; International Criminal Law Review; International Political Science Review; Canadian Journal of Law & Society; Humanity; Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding; Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales; Critique internationale; Politique Africaine)

External expertise roles

- External evaluator of a senior level research fellowship at the Institut d’Études Avancées of Paris (May-June 2017)

- Independent external expert and Rapporteur, COST Open Call Evaluation (November-December 2017)

- Independent external reviewer of nine projects, British Academy, international research funding call, BA/DFID Anti-Corruption Evidence (ACE) Programme (December 2017)

- External evaluator, NRF, South Africa (July 2019)

Publications

• Date
• Type
• Selected

Teaching

Teaching at Cardiff University

Undergraduate module (Year 2), International Law in a changing world

Undergraduate module (Year 2) Colonialism, Global Political Economy and Development

Post-graduate module Politics of War, Humanitarian Intervention and Global Justice

Previous teaching experiences

Teaching in undergraduate programs

2014-15       “Protecting Human Rights”, with Cornelius Friesendorf (in English), (seminar - 21 hours - Winter semester – 35 students), Institute of Sociology, Goethe Universität, Frankfurt

2011-12            “Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies” (core course - in English), (lecture - 24 hours - Fall semesters - 50 students), Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Toronto

2010-2011 “Theory and Sociology of International Relations” (in French), (seminar - 22,5 hours - Spring semesters - 22 students), Institute of Political Sciences of Lille

2010-2011        “The Politics of Africa: between intervention and development” (in English), (seminar - 20 hours - Spring semesters - 30 students in average), with I. Bergamaschi, HEC Business School of Paris

2010-2011        “Global Africa. Africa’s political dynamics and insertion into the world” (in English), (seminar - 24 hours - Spring semesters - 22 students), with I. Bergamaschi, Institute of Political Sciences of Paris

2009-2011 “Politics of International interventions: War, Intervention and the International order” (in French), undergraduate course (lecture - 24 hours - Fall semesters - 120 students in average), Institute of Political Sciences of Lille

2009-2010        “Transitional Justice” (in English), (seminar - 24 hours - Spring semesters - 22 students), Institute of Political Sciences of Paris

2009                 Tutoring (in English), (seminar - 28 hours - Spring Semester - 60 students) in support of lecture “The International Protection of Human Rights” taught by L. Hennebel and Prof. H. Tigroudja, Institute of Political Sciences of Paris

Teaching in graduate programs

2010 “Human Rights, Systems of protection/systems of action” (in French), M.A. in Conflict resolution and peace- building (Lecture - 12 hours - Fall semester - 20 students), with O. Ferrando, Institute of Political Sciences of Lille

2009-2010        “Tools for Conflict Resolution” (in English), M.A. in Conflict resolution and peacebuilding (Lecture-Seminar - 10 hours - Fall semesters - 20 students), Institute of Political Sciences of Lille

2009 “Conflict Prevention” (in English), M. A. in Conflict resolution and peace-building  (Seminar - 12 hours - Fall semester - 20 students), Institute of Political Sciences of Lille

2006                 Preparation of online International Law seminar of the University of Nantes based on thematic interviews of academics and practitioners at the 2d World Forum on Human Rights, in Nantes, France under the supervision of Prof. Emmanuel Decaux, Centre de Recherche sur les Droits de l’homme of the University Panthéon-Assas/Paris II (Summer)

Convening and contribution to post-graduate research seminars and labs

2020                 “Stakes for a political-sociology research agenda in International law”, Graduate Seminar, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva (18 February).

2018 Discussant, Post-Graduate Research Symposium, Cardiff School of Law and Politics (6 December)

2018 Co-leader, with V. Fikfak, Empirical & Socio-legal methods in international law masterclass, The Asser Institute, The Hague (20 November)

2016                 Co-Convener, Writing groups, Transnational Law Summer Institute, The Dickson Poon School of Law, Kings College London (21-30 June)

2016     Presentation “Doing research on lawyers and extractive economies in Africa,” The Transnational Law METHODS LAB (coord. P. Zumbansen), Kings College London (March 15)

2015                 Contribution to the colloquium (coord. Gilles Lhuilier), Law and economics, École normale supérieure de Rennes (Dec. 7)

2015                 Presentation at the “Sociologie historique de la protestation en Afrique” seminar (coord. J. Siméant), Research master in African Studies, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne Paris I (Dec. 2)

2007                 Contribution to the organization of an inter-disciplinary seminar (law, history, political science) on the production and validation of “evidence” in scholarship and professional arenas, with Prof. Dupuy, Molho and Amiraux, European University Institute (Spring semester)

Teaching to professional audiences

2012                Guest lecturer (introduction and concluding session) on “Advocacy,” “Discovering Global Health series,” Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

2012                 Guest lecturer on Humanitarianism and Global Health, “Discovering Global Health series,” Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto (26 April)

Current research projects

My research deploys an approach that emphasizes the ‘interconnectedness’ (to use Sanjay Subrahmanyam’s concept) of the international and national dimensions of legal globalization. I use this broad focus to emphasize how legal evolution, political upheavals and capitalist transformations in post-colonial Africa build out of imperialism. I adopt a micro-level approach focused on the trajectories of lawyers to trace broader political, social and global dynamics between Africa and the contemporary international and legal order

My empirical work connects multiple and complementary scales of analysis: professional non-governmental markets for peacebuilding and conflict resolution; international dispute settlement mechanisms (International Court of Justice, international arbitration and International Criminal Court) and the roles played by lawyers in state transformations across the African South.

Creation and co-creation of research networks & projects

2018-               Contribution to the international network “African Mining for Sustainable Development Hub”, submitted to the Global Challenges Research Fund – RC UK by W. Maier (EARTH, Cardiff University) in 2018. Research hub comprising researchers and research institutions across the UK, Europe, North America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. It aims at maximizing impact by teaming up previously unconnected stakeholders in ten countries to work together towards a common vision: achieving a socially just, environmentally sustainable and economically developmental African mining industry. Co-head (with J. Klaaren, Wits University) of one of the seven Working Groups of the hub, on Policy and Governance.

2016-               Co-convener of Globalization Lawyers and Emerging Economies (GLEE)-Africa, with D. Wilkins. Center on the Legal Professions, Harvard Law School, research network on legal professions in Sub-Saharan Africa

2015-               Co-initiator and convener, “Who gets on the bench? Constitutional judges and the judicialisation of politics in sub-SaharanAfrica,” Research network of nine early- to mid-careers researchers from Africa, Germany, the US and the UK with the goal of developing an open-access database detailing the formal appointment rules and careers of judges with statutory and constitutional judicial review mandates since 1990 in 19 Sub-Saharan African countries

Organization of conferences

2019                 Convener of annual conference of the Cardiff Centre of Law and Society, Cardiff School of law and politics, “Wars on law, wars through law? Reflections on the ‘past of the present’ of the ‘War on Terror’” (30 April-1 May). 18 participants

2016                 Convener of international conference “Africa as a new frontier? Lawyers, economic shifts and global reconfigurations of political authority,” Cluster of Excellence ‘The Formation of Normative Orders,’ Goethe Universität, Frankfurt (20-21 June). 21 participants

2015                 Co-convener with Ron Levi of international conference “Global Justice: assessing spaces of practice and institutional convergences,” Munk School of Global Affairs/University of Toronto & Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales. École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris (26-27 January). 22 participants

2013                 Co-convener with D. Ambrosetti of the Workshop “Legal professions and their internationalization in peace processes.” Institut des Sciences sociales du Politique
CNRS / Université Paris Ouest Nanterre (December 4). 10 participants

2008 Co-convener with J. Jeandesboz of the Conference “Pacify and Punish: International justice, human rights and territoriality”. With funding from Actes de la Recherche en Sciences Sociales, Challenge and Cultures & Conflits. Collège de France, Paris (24 November). 10 participants

Organization of panels and workshops

2015-2020        Co-convener with S. Ballakrishnen of the panel “Invisible Institutionalism: Peripheries as Sites of Legal Revolutions,” with the support of the Research Committee on the Sociology of Law, International Sociological Association (yearly panel)

2017                 Co-Convener, with the Centre of Law & Society, Cardiff University, “Investment Law and Arbitration as a Window into the Role of Contact in Global Economic Law and Governance,” Keynote speaker: Professor Edward S Cohen (4 December)

2017                 Co-Convener of the research seminar, with P. Brett, “The Transnational Politics of African Judiciaries”, University of London Institute in Paris (30 November), available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kAIQj1YEa4

2017                 Convener of the workshop “Who gets on the bench? Constitutional judges and the judicialisation of politics in Sub-Saharan Africa,” Cardiff School of Law and Politics, Global Justice Programme, Law and Society (17 January)

2016                 Convener of the panel “Extractive economies and re-configurations of international justice,” African Studies Association United-Kingdom, Biennal Conference (September 7-9)

2016                 Convener of two panels “Africa as a new frontier? Lawyers and extractive economies,” with the endorsement of the Collaborative Research Network “African Law Society,” Law and Society Annual Meeting, New Orleans (June 2-5)

2016                 Co-convener, with R. Levi and M. Christensen of the panel “Who made international justice?” Law and Society Annual Meeting, New Orleans (June 2-5)

2015                 Convener of two panels “Lawyers in Africa (1): Building the state out of colonial legacies” and “Lawyers in Africa (2): Revamping the state in the shadow of globalization,” with the endorsement of the Collaborative Research Network ‘African Law Society,’ Law and Society Annual Meeting, Seattle (May 28th - 31st)

External funding

2020                 Grantee, Event grant (GBP 11,700), AHSS, Cardiff University, International Initiatives Fund. Project development workshop “Towards sustainable mineral value chains in Africa: fostering dialogue between scholarship, industry, local communities and policy” with W. Maier, EARTH, Cardiff University and J. Klaaren, Wits University

2018                 Grantee, Event grant (GBP 9,000), Cardiff Centre of Law and Society, Cardiff School of law and politics. Convener of annual conference of the Cardiff Centre of Law and Society, Cardiff School of law and politics, “Wars on law, wars through law? Reflections on the ‘past of the present’ of the ‘War on Terror’” (30 April-1 May 2019)

2018                 Grantee, Travel grant for C country scholar ($3,456). Co-Investigator (with S. Ballakrishen, UCI Irvine), IRC ‘Invisible institutionalisms: what can we see when we are looking’, Law and Society Association and Research Committee on the Sociology of Law

2016-2019        Grantee, Research grant (£9,000). Principal Investigator (with P. Brett, Queen Mary University as Co-Investigator), British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants, 2016 Round. Project ‘Who gets on the bench? Constitutional judges and the judicialisation of politics in Sub-Saharan Africa’. Grant to cover field research missions to Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Botswana and Namibia; and policy dialogue with stakeholders in the UK, France and these four countries

2017                 Grantee, Travel grant ($3,456) for C country scholar. Co-Investigator (with S. Ballakrishnen, NYU/Abu Dhabi), IRC ‘Invisible institutionalisms: what can we see when we are looking’, Law and Society Association and Research Committee on the Sociology of Law. Travel grant for one panelist from a low-income country, 2017 Law & Society annual meeting, Mexico City (June)

2016                 Grantee, Event grant (EUR 9,000). Principal Investigator, Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of normative orders” . Convener of conference: “Africa as a new frontier? Lawyers, economic shifts and global reconfigurations of political authority” (20-21 June)

2015                 Grantee, Event grant (CAD 15,000). Co-investigator (with R. Levi, University of Toronto as Principal Investigator), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and George Ignatieff Chair of Peace and Conflict Studies/University of Toronto. Co-convener of event: “Global Justice: assessing spaces of practice and institutional convergences”, Munk School of Global Affairs/University of Toronto & Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales. EHESS, Paris, France (26-27 January)

2013-2015         Grantee, Research grant (EUR 15 000). Principal Investigator, Cluster of excellence ‘The Formation of Normative Orders’, Goethe Universität. Projects: “Professional Structure of the field of international criminal justice (centered on the International Criminal Court)”; “Legal professions in Burundi”; “Professional Structure of the Field of international justice (centered on the International Court of Justice and international investment arbitration bodies)”

2012-2013 Grantee, Research grant. Principal Investigator (CAD 15,000), Canada Centre for Global Security Studies. Project “The professional and social structure of international criminal justice”

2010-2014        Grantee, Research grant. Co-Investigator (c. EUR 4,000) as contributor to IRÈNE Project on the sociology of peace professionals (coord. by D. Ambrosetti, S. Lefranc and G. Mouralis, Institut des Sciences Sociales du Politiques - Université Paris-Ouest Nanterre), French research agency Project: “Legal professions in Burundi,” Research missions in Burundi (Fall 2011, Spring 2013 & Spring 2014)

2008                Grantee, Event grant. Principal investigator (c. 2,000 EUR), Actes de la Recherche en Sciences Sociales, Challenge and Cultures & Conflits. Co-convener of conference: “Pacify and Punish: International justice, human rights and territoriality”, Collège de France, Paris, France (24 November)

2006-2010 Grantee, Research grant. Co-investigator (c. EUR 1,500), as contributor to the AFRICAUSES Project on the sociology of African mobilizations and “causes”. Funded by the French research agency (ANR) on African militancy, coord. by Prof. Siméant (Paris I).

Project: Collective qualitative and quantitative investigation at the World Social Forum of 2007 in Nairobi, Kenya

2008-2009 Grantee, Annual doctoral grant, European University Institute

2005-2008 Grantee, Annual doctoral grant, ÉGIDE (French ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Supervision

My work spans Law and Society scholarship and Political Sociology of International relations.

I am part of the South, West & Wales Doctoral Training Partnership (https://www.sww-ahdtp.ac.uk/supervisors/dr-sara-dezalay/).

I am particularly interested in supervising the work of PG students wishing to research the following topics:

• Humanitarian intervention and conflict resolution
• Global justice and the International Criminal Court
• Legal professions, state transformations and globalization
• Extractive resources and international dispute settlement mechanisms
• Global value chains and international law

Current supervision