
Dr Sara Dezalay
Senior Lecturer in International Relations
- dezalays@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 4984
- 3.11, Law Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3AX
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
I am a Senior Lecturer at the Cardiff School of Law and Politics. My work focuses on the role of law and lawyers in global governance. Anchored in political sociology, my research looks at transnational judicial responses to conflict; the relationship between law and diplomacy in global governance; and the position of Africa in globalization.
I am a member of the Cardiff Law and Global Justice Centre and the Centre of Law and Society.
Parallel to my position at the Cardiff School of Law and Politics, I am a Visiting Fellow at King's College London, a Senior Research Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs in Toronto, an Affiliate researcher at the Cluster of Excellence 'The formation of normative orders' at the Goethe Universität, Frankfurt and an Associate researcher at the Institut des Mondes Africains.
Since 2020, I am also juge assesseure (nominated by the HCR) at the French Cour nationale du droit d'asile.
I am on the editorial board of the Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales, in charge of the "Varia" section since April 2020 and on the editorial board of Law & Social Inquiry.
I am the Cardiff School of Law and Politics academic contact point for the Cardiff-Bordeaux Joint Degree Diploma (Department of Politics, Cardiff University/Institut d’études politiques of Bordeaux)
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
2021
- Dezalay, S. and Ballakrishnen, S. 2021. Introduction: Law, globalisation, and the shadows of legal globalisation. In: Dezalay, S. and Ballarkrishnen, S. eds. Invisible Institutionalisms. Collective Reflections on the Shadows of Legal Globalisation. Hart, pp. 1-24.
- Dezalay, S. and Ballakrishnen, S. 2021. Conclusion: Reading between the lines. In: Dezalay, S. and Ballakrishnen, S. eds. Invisible Institutionalisms. Collective Reflections on the Shadows of Legal Globalisation. Hart, pp. 267-278.
- Dezalay, S. and Ballakrishnen, S. eds. 2021. Invisible institutionalisms: collective reflections on the shadows of legal globalisation. Hart Publishing.
- Dezalay, S. 2021. Le barreau 'africain' de Paris: entre Big Bang sur le marché du droit des affaires et sillons d'Empire. Cultures & Conflits 119(12), pp. 71-97.
2020
- Dezalay, S. 2020. Désastre humain et environnemental au prétoire: une perspective socio-politique. In: Watt, H. M. et al. eds. Le tournant global en droit international privé. Pedone, pp. 761-770.
- Dezalay, S. ed. 2020. Journal of law and society: volume 47, issue S1. Special supplement: Wars on law, wars through law? Law and lawyers in times of crisis. Wiley.
- Dezalay, S. 2020. Introduction: wars on law, wars through law? law and lawyers in times of crisis. Journal of Law and Society 47(S1), pp. S1-S13. (10.1111/jols.12252)
- Dezalay, S. and Kroll, S. 2020. The authority of international justice institutions: a sociological perspective on global normative orders. In: Kettemann, M. C. ed. Navigating Normative Orders Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Campus Verlag
- Dezalay, S. 2020. The 'Africa' Bar of Paris. A microcosm of interconnected histories of legal globalization. In: Greenhouse, C. J. and Davis, C. L. eds. Landscapes of Law: Practicing Sovereignty in Transnational Terrain. Pennsylvania University Press
- Dezalay, S. 2020. Distant justice: the impact of the international criminal court on African politics by Phil Clark [Book Review]. Journal of Law and Society 47(1), pp. 175-181. (10.1111/jols.12214)
- Dezalay, S. 2020. Burundi. Middlemen and opponents in the shadow of the ethno-state. In: Abel, R. L. et al. eds. Lawyers in 21st-Century Societies. Vol. 1: National reports. London: Hart Publishing, pp. 473-493.
- Dezalay, S. 2020. Africa against global justice: stakes for building a political sociology on the futures of international criminal justice. In: Weill, S., Seelinger, K. T. and Carlson, K. B. eds. The President on Trial Prosecuting Hissène Habré. Oxford University Press, pp. 219-232.
2019
- Dezalay, S. 2019. From international justice and statebuilding to international justice as statebuilding. In: Lemay-Hebert, N. ed. Handbook on Intervention and Statebuilding. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 176-184.
- Dezalay, S. 2019. Der Internationale Gerichtshof Zwischen symbolischem Wachstum und wirtschaftlicher Krise. In: Kretschmann, A. ed. Das Rechtsdenken Pierre Bourdieus. Velbrück, pp. 222-239.
- Dezalay, S. 2019. 5.2 Trafigura Lawsuits (re-Côte d'Ivoire). Building an environmental and human disaster into a transnational case: a socio political perspective. In: Watt, H. M. et al. eds. Global private international law. Adjudication without frontiers. Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 93-102.
- Dezalay, S. 2019. Lawyers and the 'new extraction' in Africa. International Journal of Social Economics 46(11), pp. 1305-1318. (10.1108/IJSE-03-2019-0170)
2018
- Dezalay, S. 2018. Claire A. Cutler et Thomas Dietz (dir.), The Politics of Private Transnational Governance by Contract [Book Review]. Revue Critique de Droit International Privé 11(3), pp. 728-733.
- Dezalay, S. 2018. Lawyers in Africa: brokers of the state, intermediaries of globalization: a case study of the 'Africa' bar in Paris. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 25(2), pp. 639-669. (10.2979/indjglolegstu.25.2.0639)
- Dezalay, S., Levi, R. and Hagan, J. 2018. International criminal tribunals: prosecutorial strategies in atypical political environments. In: Alter, K., Helfer, L. R. and Madsen, M. R. eds. International Court Authority. Oxford University Press, pp. 342-362.
2017
- Levi, R., Dezalay, S. and Amiraslani, M. 2017. Prosecutorial strategies and opening statements: justifying international prosecutions from the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg through to the International Criminal Court. In: Christensen, M. J. and Levi, R. eds. International Practices of Criminal Justice: Social and Legal Perspectives. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, pp. 89-107.
- Dezalay, S. 2017. L’Afrique contre la Cour pénale internationale? Éléments de sociogenèse sur les possibles de la justice internationale. Politique Africaine 2(146), pp. 165-182. (10.3917/polaf.146.0165)
- Levi, R., Dezalay, S. and Amiraslani, M. 2017. Prosecutorial strategies and opening statements: justifying international prosecutions from the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg through to the International Criminal Court. Comparativ: Journal for Global History and Comparative Social Science 26(4), pp. 58-73.
- Dezalay, S. 2017. Building a political sociology of legal professions in Africa: stakes for an open research agenda. Social Science Research Network (10.2139/ssrn.3012719)
- Dezalay, S. 2017. African extractive economies and connected histories of globalization: a case study of the 'Africa' bar in Paris. SSRN (10.2139/ssrn.3004973)
- Dezalay, S. and Dezalay, Y. 2017. Professionals of international justice: from the shadow of state diplomacy to the pull of the market for commercial arbitration. In: D'Aspremont, J. et al. eds. International Law as a Profession. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 311-337.
- Dezalay, S. 2017. Weakness as routine in the operations of the Intentional Criminal Court. International Criminal Law Review 17(2), pp. 281-301. (10.1163/15718123-01702004)
- Dezalay, S. 2017. The role of international NGOs in the emergence of the field of transitional justice: a case-study of the International Center for Transitional Justice. In: Lawther, C., Moffett, L. and Jacobs, D. eds. Research Handbook on Transitional Justice. Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 202-220.
- Dezalay, S. 2017. Lawyers? Empire in the (African) colonial margins. International Journal of the Legal Profession 24(1), pp. 25-32. (10.1080/09695958.2016.1232198)
- Dezalay, S. 2017. Chapitre 1 : La Commission Européenne et les crises eléments de sociogenèse d'un Marché Européen de la Pacification. In: Bazin, A. and Tenenbaum, C. eds. L'Union européenne et la paix. Presses de Sciences Po, pp. 17-37.
- Dezalay, S. 2017. Louis Ignacio-Pinto. Galerie des internationalistes
- Dezalay, S. 2017. Isaac Forster. Galerie des internationalistes
- Dezalay, S. 2017. Fatoumata Dembélé Diarra trajectory of a Malian magistrate and civil society advocate to the international criminal court. In: Dawuni, J. and Kuenyehia, A. eds. African Women Judges in International Courts. Unveiled narratives. Routledge, pp. 77-97.
2016
- Dezalay, S. 2016. The social and professional structure of international justice: from scholarly insiders to the pull of multinational corporate law firms. Social Science Research Network (10.2139/ssrn.2848962)
- Dezalay, S. 2016. Répondre aux crises. Gouvernement et action publique 2(2), pp. 31-50. (10.3917/gap.162.0031)
- Levi, R., Hagan, J. and Dezalay, S. 2016. International courts in atypical political environments: the interplay of prosecutorial strategy, evidence and court authority in international criminal law. Law and Contemporary Problems 79(1), pp. 289-314.
2015
- Dezalay, S. and Karekwaivanane, G. 2015. Juristes, Faiseurs d'État. Politique Africaine Vol. 138. Karthala.
- Lima, J. and Dezalay, S. 2015. La «cause» de la justice de transition dans le Burundi de l'après-conflit. Critique Internationale 67(2), pp. 51-65. (10.3917/crii.067.0051)
- Dezalay, S. 2015. Les juristes en Afrique: entre trajectoires d'État, sillons d'empire et mondialisation. Politique Africaine 138, pp. 5-23.
- Dezalay, S. 2015. David Bosco, Rough Justice: the International Criminal Court in a world of power politics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014 [Book Review]. International Journal: Canada's Journal of Global Policy Analysis
2014
- Bergamaschi, I.et al. 2014. Introduction: Rwanda 20 years after the genocide: reflecting on intervention and reconciliation. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 8(4), pp. 273-279. (10.1080/17502977.2014.964453)
- Dezalay, S. 2014. Thomas Medvetz, Think tanks in America (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2012) [Book Review]. Critique Internationale 2014/1(62), pp. 141-145. (10.3917/crii.062.0141)
2012
- Dezalay, S. 2012. Lawyering war or talking peace? On militant usages of the law in the resolution of internal armed conflicts: a case study of International Alert. In: Dezalay, Y. and Garth, B. G. eds. Lawyers and the Construction of Transnational Justice. Law, development and globalization Routledge, pp. 60-83.
- Dezalay, S. 2012. Commentaire de la résolution 1464, du 4 février 2003, portant sur la situation en Côte d'Ivoire. In: Decaux, E., Lemay-Hbert, N. and Placidi-Frot, D. eds. Les grandes résolutions du Conseil de sécurité. Dalloz, pp. 330-339.
2011
- Dezalay, S. 2011. Revamping law by circumventing the state: Non-governmental organizations in the international management of social violence on the African continent. PhD Thesis, European University Institute.
2008
- Dezalay, S., Levi, R. and Hagan, J. 2008. Pacifier et Punir (2). La force du droit international et le marché de la paix. Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales.
- Dezalay, S., Levi, R. and Hagan, S. 2008. Pacifier et Punir (1). Les crimes de guerre et l'ordre juridique international. Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales.
- Dezalay, S., Bourdieu, J. and Poupeau, J. 2008. Prologue de la rédaction. Actes de la Recherche en Sciences Sociales 173(3), pp. 4-5.
- Dezalay, S. 2008. Trend Report. Crimes de guerre et politiques impériales. L'espace académique américain entre droit et politique. Actes de la Recherche en Sciences Sociales 173(3), pp. 44-61. (10.3917/arss.173.0044)
- Dezalay, S. 2008. Des droits de l?homme au marché du développement. Note de recherche sur le champ faible de la gestion de conflits armés. Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales 174(4), pp. 70-79. (10.3917/arss.174.0068)
2007
- Dezalay, S. 2007. D'une mise en récit militante de la crise ivoirienne: 'gérer' un conflit armé comme une 'cause' juridique. Étude du cas d'Amnesty International. Critique Internationale 36(3), pp. 55-70.
2005
- Dezalay, S. and Bergamaschi, I. 2005. Dilemmes et ambiguïtés de la sortie de crise par la voie multilatérale en Afrique: le cas de l'Organisation des Nations unies en Côte d'Ivoire. Les Champs de Mars 17, pp. 53-73.
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