PALcast

Mar 01 2024 2
PALcast Podcast artwork

This is a podcast of the Project on Autocratic Legalism (PAL). PAL seeks to understand how law can be used to further, as well as to resist autocratic forces that have been on the rise around the globe. The project involves scholars from multiple countries and disciplines. PAL participants are currently conducting research on autocratic legalism in Brazil, India, and South Africa. Learn more about our project at autocratic-legalism.net. In this podcast, we will share some of the conceptual debates behind, and research findings stemming from our project. Our episodes will be released every month. PALcast is sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and hosted by Fabio de Sa e Silva

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#18 – Three Students on Democratic Legalism in the US

Mar 01 2024 43 mins  
Today, Fabio talks to Konrad Sartorius, Caleb Wisinger, and David Taitano – three students in the Masters of International Affairs program at the University of Oklahoma. Konrad and Caleb attended a course on Autocratic Legalism taught by Fabio. With David, they built on what they learned with Fabio to develop a project for another course, which they named Democratic Legalism. In

#17 – Deepa Das Acevedo, Mohsin A. Bhat, and Mayur Suresh on India, the Modi moment, and autocratic legalism

Dec 18 2023 53 mins  
Today Fabio talks to Deepa Das Acevedo (Emory University Law School), Mohsin A. Bhat (Queen Mary University of London School of Law), and Mayur Suresh (SOAS School of Law). The conversation hinges mostly around the piece the guests wrote to the PAL project, titled “Authoritarianism in Indian State, Law, and Society" and published in 2022 in the World Comparative Law journal

#16 – Raquel Pimenta on Brazilian PAL Studies, Bolsonaro, and Zones of Authoritarianism

Nov 04 2023 49 mins  
Today, Fabio talks to Raquel Pimenta. Raquel is a law professor at the FGV Law School in São Paulo, which has been the primary site of PAL research in Brazil. Their team, which Raquel helped lead, has just produced a forthcoming edited book on Bolsonaro’s rule and its relationship with the law, which comprises 13 chapters and involved 22 contributors. In this episode, Fabio and

Season 3 trailer: Here we go again!

Oct 30 2023 4 mins  
PALcast host, Fabio de Sa e Silva, explains what he and his guests will be discussing during season 3 of PALcast. His primary focus will be on the papers published by PAL collaborators in a special issue of the World Comparative Law journal, released in early 2023. This special issue includes in-depth studies on Brazil, India, South Africa, Hungary, and the United States. It also f

#15 – Season 2 Finale

Sep 17 2022 6 mins  
Today, Fabio talks about the accomplishments of season 2 and what he had to leave for season 3. He also announces a short break and shares information about this call for paper through which PAL is recruiting collaborators for its next phase: https://autocratic-legalism.net/call-for-papers-sep-22/If you want to work with us, take a look at the call and submit your abstract. If you

#14 – Sofia Rolim on Bolsonaro, public safety, and engaging with PAL as a Brazilian graduate student

Sep 13 2022 29 mins  
In the last two episodes of this season, Fabio interviews two students who were engaged with PAL, and the themes we are exploring through the Project. Today he talks to Sofia Rolim, a Master's Student at FGV Law School in São Paulo, Brazil, one of the main institutions behind the PAL project. At FGV, Sofia took a seminar on autocratic legalism, led by PAL researchers Marta Machado

# 13 – Ryleigh Horst on democracy and law in the life of a US College student

Sep 13 2022 27 mins  
In the last two episodes of this season, Fabio interviews two students who were engaged with PAL, and the themes we are exploring through the Project. Today he talks to Ryleigh Horst, his former undergraduate student at the University of Oklahoma. Ryleigh did extensive studies about democracy and current trends of democratic backsliding and also stood out for her activist work. In

#12 – David Trubek on global sociolegal studies and transnational efforts to combat authoritarianism

May 25 2022 42 mins  
Today, Fabio talks to David Trubek, Voss-Bascom Professor of Law and Dean of International Studies Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Senior Global Fellow at FGV Direito SP, the FGV Law School in Sao Paulo. David really needs no introduction to most PALcast listeners; he is a true icon in law and society and law and development studies. Among his many qualities is

#11 – Michael McCann on dual legal states and the political economy of autocratic legalism

Apr 24 2022 51 mins  
Today, Fabio talks to Michael McCann, a professor at the University of Washington and former president of the Law and Society Association. Michael is known for his studies on legal mobilization and recently published an essay (with Filiz Kahraman) arguing that “the distinction between liberal and illiberal, or authoritarian legal orders is misleading”, because most countries, i

#10 – Swethaa Ballakrishnen on what it means to do global sociolegal studies

Apr 03 2022 49 mins  
In this episode, Fabio talks to Swethaa Ballakrishnen, a law professor at UCI with training in sociology and law. Swethaa studies legal globalization and how law and legal institutions create, sustain, and counter different kinds of socio-economic inequalities, drawing from fieldwork in multiple sites. But the interview focuses mostly on the book Swethaa edited with Sara Dezalay, c