articles

Negotiating Their Future: A Marshallese Geography of U.S. Policy

By Brittany Lauren Wheeler and Meagan Harden

Bilateral negotiations to amend the Compact of Free Association (COFA) between the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and the United States are currently underway. While frequently framed in terms of U.S geopolitics of the Pacific, we share lesser-known legal outcomes of the ongoing relationship between the RMI and the U.S.

book review

Review of “Legal Geography-Comparative Law and the Production of Space” by Matteo Nicolini

By Ettore Asoni

Legal geography is a growing field. Cross-disciplinary efforts between geography and law abound, and scholars working at this juncture can now build on the previous work of key thinkers that have elaborated multiple theoretical and methodological foundations for future research. Yet in recent years there have been growing calls to more precisely define legal geography’s theory, methods, and research agendas (O’Donnell et al. 2020; Orzeck and Hae, 2020). Matteo Nicolini’s new book on legal geography answers this call and will be of considerable interest to legal geographers as well as a wide range of critical social scientists, philosophers, and academics in the legal professions.

articles

It’s Time to Stop Trying to “Fix” Migration and Lean Into It

By Michael Dalton McCarville

Although economic development in countries in Latin America is often viewed as a strategy for reducing immigration to the United States, research shows that foreign investments are not necessarily the most effective strategy for reducing migration. In fact, economic investment may even fuel migration. Instead, the US should increase opportunities for legal labor migration by increasing and diversifying the labor visas available each year. Doing so could help address labor shortages, while also ensuring the safety of migrants who may otherwise take dangerous routes into the country.


The Latest


conferences

Call for Graduate Papers on Legal Geography at AAG 2023

By Carly Griffith

If you’re a graduate student whose work intersects with questions of law and space, consider submitting a paper for the annual “Graduate Voices in the Lawscape” sessions at the AAG conference sponsored by the Legal Geography Specialty Group. These sessions will be hosted hybrid (in-person & virtual) at the AAG conference in 2023. Submission deadline is October 15, 2022.

articles

The Unnatural Legal Geographies of the Current US ‘Megadrought’

By Alida Cantor

Extreme drought is ravaging much of the Western United States as water reservoirs and snowpack decline to dangerous levels. As panicked water managers seek immediate solutions to the impending crisis, the current “megadrought” also raises an important but often ignored question: what role does law play in creating and exacerbating unequal access to shrinking water resources?

conferences

Join the Next Carceral Geography Conference in December 2022

By Austin Kocher

The 5th International Conference for Carceral Geography will be held in Australia as a two-day hybrid event (in-person and online) hosted by the University of Melbourne, 14-15 December 2022. The conference theme for 2022 is Confinement: spaces and practices of care and control.


Spotlight


conferences

Now Available – Schedule for Graduate Voices in the Lawscape at the AAG in 2023

By Austin Kocher

The final schedule for the Legal Geography Specialty Group’s sessions titled Graduate Voices in the Lawscape at the upcoming AAG conference in Denver is now available. These three curated sessions feature new research from graduate students whose work intersects with law and space, often in critical and innovative ways.

articles

Legal Ecologies of Climate Change: How Farmers are Advancing Environmental Justice in the German Courts

By Sarah Klosterkamp

Should Volkswagen be held partially liable for creating a climate that hurts farmers?