A two-day international workshop on the origins and emergence of law will be held in Hong Kong on 24–25 June 2027 as part of the Law and Society Association (LSA) Global Meeting.
Titled “The Origins of Law: A Law and Society Workshop,” the workshop will bring together researchers examining how law emerges, the actors involved in creating or resisting legal norms, and the social transformations that occur when forms of normativity acquire legal status.
A major feature of the opportunity is the availability of travel grants of up to USD $750 for workshop participants. The workshop is inviting abstracts from researchers whose work is empirically grounded and theoretically rich and contributes to understanding the emergence of law from a socio-legal perspective.
Travel Grant Opportunity: Up to USD $750
Selected workshop participants will have access to travel grants of up to USD $750.
The grant is intended to provide travel support to participants attending the workshop in Hong Kong. The announcement does not specify further details about the eligibility criteria, reimbursement mechanism or exact amount awarded to individual participants.
Applicants should therefore check the final arrangements communicated by the workshop organisers regarding the travel grant.
About the Workshop
The workshop, “The Origins of Law,” is being organised with the support of the Law and Society Association.
The event will explore the emergence of law and examine the processes through which different forms of social normativity come to acquire legal status.
Rather than looking at law simply as a product of an existing social context, the workshop approaches the origins of law as a way of understanding fundamental changes within societies.
The organisers are particularly interested in research examining the moments when law is created, the individuals and institutions involved in this process, and the social consequences of legal transformation.
Theme: The Origins of Law
The workshop invites research examining questions surrounding the birth and development of legal norms.
Potential areas of inquiry include:
- How law emerges within societies;
- The processes through which norms acquire legal status;
- Actors who facilitate the emergence of law;
- Actors and groups that resist legal development;
- Social transformations associated with the creation of law;
- Historical origins of legal institutions;
- The relationship between social norms and legal norms;
- Different forms of normativity and their transformation into law;
- Comparative studies of the emergence of law across societies; and
- Theoretical and empirical approaches to law’s origins.
The organisers are seeking papers that combine empirical research with theoretically rich analysis.
An Interdisciplinary Law and Society Approach
The workshop builds on a line of inquiry associated with early socio-legal scholarship concerning the relationship between law and society.
It seeks to bring together new empirical research from different geographical and social settings to understand how various forms of normativity become recognised as law.
By examining these processes across different contexts, the workshop aims to identify patterns across time and place and contribute to broader discussions about the intellectual foundations and future directions of law and society as an interdisciplinary field.
Previous Thematic Panels
The 2027 workshop builds on earlier thematic initiatives, including:
- The Birth of Law (2026)
- Building the Disciplines with Law and Society (2025)
The organisers intend to continue developing this line of inquiry through the 2027 workshop in Hong Kong.
Who Should Submit an Abstract?
The call may be particularly relevant to researchers working in areas such as:
- Socio-legal studies;
- Law and society;
- Legal history;
- Legal anthropology;
- Comparative law;
- Sociology of law;
- Political sociology;
- Legal theory;
- Law and social transformation;
- Institutional development; and
- Interdisciplinary legal research.
Researchers whose work examines how legal rules, institutions or forms of normativity emerge in particular social settings are encouraged to consider submitting an abstract.
Abstract Submission
Interested researchers are required to submit their abstracts through both the Google Form and the conference submission website.
Abstract Deadline
27 October 2026
Applicants should ensure that the abstract is submitted through both required channels before the deadline.
Full Paper Requirement
Selected participants will subsequently be required to submit a completed paper.
The completed paper should be:
5,000–8,000 words
The stated word limit is inclusive of footnotes and references.
Full Paper Deadline
14 May 2027
Selected participants should therefore plan their research and writing schedule well in advance of the May 2027 deadline.
Participation Requirements
Participants will be expected to register for the LSA conference and participate fully in the two-day workshop.
This includes:
- Reading other participants’ papers in advance;
- Presenting their own research;
- Participating in workshop discussions; and
- Serving as discussants.
The workshop is therefore designed as an active academic exchange rather than simply a paper presentation event.
Workshop Dates and Location
The workshop sessions will take place on:
24–25 June 2027
The event will be held in Hong Kong during the final two days of the LSA Global Meeting.
The workshop sessions will also be open to attendees of the LSA conference.
Important Dates
| Particular | Details |
|---|---|
| Workshop | The Origins of Law: A Law and Society Workshop |
| Dates | 24–25 June 2027 |
| Location | Hong Kong |
| Abstract Deadline | 27 October 2026 |
| Full Paper Deadline | 14 May 2027 |
| Paper Length | 5,000–8,000 words |
| Travel Grant | Up to USD $750 |
| Conference | LSA Global Meeting |
| Participation | Selected workshop participants |
| Convenors | Florian Grisel and Mark Fathi Massoud |
Convenors
The workshop is convened by:
Florian Grisel
CNRS, France
Mark Fathi Massoud
University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
Why This Workshop May Be Relevant for Legal Researchers
The origins of law raise fundamental questions about how societies transform social expectations, customs and norms into formal legal rules and institutions.
For researchers working in socio-legal studies, legal history, comparative law and legal anthropology, the workshop provides a setting to examine these questions through research from different geographical and institutional contexts.
The emphasis on both empirical evidence and theoretical analysis also makes the workshop relevant to researchers developing interdisciplinary approaches to legal scholarship.
How to Submit
Researchers interested in participating should submit an abstract through both the Google Form and the conference submission website by 27 October 2026.
The announcement provided for this call should be consulted for the relevant submission links and detailed instructions.
Applicants whose abstracts are selected will subsequently be expected to prepare a 5,000–8,000-word paper by 14 May 2027 and participate fully in the workshop.
Conclusion
The “The Origins of Law: A Law and Society Workshop” offers researchers an opportunity to present and discuss work examining how law emerges and how the transformation of social norms into legal forms affects societies.
The workshop will take place in Hong Kong on 24–25 June 2027 during the LSA Global Meeting.
Importantly, travel grants of up to USD $750 will be available to workshop participants, providing financial support for eligible participants attending the event.
Researchers interested in the emergence of law, socio-legal transformation, legal institutions, legal history and interdisciplinary law and society scholarship should note the 27 October 2026 abstract submission deadline.
