Alternative dispute resolution involves resolving conflicts with the assistance of a neutral third party, offering a flexible alternative to traditional court systems. While its formal use is expanding in state-organised courts, informal methods of dispute resolution have long been common in various settings, from market operators to criminal actors. In many situations, extra-legal arrangements based on trust become vital when formal legal routes are impractical or unavailable.
This symposium will examine diverse dispute resolution practices across different contexts, covering both formal legal structures and informal environments, including criminal organisations and market practices. Presentations will explore topics such as criminal dispute resolution, informal conflict settlement, and the role of dispute resolution in Japan.
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101029138.
Programme
13:00 – 14:30: Criminal Dispute Resolution (Chair: Professor Federico Varese, Science Po/University of Oxford)
- Dr Zora Hauser (University of Oxford), Rules, power, and violence: dispute resolution in the Calabrian mafia
- Dr Elena Racheva (University of Oxford), Dispute Resolution in the Russian Underworld: Informal Gatherings, Threatening Letters, Unvoluntary Expulsion
14:30 – 15:00: Break
15:00 – 16:30: Informal Dispute Resolution (Chair: Professor Fernanda Pirie, University of Oxford)
- Dr Nafay Choudhury (LSE), Bazaar Governance: The Interplay of State Law, Nonstate Law and Trust in Afghanistan’s Central Money Exchange Bazaar
- Dr Florian Grisel (French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS); Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (CSLS), University of Oxford), When Alternative Dispute Resolution Gains Teeth: Informality and its Legalisation
16:30 – 17:00: Break
17:00 – 18:30: Formal Dispute Resolution: Japan (Chair: Professor Yokomizo Dai, University of Nagoya)
- Professor Giorgio Fabio Colombo (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice), Dispute Resolution in Contemporary Japan: an Itinerary between Culture, Procedures, Myths and Technicalities
Book your ticket here: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/sociologynissaneventdisputeresolution/alt...
