Babakhani, A. (2023). Agents of Change or Agents of the Status Quo: Iranian Lawyers’ Approaches to Women Seeking Divorce in the Context of Discriminatory Divorce Law (Doctoral dissertation, University of Delaware). Summary: Since the 1979 …
Evidence of Lawyers’ Resistance
Wang (2020), “Pre-Empting Court-Civil Society Synergy: How China Balances Judicial Autonomy and Legal Activism”
This article examines the evolving stance of Chinese administrations towards judicial autonomy and legal activism over the past two decades.
Pei (2010), “Rights and Resistance: The Changing Contexts of the Dissident Movement”
This chapter explores how rapid economic growth and legal reforms in China have reshaped the dissident movement by creating new political and legal spaces for rights assertion.
Borsuk, Dinç, Kavak, and Sayan (2021), “Consolidating and Contesting Authoritarian Neoliberalism in Turkey: Towards a Framework”
This chapter examines Turkey’s transformation from a hopeful democratic state to a key example of democratic backsliding under the Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Ryo (2016), “Fostering Legal Cynicism Through Immigration Detention”
This article examines how immigration detention in the United States under a hardline enforcement regime, especially during the Trump administration, serves not merely as an administrative tool but as a socio-legal mechanism that fosters legal cynicism among detained noncitizens.
Bugaric (2019), “Can Law Protect Democracy? Legal Institutions as ‘Speed Bumps’”
This article investigates how political lawyers in Russia resist emerging authoritarian practices such as disinformation, surveillance, and state secrecy.
Van der Vet (2021), “Spies, Lies, Trials, and Trolls: Political Lawyering Against Disinformation and State Surveillance in Russia”
This article investigates how political lawyers in Russia navigate and resist authoritarian tactics such as disinformation campaigns, government surveillance, and secrecy.
O’Brien (2023), “Neither Withdrawal Nor Resistance: Adapting to Increased Repression in China”
In the face of growing repression in China, some lawyers, along with pastors and NGOs, are navigating authoritarian constraints not through resistance but through strategic accommodation.
Pavone (2020), “Lawyers, Judges, And The Obstinate State: The French Case And An Agenda For Comparative Politics”
This article revisits the classic thesis of France as an “obstinate state,” known for the resilience of its centralized authority, by showing how lawyers and judges have quietly shaped political development in ways that challenge this narrative.
Eberbach (2023), “Human Rights Legal Education in Times of Transition: Perspectives and Practices of Law Instructors in Myanmar”
This article presents a mixed-methods study of human rights education and training (HRET) among law educators in Myanmar during the country’s democratic transition, which was abruptly halted by the 2021 military coup.