The Younger Comparativists Committee (YCC) of the American Society of Comparative Law (ASCL) is pleased to invite submissions for its Twelfth Annual Conference, to be held in-person in conjunction with the ASCL Annual Meeting from October 26-28, 2023, at the Florida International University College of Law. The purpose of the conference is to highlight, develop, and promote the scholarship of younger scholars of comparative law.

Conference Subject-Matter and Eligibility
The main theme for this year’s ASCL Annual Meeting is “Comparative Comparative Law”, which is described as follows:

“Comparative law is an effective tool of political struggle – a source of authority for some positions as well as a basis of resistance for others – although not always perceived this way. Its particularities across the domains where it is practiced transcend differences of method. They involve different images of comparative law itself, specific distributive stakes, and particular understandings often reproducing hierarchies between the Global North and the Global South, Western and Asian values, modernity and tradition. As such, an apt description of comparative law’s many varieties may be best captured by the reference to comparative comparative law. That is, varieties of legal comparativism in different arenas – and not simply a unified transnational field – better signifies its multiple valences and uses in different political economies. This conference is dedicated to exploring those multiple forms of comparative law that appear as neutral techniques across various sites of contestation.”

Abstract submissions will be accepted from younger scholars on any subject in public or private comparative law. While submissions to the YCC conference may engage with the ASCL’s main theme, they may also be situated more broadly within comparative law. For the purposes of the YCC conference, “younger scholars” are defined as graduate students, law teachers, lecturers, fellows, and other scholars, provided that they have not held a full-time academic position since before July 1, 2013 (i.e., less than 10 years as of June 30, 2023). Submissions from full-time faculty, research fellows, and graduate students are equally welcome.

Further information on the broader 2023 ASCL Annual Meeting can be found here.

Submission Instructions
Abstracts should reflect original research that will not yet have been published but may have been accepted for publication. To submit, scholars should include:

1) a 250 word abstract in the body of an email, as well as in attachment (Microsoft Word or PDF), to ycc@ascl.org;

2) the author’s name, title of the paper, institutional affiliation, contact information, and three to five keywords; and

3) certification that they qualify as a younger scholar or are a graduate student.

Proposals for fully formed in-person panels are also encouraged. Panel proposals must:

1) center around a common theme;

2) include a confirmed list of panel members;

3) include abstracts for each presenter as well as their institutional affiliation, and contact information; and

4) include the words “Panel Proposal” in the subject line of the email.

Each scholar may make only one submission. Both individual and co-authored submissions will be accepted. For co-authored submissions, both authors must qualify as younger comparativists. The conference’s Program Subcommittee will assign individual and co-authored submissions to thematic panels according to subject area.

The deadline for submission is Monday, August 1, 2023. Abstracts received thereafter will not be considered.

Attendance Options – Virtual Panels
This year’s annual conference will return to the YCC tradition of in-person conversation. While we strongly encourage participants to join us in Miami, we recognize that in-person attendance can be prohibitive. To that end, we will also accept submissions for fully formed virtual panels. Panel chairs for all virtual panels will be responsible for providing Zoom or Teams links that will be listed in the program. The YCC will not be able to provide technical support for virtual sessions, participants, or panel chairs.

Proposals for fully formed virtual panels should include the same information as in-person panel proposals described above but should also indicate the host of the panel and whether it will be hosted via Zoom or Teams.

Notification:
Authors of the submissions selected for the conference will be notified no later than August 15, 2023.

There will be no registration fee for YCC participants to attend the YCC conference, but participants may wish to pay an additional small registration fee to attend the ASCL Annual Meeting. Participants are responsible for securing their own funding for travel, lodging, and other incidental expenses. Partial travel stipends may be awarded to those who indicate financial need. Priority will be given to faculty and students of ASCL Member Institutions, and thereafter to authors from non-Member institutions. If you would like to be considered for a travel stipend, please make that request in your submission, and indicate your institution’s status.

All scholars selected for the conference—other than graduate students who wish to be considered for the Colin B. Picker graduate student prize listed below (and have an earlier deadline)—must submit final papers by email to ycc@ascl.org no later than October 1, 2023.