IRGLUS News | Vol. 4, No. 2

IRGLUS NEWS | VOL. 4, NO. 2 | MARCH 2017
The newsletter of the International Group on Law and Urban Space
www.irglus.org | www.facebook.com/IRGLUS

IRGLUS Membership Information

We are running a survey to establish who our members are, where they are based, and what their research interests entail.

Thank you to those who have taken the time to respond to our request. If you have not yet had an opportunity to do so, we would greatly appreciate it if you could take the time to fill in this form.

Introduction

Welcome, to this latest edition of the IRGLUS newsletter. The year is well underway and it will clearly be a busy one.

As you can see from the poster above, we are excited to announce a call for papers for an IRGLUS event entitled A jurisprudence of the city? The judiciary of the city to be held in partnership with Fordham University's Urban Law Center, in New York City on 14-15 June of this year. This date is already drawing near, so we only have a small window to receive and evaluate abstracts – therefore, abstracts are due us by Monday 31 March - please get your abstracts to us asap!

Apart from the usual snippets, this newsletter profiles a new, online urban law platform, the Urban Law Lab, being launched by Thomas Coggin, which will hopefully soon showcase contributions by, and interactions between, IRGLUS members.

Remember that we are more than happy to share details of your initiatives, research projects and events pertaining to law and urban space in future editions of this newsletter – so please send them to us.

We have also given the IRGLUS website a fresher look – please do feel free to point colleagues to the website should they be interested in joining IRGLUS.

We hope and trust that the remainder of the year ahead will be productive and be fulfilling for you all.

We hope to see you at one or more of the urban law events.

Thomas Coggin and Marius Pieterse
Global Co-ordinators

The Urban Law Lab is a collaborative research project which adopts a critical approach to understanding the relationship between law, rights, and the urban. Our principal aim is to open up a discussion in this field, and to unite these disciplines so as to better inform policy, scholarship, theory, and the practice of law.

We take an open approach to the notion of rights insofar as they apply spatially. We do not limit our understanding of rights to legal rights, but value both political claims and non-binding rights recognised through a variety of platforms, including international and regional, governmental and non-governmental arenas.

We take a broad approach to the notion of the urban. We do not view this construct within a particular notion of what a city is, but acknowledge the wide array of environments which we inhabit.

We do not confine ourselves to any particular jurisdiction. We seek to understand the relationship between law and the urban in both common law and civil jurisdictions, as well as beyond the law itself. We are interested in how the law is made and shaped through the decisions of courts at various levels, and by legislatures and councils existing across the law-making spectrum.

How does the Urban Law Lab work?

The Urban Law Lab has four modes of engagement: Shorter, more informal blog pieces; Longer, more formal short essays; photo essays; and quotes lifted from urban law scholarship. In addition, we plan in the future to include recorded interviews, a reading group, as well as book reviews. We invite anyone to contribute to our platform.

Who is the Urban Law Lab?

The Urban Law Lab is edited by Thomas Coggin, an doctoral candidate and fellow at Fordham University's Urban Law Center. It endeavours to feature a collection of diverse views from people around the world who are interested in the relationship between law, rights, and the urban. Thomas may be contacted via e-mail, and we invite you to follow the Urban Law Lab via Twitter.

The Urban Law Lab is a project of the Urban Law Center, Fordham University, and is associated with the IRGLUS.

Two posts from the Urban Law Lab follow below.

"No Control, she doesn't want to move. She says it's a human rights issue." Developing the Right to Freedom of Movement within a spatial context
Mar 5, 2017

This is the first in a series of posts which considers the constitutionally-protected right to freedom of movement in light of gating and private policing practices. This post in particular argues in favor of develping the right to freedom of movement within a spatial prism.

An exploration of urban-Islam through 30 Joburg Mosques

In an age of increasing Islamophobia, mosques arguably act as beacons of religious freedom in diverse urban environments. In this photo essay, Aslam Bulbulia reflects on the richness and variety of a distinctly urban Islam. This photo essay is part of his broader project, 30 Joburg Mosques, in which he visited a different Joburg mosque every night of the Muslim holy month of Ramadhan.

Stories from IRGLUS's Facebook Page...

The New York Times
Trade on the Streets, and Off the Books, Keeps Zimbabwe Afloat

'The government has occasionally cracked down — sometimes violently — on the street vendors, who are not licensed, describing their activities, near the seat of government and businesses, as an eyesore. Some of the vendors have also staged protests against Mr. Mugabe’s rule.

But the government mostly turns a blind eye, clearly calculating that a permanent crackdown on the livelihoods of an increasing number of its citizens would result in greater political instability. According to an unspoken rule, the street vendors are allowed to operate only after dark on weekdays and starting in late afternoon on weekends.

“If I come too early, the police will take my wares away and I’ll be broke,” said Norest Muza, 28, who sold popcorn and chips while carrying her 2-year-old son on her back. “Evenings, the police don’t come.”'