Today, Fabio talks about the accomplishments of season 2 and what he had to leave for season 3. He also announces a short break and shares information about this call for paper through which PAL is recruiting collaborators for its next phase: https://autocratic-legalism.net/call-for-papers-sep-22/ If you want to work with us, take a look at the call and submit your abstract. If you know of someone who might be in a good position to work with us, send them the link to this episode or to the...

In the last two episodes of this season, Fabio interviews two students who were engaged with PAL, and the themes we are exploring through the Project. Today he talks to Sofia Rolim, a Master's Student at FGV Law School in São Paulo, Brazil, one of the main institutions behind the PAL project. At FGV, Sofia took a seminar on autocratic legalism, led by PAL researchers Marta Machado and Raquel Pimenta. Sofia also became a graduate research assistant, helping with the editorial work needed...

In the last two episodes of this season, Fabio interviews two students who were engaged with PAL, and the themes we are exploring through the Project. Today he talks to Ryleigh Horst, his former undergraduate student at the University of Oklahoma. Ryleigh did extensive studies about democracy and current trends of democratic backsliding and also stood out for her activist work. In 2021, she helped write a petition submitted to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, to fight the...

Today, Fabio talks to David Trubek, Voss-Bascom Professor of Law and Dean of International Studies Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Senior Global Fellow at FGV Direito SP, the FGV Law School in Sao Paulo. David really needs no introduction to most PALcast listeners; he is a true icon in law and society and law and development studies. Among his many qualities is his experience putting together large research projects, with scholars from what we now call the “Global North”...

Today, Fabio talks to Michael McCann, a professor at the University of Washington and former president of the Law and Society Association. Michael is known for his studies on legal mobilization and recently published an essay (with Filiz Kahraman) arguing that “the distinction between liberal and illiberal, or authoritarian legal orders is misleading”, because most countries, including the US, are “governed by plural, dual, or hybrid legal institutions, principles, and practices”. They also...

In this episode, Fabio talks to Swethaa Ballakrishnen, a law professor at UCI with training in sociology and law. Swethaa studies legal globalization and how law and legal institutions create, sustain, and counter different kinds of socio-economic inequalities, drawing from fieldwork in multiple sites. But the interview focuses mostly on the book Swethaa edited with Sara Dezalay, called "Invisible Institutionalisms", which questions the process by which academics give meaning to global legal...

Today, Fabio talks to Tom Ginsburg, a professor of international law and political science at the University of Chicago and the author of "How to save a Constitutional democracy" (with Aziz Huq) and the brand-new "Democracies and International Law". Fabio and Tom discuss how modern autocrats use law to consolidate power, how the US has proven vulnerable to democratic erosion through law, and whether improvements in legal design (domestically or internationally) may help slow or stop these...

PALcast host, Fabio de Sa e Silva, explains what he and his guests will be discussing during season 2 of PALcast. For more information on the PAL project, go to www.autocratic-legalism.net

Today, Fabio is interviewed by his student Ahmed Abdelaziz, who also helped with PALcast's production. They talk about the motivations, challenges, and joy of producing PALcast season 1 and what is being planned for season 2

Today, Fabio talks to Kim Lane Scheppele, a Professor of Sociology and International Affairs at Princeton University. Kim has a very special place in the PAL project. She was the scholar who popularized the term "autocratic legalism" in law and society studies and, back in 2019, she gave a powerful speech at the annual meeting of the Law and Society Association, urging scholars to study how law had become part of the toolkit of autocrats. PAL was born that day, in response to her call. Fabio...

Today, Fabio talks to Helena Alviar, a law professor at Sciences-Po law school, in France, after a prolific career in Colombia. Helena wrote many pieces that are being read in the PAL project, such as a study on the "legal architecture of populisms" and one on "neoliberal economics as authoritarianism". Fabio and Helena discussed these research findings, as well as the epistemology she adopts in her studies, grounded in Critical Legal Studies and Law and Development. They end the conversation...

Today, Fabio talks to Bojan Bugaric, a public law professor at the University of Sheffield Law School, in the UK. Mark Tushnet, Bojan just launched a book entitled “Power to the People: Constitutionalism in the Age of Populism”. Fabio and Bojan discuss different kinds of populism, how they may affect law and democracy, and why it is worth investigating not only the consequences but also the causes of what Bojan calls "authoritarian populism"

Today, Fabio talks to Anthony Pereira, a political scientist who teaches at the King's College, in London. Pereira is the author of Political (In)justice, a book on how Latin American dictatorships used the law to repress political dissidents, which he then labeled authoritarian legality. Fabio and Pereira discussed how these lessons from the past could be used in efforts to understand present-day autocratic legalism and what Brazilianists got wrong about Brazil.

Today, Fabio talks to Rick Abel, an Emeritus Law Professor at UCLA. Rick recently published two books on the United States war on terror, which researchers at the PAL project have found particularly useful. The reason is, in these books, Rick shows how a liberal legal order can quickly be turned into an illiberal one, to fight those who are framed as “enemies of the nation”. In the episode, Fabio and Rick discuss what these processes involve and what they tell us about the ability that law...

Today, Fabio talks to Oscar Vilhena, a lawyer and political scientist who is the Dean of the FGV Law School in São Paulo, Brazil, which is the main basis for the Brazilian part of the PAL project. This conversation was intended to give readers a hint of what putting PAL research together has been like, but it was inevitable for Fabio and Oscar to engage in a deeper conversation about Brazil and Bolsonaro, at a time when COVID-19 hits their country very hard.

Today, Fabio talks to Javier Corrales, a political science professor at Amherst College. Corrales coined the term autocratic legalism to account for Venezuela's authoritarian turn in the late 20th century. In the episode, Fabio and Corrales unpack this concept and discuss other issues, including the 2020 US elections and how the United States can deal with the autocratic legacy from the Trump presidency

PALcast host, Fabio de Sa e Silva, introduces the podcast to listeners and explains what he and his guests will be addressing during our first season. For more information on the PAL project, go to www.autocratic-legalism.net