Most publications originating from the PAL project start with a reference to the presidential address given by Kim Lane Scheppele at the 2019 Law & Society Association Annual Meeting, in Washington, DC.
Kim's speech resonated with young scholars from the Global South in the audience, who decided to investigate the entanglements of law, democracy, and democratic backsliding in Brazil, India, South Africa and beyond. PAL was thus born but the actual content of the address was never known to the public at large.
Not anymore. The address was published in the latest issue of the Law & Society Review (57:4).
Kim kindly recognizes the work of our project in her initial notes to the published piece. She writes:
I'm grateful that my call to action at the 2019 LSA meetings was heeded by many members of the Association, particularly through the formation of the Project on Autocratic Legalism (PAL) inspired by David Trubek and led by Fabio de Sa e Silva. This collective research project has taken a deep dive into the ways that democracy is being undermined in Brazil, South Africa and India, culminating in many panels at the international meeting in Lisbon in 2022. You can follow developments and publications of the PAL group at https://www.autocratic-legalism.net/.
The address is available open access here.