Professor Amanda Perry-Kessaris
LLB (Soton), LLM (Soton), PhD (LSE), PGCert Econ (London)
Overview
School of Law
Professor in International Economic Law
- Name:
- Professor Amanda Perry-Kessaris
- Email address:
- a.perry-kessaris@soas.ac.uk
- Telephone:
- 0207 898 4501
- Address:
- SOAS, University of London
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG - Building:
- Russell Square: College Buildings
- Office No:
- 539
- Office Hours:
- By appointment
Biography
Amanda joined SOAS as a Professor of International Economic Law in 2010, having previously held posts at Birkbeck and Queen Mary colleges in London, and the Universities of Dundee and Sussex. She has studied law, economics and ethnography.
At present, her research focuses primarily on the analytical potential of Economic Sociology of Law for the field of law and development (law as a means, end, obstacle or irrelevance to ‘improving’ the lives of those who are ‘poor’); and graphic design as a method of communication in that field. She is also co-investigator on an international empirical inquiry into the Rule of Law ‘industry’ led by Veronica Taylor, ANU.
In the recent past, she has explored the impact of economic approaches (analytical, normative and empirical) on the field of law and development, focusing in particular on the rise of legal indicators (British Academy Research Development Award). Earlier projects have included empirical research on legal systems as a determinant of foreign direct investment in Sri Lanka; the Indian legal system as a mediator of relations between government, civil society and foreign investment actors (Leverhulme Trust Fellowship, SLSA Small Research Grant); and access to environmental justice in Bangalore/Bengaluru (ESRC and Ford Foundation 1995).
Her major recent publications include Global Business, Local Law (Ashgate, 2008) and Law in Pursuit of Development (Routledge, 2009). Coming soon are Socio-legal Approaches to International Economic Law: Text, context, subtext (Routledge 2012) and, with Diamond Ashiagbor and Prabha Kotiswaran, Towards an Economic Sociology of Law (Wiley-Blackwell 2013). Many of Amanda’s publications are available for download via the Social Science Research Network.
Amanda organises the Legal Treasure Tours; and co-organises the Law Research Seminar Series (with Diamond Ashiagbor) and the Economic Sociology of Law Reading Group (with Diamond Ashiagbor and Prabha Kotiswaran); as well as one-off events such as Legal Appropriation: Taking of and by law (2011, with Diamond Ashiagbor) and Towards an Economic Sociology of Law (2012, with Diamond Ashiagbor and Prabha Kotiswaran)
Beyond SOAS, she is Secretary to the Socio Legal Studies Association; member of the Folke Bernadotte Academy Research Working Group on the Rule of Law and of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Law in Context.
Teaching
Courses Taught
- Economic approaches to law
- International Economic Law
- Sociological Approaches to Law
- World Trade Organisation Law
PhD Students supervised
- Clare Williams, Law as a Determinant of External Finance: Foreign Direct Investment in Sri Lanka
- Lei Zhang,
- Preet Kaur Virdi, Accessing justice when Families Breakdown: Divorcing South Asian women in Ontario, Canada
- Xiaolei Song,
Publications
Authored Books
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2008) Global Business, Local Law: The Indian Legal System as a Communal Resource in Foreign Investment Relations. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2001) Legal Systems as a Determinant of FDI, Lessons from Sri Lanka. The Hague; Boston: Kluwer Law International.
Edited Books
Ashiagbor, Diamond and Kotiswaran, Prabha and Perry-Kessaris, Amanda, eds. (2013) Towards an Economic Sociology of Law. Wiley. (Journal of Law and Society Special Issues) (Forthcoming)
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda, ed. (2012) Socio-legal Approaches to International Economic Law: Text, context, subtext. London: Routledge.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda, ed. (2009) Law in Pursuit of Development: Principles into Practice. Routledge.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda and Hatchard , John, eds. (2003) Law and Development in the 21st Century: Facing complexity. Routledge-Cavendish.
Book Chapters
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2010) 'Enriching the World Bank’s Vision of National Legal Systems and Foreign Direct Investment.' In: Bergling, Per and Ederlöf, Jenny and Taylor, Veronica, (eds.), Rule of Law Promotion: Global Perspectives, Local Applications. Uppsala: Iustus Forlag. ((Skrifter från Juridiska institutionen vid Umeå universitet, 21))
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2010) 'Corporate Liability for Environmental Harm.' In: Fitzmaurice, Malgosia and Ong, David and Merkouris, Panos, (eds.), Research Handbook on International Environmental Law. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2007) 'Gateways to Environmental Justice in India’s Garden City: Local Solutions to Global Challenges.' In: Harding , Andrew, (ed.), Access to Environmental Justice: A Comparative Study. The Netherlands: Brill.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2003) 'Decision Making in a Regulatory Environment: Representing the Butterfly.' In: Harding , Andrew and Perry-Kessaris, Amanda, (eds.), Law and Development in the 21st Century: Facing Complexity. London: Cavendish.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2000) 'Sustainable Gateways to Environmental Justice.' In: Pugh, Cedric, (ed.), Sustainable Cities in Developing Countries. London: Earthscan.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (1999) 'International Economic Organisations and The Modern Law and Development Movement.' In: Seidman, Ann and Seidman , Robert and Wälde , Thomas, (eds.), Making Development Work: legislative reform for institutional transformation and good governance. The Hague; Boston: Kluwer Law International.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (1998) 'Law and Urban Change in an Indian City.' In: Fernandes, Edesio and Varley, Ann, (eds.), Illegal Cities: Law and Urban Change in Developing Countries. London: Zed Book.
Articles
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2013) 'Anemos-ity, apatheia, enthousiasmos: An economic sociology of law and wind farm development in Cyprus.' Journal of Law and Society . (Forthcoming)
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2013) 'Can economic sociology save law and development?' Current Legal Problems . (Forthcoming)
Cohen, E. and Fandl, K. J. and Perry-Kessaris, Amanda and Talyor, V. T. (2011) 'Truth and consequences in rule of law: Inferences, attribution and evaluation.' The Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 3 (1). pp. 102-129.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2011) 'Prepare your indicators: Economics imperialism on the shores of law and development.' International Journal of Law in Context, 7 (4). pp. 401-421.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2011) 'Reading the story of law and embeddedness through a community lens: A Polanyi-meets-Cotterrell economic sociology of law?' Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, 62 (3). pp. 401-413.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2008) 'Recycle, Reduce and Reflect: Information Overload and Knowledge Deficit in the Field of Foreign Investment and the Law.' Journal of Law and Society, 35 (1). pp. 67-75.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2004) 'Use, Abuse and Avoidance: Foreign Investors and the Legal System in Bangalore.' Asia Pacific Law Review, 12 (2). pp. 161-189.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2003) 'Finding and Facing Facts about Legal Systems and FDI in South Asia.' Legal Studies, 23 (4). pp. 649-689.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2002) 'Multinational Enterprises, International Economic Organisations and Convergence among Legal Systems.' Non-State Actors and International Law, 2 (1). pp. 22-39.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2002) 'The Relationship between Legal Systems and Economic Development: Integrating Economic and Cultural Approaches.' Journal of Law and Society, 29 (2). pp. 282-307.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2000) 'An Ideal Legal System for Attracting Foreign Direct Investment? Some Theory and Reality.' American University International Law Review, 15 (6). pp. 1627-1657.
Perry-Kessaris, Amanda (2000) 'Effective Legal Systems and Foreign Direct Investment: In Search of the Evidence.' International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 49 (4). pp. 779-799.
