The long-term goal of this project is to develop NUS Law into the global center for socio-legal research on Southeast Asian societies. The immediate goal for which this grant is applied is to launch the first workshop in a series that will take the first and definitive step in this direction. So far socio-legal scholars have paid uneven and inconsistent attention to Southeast Asian-based socio-legal research. Existing work lacks a coherent research agenda, and is scattered among researchers some of whom do not necessarily engage with the wider academic community identifiable as socio-legal scholars. Hence, NUS Law has a unique opportunity, being positioned right in the heart of Southeast Asia, to foster a community of such like-minded researchers, and sustain and grow a body of scholarship that gives voice to the unique perspectives and experiences of Southeast Asia’s peoples, while engaging and (re)shaping the wider scholarly community at the international level.

The first workshop, therefore, is crucial, as it is intended to set the tone for this field, and define a research agenda that is bold yet feasible. Planned for December 10-11, 2012, and as an initiative under the new Centre for Asian Legal Studies, it will bring together established socio-legal researchers from around the world, and NUS scholars – both from law and the social sciences – to examine the intellectual possibilities and challenges, and articulate potential research themes and directions. The outcomes of the workshop will be captured and elaborated in an edited book volume or special journal issue. The invitees will be asked to contribute original papers. This publication is aimed at becoming a definitive volume that will serve as a reference source for future scholars conducting socio-legal research on Southeast Asian societies. It will also provide the bases upon which subsequent workshops in this series will be built and conceptualized.