April 8, 2019

Professor wins book prize

Dr. Maureen Duffy's book, "Detention of Terrorism Suspects: Political Discourse and Fragmented Practices," has won the 2019 Hart—SLSA Prize for Early Career Academics.

The award was announced at the Socio Legal Studies Association conference 2019, which took place at the University of Leeds April 3-5. 

Maureen's book suggests that biased political discourse has, in some respects, continued to fuel public misconceptions about terrorism, which have then led to problematic legal enactments, supported by those misconceptions. It introduces this idea by presenting current examples, such as some of the language used by US President Donald Trump regarding terrorism, and it argues that such language has supported questionable legal responses to terrorism. It then critiques political arguments that began after 9/11, many of which are still foundational as terrorism detention practices evolve.

Maureen also gave her talk "Immigration and Fear in Global Narratives" as part of the Exploring Legal Borderlands stream at the conference.