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International Roundtable for the Semiotics of Law
International Journal for the Semiotics of Law
History of the International Roundtables for the Semiotics of Law

History of the International Roundtables for the Semiotics of Law

by Anne Wagner



The International Roundtable for the Semiotics of Law (IRSL) held its first annual meeting in 2002 after the merger of two pre-existing organisations, both driven by remarkable people, both interested in law and semiotics, but with different emphases in their theoretical approaches. Bernard Jackson was the key figure in the Greimasian oriented International Association for the Semiotics of Law (IASL), which convened most of its meetings in Europe.

The late Roberta Kevelson was the driving force behind the Round Table for Law and Semiotics, which, from 1997, held an annual conference in Reading, Pennsylvania. Roberta was a student of Charles Sanders Peirce, and in addition to publishing several highly regarded monographs on his work, edited an annual collection of papers from the Round Table (Peter Lang). In Europe, Bernard Jackson established the International Journal for the Semiotics of Law in 1987 with the publishing house Deborah Charles Publication. Eric Landowski, the first Editor-in-Chief, undertook the role for eight years, followed by Maarten Henket, Dragan Milovanovic and now Anne Wagner. Bernard continued to play a central role in the production, dissemination and direction of the journal, working closely with editors.

The International Journal for the Semiotics of Law (IJSL) is an independent entity from the International Roundtables for the Semiotics of Law (IRSL) and from the semioticsoflaw website. The publication continues today with a greater international scope but with a clear, firm, yet interdisciplinary commitment to 'semiotics'. Papers submitted to the International Journal for the Semiotics of Law critique, apply or otherwise engage with semiotics or related theory and models of analyses (e.g. Greimas, Peirce, or Lacan), or with rhetoric, history of political and legal discourses, philosophy of language, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, deconstruction and all types of semiotics analyses including visual semiotics and persuasion.

The annual meetings for both former organisations were occasions for insightful discussions, fuelled by the exceptional energy of both Bernard Jackson and Roberta Kevelson. Both were innovators, ‘pathfinders’ in mapping the contours of a new discipline, the ‘semiotics of law’, providing an occasion for many, now established, scholars in the field to start their careers in this field of research. Kevelson’s vision was a ‘round table’ of no more than 35 scholars who would meet in plenary sessions beginning on a Friday night and continuing into Sunday evening. This intimacy and intensity today continues in the International Roundtables for the Semiotics of Law (IRSL), which is an independent entity.

In 1998 Roberta passed away, and in the same year, Bernard Jackson transferred the publishing responsibility for the journal to Kluwer Academic Publishing Co. After some hesitation, a collective decision was made to merge the organisations to take advantage of obvious opportunities and synergy. The new name – the International Roundtable for the Semiotics of Law (IRSL) -, the decision to alternate meetings between Europe, the Americas and Australasia and to keep a special IRSL issue in the International Journal for the Semiotics of Law as well as the annual publication of an edited volume dedicated to the semiotics of law, the commitment to ensuring the group had a truly international make-up, all speak to the intention of the merger to respectfully integrate the two organisations, to preserve, protect and extend their spirit, reach and vigour.

Today as then, our objectives remain the same: developing international multi-disciplinary networks, contributing to the teaching and research of the semiotics of law and promoting the standing and the recognition of our discipline. Anne Wagner with the assistance of colleagues in Semiotics of Law has just launched a website dedicated to the study of Law and Semiotics. This website remains an independent entity, but will still promote all the activities from our members.

More recently, a number of our members have established The Roberta Kevelson Seminar on Law and Semiotics (The Dickinson School of Law, the Pennsylvania State University in Carlisle and State College, PA. USA). This seminar is established and directed by Professor Jan M. Broekman. The Seminar provides a study of Legal Semiotics in Legal Education with an introduction to the main theories of legal semiotics, analyses of jurisprudence and legal cases, and a discussion of the major philosophical components of law. Its goal is a heightened awareness of the semiotic components in the professional behavior of lawyers. The Seminar, which is open to students and Faculty, is offered over a semester every academic year and concludes with a one-day Round Table presentation. Final Seminar papers of students are presented during that Round Table.

Our next "International Roundtables for the Semiotics of Law

This information has also been published on SemiotiX at http://www.semioticon.com/semiotix13/index.html

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