Transformative constitutionalism: Historical justice and indigenous peoples 
(Seminars)
13 March 2012
6pm - 7.30pm
Venue: Small Lecture Theatre, School of Law
Website: nzlsp.wordpress.com/
Auckland Branch of the Society for Legal and Social Philosophy seminar by Dr Richard Dawson.
The principal aim of this seminar resembles that of Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition: ‘to think what we are doing.’
Transformative constitutionalism is a name for an activity that all of us do all the time, often without awareness. This activity is the constitution of ourselves and others through language. The law is a powerful constitutive discourse, creating legal subjects with particular powers and disabilities. Sometimes the law does this well. At other times it performs badly. With reference to the treatment of indigenous peoples, especially to Maori Iwi and ‘native title’, this seminar attends to the process by which we, in and out of the law, judge various performances. ‘Justice’, as Arendt put it, ‘is a matter of judgment.’
Dr Richard Dawson recently completed a law doctorate at the University of Canterbury. Before going to law school, he was a Lecturer in Economics at the University of Waikato. His book The Treaty of Waitangi and the Control of Language (2001) is a revised version of his economics doctoral thesis.
All are welcome to attend.
Visit the Society’s at http://nzlsp.wordpress.com/
