Engaging with the field while studying language in the legal process : Windows of engagement and normative moorings

Abstract

This special issue brings together language and law researchers working on a variety of legal settings, ranging from small claims courts and criminal adjudication to immigration services and transitional justice institutions, in a collective reflection on common issues of positionality, ethics, and engagement that practitioners of this kind of research are facing. This introductory essay identifies two recurrent themes throughout the various contributions: (1) the need to navigate shifting institutional landscapes in order to obtain access and (2) the normative anchoring of one's critical interventions.