Call for Submissions and Speakers
19th Annual Law & Society Symposium
Charleston Law Review and Riley Institute at Furman University
Friday, February 19, 2027 – Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina
The Charleston Law Review, in partnership with the Riley Institute at Furman University, is pleased to announce the 19th Annual Law & Society Symposium, entitled Unsettled: Displacement and the Law. The Symposium will be held on Friday, February 19, 2027, at the Charleston Museum in Charleston, South Carolina.
This year’s Symposium will examine displacement not as an isolated housing issue, but as a recurring feature of American legal systems, from the redevelopment of public housing to the enforcement of federal immigration law. Across the United States, families and communities are being pushed out of their homes, their neighborhoods, and, in some cases, the country they call home. The Symposium will explore the legal, political, and economic dimensions of that phenomenon, asking whether the law merely responds to displacement or actively produces it. Through panels addressing government action, market forces, and legal status, these conversations will bring areas of law that rarely speak to one another – housing, property, and immigration – into a single dialogue about who is displaced, by what means, and with what recourse.
We welcome submissions from authors and speakers addressing any aspect of the Symposium’s theme, including but not limited to:
- Public housing redevelopment, eminent domain, municipal rezoning, and other forms of government-driven displacement;
- Gentrification and market-driven displacement, including property taxation, zoning and development law, and short-term rental regulation;
- Housing courts, eviction proceedings, and access to justice for displaced residents;
- Immigration enforcement, deportation, asylum, and due process as legal forms of displacement; and
- Historical, philosophical, or comparative perspectives on displacement, property, and belonging.
Publication and Participation
Selected papers will be published in the Fall 2027 issue of the Charleston Law Review. Authors of accepted submissions will also be invited to participate in the Symposium as panelists. In addition, we are seeking practitioners, policymakers, judges, and advocates to serve as speakers and commentators alongside academic authors.
Submission Guidelines
Abstracts and draft papers will be considered for publication on a rolling basis until December 1, 2026, with initial drafts due by February 15, 2027, and final submissions due by May 3, 2027. Those interested in publishing with the Charleston Law Review must submit an abstract or draft paper, as well as a current CV, to RMRobinson@charlestonlaw.edu Those interested in speaking but not publishing must email their CV to RMRobinson@charlestonlaw.edu by December 1, 2026