purpose
To Promote South Asian Legal Scholarship
What is South Asian Legal Scholarship? We believe that misunderstandings, arguments, anger, hate, and inequality in the U.S. and around the world are a result of lack of knowledge about other cultures and countries. We also believe that the best way to counter some of these problems is by educating people. We can educate in many ways. Reading is one way to educate, such as through newspapers, magazines, books, journals, or through the Internet. Music, radio, film, art, theater, and speakers are also ways to educate people. We have decided to focus on the legal aspects of education, such as a legal journal.
This effort is not just about the legal profession. Legal journals are especially important and different from other literature because they affect this country’s policies, including both federal and state court decisions. Law journal articles are often cited in legal opinions and are used to shape American legal thinking.
The potential issues that deserve more writing include:
1. Outsourcing to countries in South Asia
2. Effects of 9/11 on the South Asian community (discrimination, hate crimes, etc.)
3. Effects of affirmative action on South Asians
4. Labor issues involving taxi-drivers, doctors, hotel owners, engineers, and entrepreneurs
5. Immigration issues
6. Domestic violence
7. Trafficking
8. Nuclear weapons/energy issues relating to South Asia
9. Issues relating to South Asians running for public office
In addition, South Asians are becoming lawyers in increasing numbers. However, we question whether there are enough issues to justify a dedicated South Asian legal journal. For this reason, we have decided to initially team with an existing Asian law journal, the Asian Pacific American Law Journal at UCLA (APALJ) to host a Symposium Conference in Spring 2008, and publish a symposium issue of APALJ focused on South Asian American Jurisprudence. Based on the interest and number of articles received, we can later determine whether this effort warrants the creation of an independent journal devoted to South Asian American issues. However, there are also some risks. Publishing a symposium issue carries many uncertainties including staffing and the quantity of articles we will receive. Thus, we hope that this effort will illuminate how best to promote and encourage dialogue and education about issues affecting South Asian American communities.