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THE CASE STUDIES

In the field

Political Inquiries

In the field

Coming from the disciplines of rhetoric and argumentation studies, criminal cases appeared to me as dramas in which the hero (the lawyer of the defence, a police officer or the innocent defendant) overcomes all obstacles and finally succeeds. During the field work I should find out how I was wrong and right at the same time.

What exactly is the field, when investigating the career of criminal cases? Where does preparation take place? Like my three collegues I conducted my research in law firms, following lawyers as close as possible in their preparation of criminal trials. Although accessing a law firm seemed the most important step and the biggest obstacle at the same time, this proved not to be the case, as access to the law firm did not equal access to preparation.

New activities

I currently conduct ethnographic fieldwork at the German Bundestag.

Agenda

Out now: "Thick Comparison - Reviving the Ethnographic Aspiration" , edited by Scheffer & Niewöhner, BRILL

Out soon: "Adversarial Case-Making" (Scheffer) BRILL

Out soon: "Defence Work and Procedure" (Scheffer, Kozin & Hannken-Illjes) PALGRAVE

Latest Texts

Scheffer (2010) Knowing how to sleepwalk. Placing Expert Evidence ... OnlineFirst in Science, Technology & Human Values (STHV)

Scheffer (2010) Indirect Moralizing. Early View in Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior (JTSB)

Kozin (2010) Book Note on "Roger Shuy's Fighting over words..." in Language in Society

Teaching in SS 2010

Seminar für Masterstudierende "Kulturen des Parlamentarismus" Mo. 16.00-18.00 am IfEE, HU Berlin

AG "Politische Ethnographie" [anmelden bei scheffer@law-in-action.org]

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