Per agreement with Professor Ji Weidong (Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, Editor-in-chief of AJLS), Prof. Shin-ichiro Ishida and Dr. Wang Weichen are serving as guest editors for a Asian Journal of Law and Society special issue (to be published in mid to late 2026). AJLS is a well-known reputable journal (which is indexed with ESCI and is ranked as Q2 according to Journal Citation ReportTM 2023) that provides an increasingly important Asian perspective to global law and society scholarship. AJLS peer-reviewed publications feature empirical and multi-disciplinary research and bring a unique perspective to socio-legal issues of global concerns with a comparative exploration of law and society topics. This special issue will feature the theme of ‘Law and Anthropology in Asia’.

This special issue welcomes original empirical research articles in the fields of law and anthropology, particularly those focusing on the Asian contexts. In conjunction with current frontier and classic issues of legal anthropology in Asia and beyond, we are particularly looking forward to articles on any of the following topics:

• The impact of globalization on Asian legal cultures, legalism and idealism
• Legal pluralism and legal integration in Asia: Historical and contemporary points of view
• Conflict of laws in the process of migration and urbanization: Ethnographical and comparative perspectives
• The possibility of alternative justice systems in Asian contexts: Emerging spaces of institutions, ideas and practices
• Digitalization and access to justice: The impacts of emerging technologies on legal practice in Asia
• The possibility of plural anthropologies of law in light of Asian contexts and perspectives

Priorities will be given to studies that employ anthropological or ethnographic methods, particularly participatory observation and multi-sited ethnographic techniques, to conduct in-depth analyses of the aforementioned topics. This special volume particularly welcomes research works that highlight the unique perspectives of Asian societies in legal anthropology and meticulously portray the socio-cultural background through methods such as thick description.

Please keep in mind the following in your consideration and submission:

The final manuscript will be published in English with an average length of 10,000 words. Please find specific author instructions here.

• We welcome empirical research articles using anthropological or ethnographic methods
• The topic of the thesis should be closely related to the relevant issues of legal anthropology in the Asian contexts
• Preferences will be given to broad coverage of Asia, including all regions and areas; collaboration with scholars from Asian nations and societies would be welcome
• All finally selected manuscripts will undergo peer review

This special volume of AJLS will be edited by Prof. Shin-ichiro Ishida of Tokyo Metropolitan University and Dr. Wang Weichen of Shanghai International Studies University. Manuscripts should be submitted directly to the editor ([email protected]; [email protected]) in MS WORD format. 

Manuscripts should represent unpublished original work. If you are potentially interested in contributing to this special issue, please send us via email:

(1) a proposed title of your manuscript, and (2) an abstract (150 words) by 30 March 2025. The deadline for submissions of the full manuscript is 15 February 2026, and the projected publication is mid to late 2026.

Please send any inquiries to

Prof. Shin-ichiro Ishida ([email protected] ) Dr. Wang Weichen ([email protected])

Guest editors:

Prof. Shin-ichiro Ishida (Tokyo Metropolitan University )

Dr. Wang Weichen (Shanghai International Studies University)