James Campbell

James Campbell is a DPhil candidate who joined the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Oxford in 2020. His research, under the supervision of Professor Linda Mulcahy, explores the significance of physical movement within the court building – drawing upon legal architecture, the jurisprudence of the senses, and the application of mobile methods. He is an Associate Lecturer in Law, Society and Culture with the Open University, an Editor with the Scottish Legal Action Group (SCOLAG) Legal Journal, and Section Editor of ‘Borderlands’, part of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies’ website and blog Frontiers of Socio-Legal Studies.

Prior to studying law, James’ background was in the performing arts and performance studies. He graduated with a 1st-Class LLB (Hons) from the University of Strathclyde in 2014 and was an advisor with the Strathclyde University Law Clinic from 2010-14. Thereafter he graduated with an LLM by Research from the University of Edinburgh in 2016 and an MA in Sociology of Law from the International Institute for the Sociology of Law at Oñati in 2018.

He has worked previously as a Research Assistant to Professor Donald Nicolson OBE and as a Researcher at the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law where he conducted public law research and was involved with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Rule of Law. A passionate legal educator, James was previously Tutor in Public Law at the University of Strathclyde and Tutor in Critical Legal Thinking at the University of Edinburgh. As of 2023, he holds a Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

In addition to Socio-Legal studies, James has a number of research interests within sociology of law, legal and social theory, and law and the humanities.