Doctoral Dissertation Research: Disputes, Deformalization, and Discourse: Small Claims Court Reform in Brazil

9632453 Nader 1984年巴西向民主过渡后，国家对公民身份和普遍权利的重视导致了寻求使法庭程序和进入现代化的政策。这些政策的一个结果是联邦授权命令设立特别小额索赔法院。各国都设立了小额索赔法院，其组成和程序差异很大。 本研究是一个比较民族志调查的两个城市巴西小额索赔法院，探讨公民权利和公民身份，裁决和司法改革在巴西的公民讨论之间的关系。具体而言，研究报告审查了小额索赔法院程序中的司法非正规化与巴西公民身份和权利概念之间的联系。为该项目选择的两个小额索赔法院差别很大。一个没有经历过程序上的非正规化，而另一个经历过。该项目的第一阶段将开始进行档案研究，具体侧重于案件记录、政治演讲、报纸和杂志文章以及地方法律的组织的出版物。这一阶段的研究目标是寻找诉讼趋势，并建立权利和公民话语的社会领域。第二阶段将包括法庭观察和与诉讼当事人、国家官员、法庭工作人员、行政人员和当地法律的机构的面谈。 这一阶段的研究旨在记录公民身份和权利在实践中的实例，并引出这些社会理想的人种学描述。%%%%

9632453 Nader Following Brazil's transition to democracy in 1984, the state's emphasis on citizenship and universalistic rights has led to policies seeking to modernize courtroom procedure and access. One result of these policies has been a federal mandate ordering the establishment of special small claims courts. States have established small claims courts which vary dramatically in their constitution and procedure. This research is a comparative ethnographic investigation of two urban Brazilian small claims courts that explores the relationship among civic discussions of rights and citizenship, adjudication, and judicial reform in Brazil. Specifically, the study examines the linkages between judicial deformalization in small claims court procedure and Brazilian conceptions of citizenship and rights. The two small claims courts chosen for the project differ considerably. One as not undergone procedural deformalization whereas the other has. The first phase of the project will begin with archival research specifically focusing on case records, political speeches, newspaper and journal articles, and the publications of local legal organizations. The goal of this phase of the research is to look for trends in litigation and establish the social domain of rights and citizenship discourse. The second phase will consist of courtroom observation and interviews with litigants, state officials, courtroom staff, administrators, and local legal agencies. This phase of the research is designed to document instances of citizenship and rights in practice and elicit ethnographic accounts of these social ideals. %%%%