The Department of Sociology is proud to announce that Roberta S. Pamplona, a fifth-year PhD candidate, has been awarded the prestigious Student Paper Prize at the 2025 Law & Society Association (LSA) Annual Meeting, held in Chicago.
Pamplona was recognized for her article titled “Reframing Feminist Ideas, Challenging State Incorporation: Activism Against Violence and the Feminicídio Law in Brazil”, published in Gender & Society. Her work offers a critical analysis of how grassroots feminist movements in Brazil engage with and resist state efforts to institutionalize feminist discourses through legislation. The paper centers on the complex dynamics between activism, state power, and the feminist struggle against gender-based violence, with a focus on the landmark feminicídio (femicide) law.
The LSA Student Paper Prize is awarded annually to an exceptional paper by a graduate or professional student that contributes significantly to the field of law and society. The selection committee commended Pamplona’s paper for its innovative theoretical framing, empirical depth, and critical engagement with global feminist debates.
The award highlights Pamplona’s ongoing contributions to sociolegal scholarship, feminist theory, and Latin American studies. It also underscores the University of Toronto Sociology Department’s support for rigorous, globally-informed graduate research.
The full article is available through Gender & Society: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/08912432241304768
For more on the Law & Society Association and the 2025 Annual Meeting, visit: https://www.lawandsociety.org/chicago-2025-homepage/