Clave: A Joint Project of LatCrit and the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, Facultad de Derecho
Clave is a word with many relevant meanings, which aptly names this Spanish-language law review devoted to critical studies of law and society in local and hemispheric terms. These meanings invoke the beat at the heart of Latin music—clave, a rhythm brought with the African diaspora from the Yoruba, Congo and other African peoples to the Spanish-colonized Caribbean. The clave rhythm has been described as “the keystone, the wedge-shaped stone placed at the top of an arch which locks all the other stones in place.” But in addition to the cultural and musical meanings of clave, the word can also mean “key,” or “code”—“the foundation of a matter” or “the heart of the matter”—something that is critical. Finally, clave can mean “getting screwed.”
Clave, the journal, is published by students and faculty at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico School of Law. The published student notes and articles of each issue examine the ways in which states, laws, and other forces and discourses subject nationalized, gendered, sexualized, and racialized bodies. Clave also explores the many modes of resistance to state power, symbolized by the steady beat of the clave through colonialism, imperialism, and diaspora. In accordance with the goals and methods of LatCrit and other critical schools of thought, Clave seeks to advance conversations that disrupt the traditional boundaries of nation, discipline, and academic hierarchy.
Clave welcomes articles from academics in disciplines such as cultural studies, area studies, ethnic studies, history, political science, political theory, sociology, philosophy, anthropology, as well as “law proper.” We welcome submissions from organizers, activists, practitioners, artists and others. Over the years, Clave has published varied kinds of works and encouraged proposals for themed issues.
