From podcast to Utopia: Hope and doubt behind knowledge production in international legal academia

Memon, Ahmed ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3502-7743 and Loefflad, Eric 2024. From podcast to Utopia: Hope and doubt behind knowledge production in international legal academia. Gauci, Jean-Pierre and Sander, Barrie, eds. Teaching International Law Reflections on Pedagogical Practice in Context, Routledge, pp. 111-121. (10.4324/9781003429265-11) Item availability restricted.

PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 24 November 2025 due to copyright restrictions. Download (369kB)

Abstract

In this chapter we explore this question of the podcasting medium, and its pedagogical implications, through reflecting upon our co-founded podcast Fool’s Utopia, which is (to our knowledge) the first podcast centered around discussing international law from an avowedly critical perspective. We argue here that podcasting can itself grow beyond the constraints of the classroom that are textual, no matter how critical they are, into a space with possibilities of organic knowledge production which is multi-dimensional due to its virtual, dialogic nature. This dialogic form thus allows us not just to be a pedagogical vessel to comment on international law, international legal theory, or history, but also to be a pedagogy of co-produced knowledge on the ethics of utopianism within the field of international law. On our podcast, the disruption of hierarchy is not simply an idealized commitment but a lived practice. Through Fool’s Utopia, we invite the marginal to feel empowered and the established to feel vulnerable all in a relaxed casual environment that never loses sight of the seriousness of the topics we discuss. No matter who our guest happens to be, our final question is always the same – what is your utopia?

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Cardiff Law & Politics
Publisher:	Routledge
ISBN:	9781032551517
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	12 April 2024
Last Modified:	03 Jul 2025 14:09
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/167530

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item