Laila Maia Galvão

In this Meet the Author event, Laila Maia Galvão, Professor at the Instituto Brasileiro de Ensino, Desenvolvimento e Pesquisa and Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies at the University of London, will discuss her latest book O chefe de polícia, pelo telefone. Written at the intersection of academic scholarship and science communication, the book presents the life and work of Aurelino Leal, an important Brazilian lawyer, politician, and former Chief of Police in Rio de Janeiro, to open up a broader reflection on Brazil’s constitutional history.
Borrowing its title from the famous samba Pelo telefone, the book brings legal history into conversation with political, social, and cultural history, while addressing readers beyond a specialist audience. Alongside constitutionalism and legal thought, it explores the dynamics of federal and state oligarchies, the relationship between the police and illegal gambling, the impact of communication technologies on police work, social movements, carnival, and the history of samba.
The conversation will focus both on the book and on the process of its making: on biography as an entry point into constitutional history, on the possibilities of writing legal historical research for wider publics, and on the challenges involved in communicating research in legal history beyond specialist audiences.
The event will be held in English.
Registration: Please register by email at sirotti@lhlt.mpg.de