Current Position
Director of Research – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) – Panthéon Sorbonne Paris 1, Institut des Science Juridique et Philosophique de la Sorbonne
2017 – current – Senior Research Fellow – Centre for Socio-Legal Studies – School of Law - University of Oxford
2016 – current – full professor with tenure (on Leave) – University of Padua
2016 – 2021 – PI of European Research Council project – Cultural Expertise in Europe (EURO-EXPERT)
Past Position
2018 – 2020, Senior Research Fellow – Centre for Socio-Legal Studies – University of Oxford
2013 – 2016, Professor of Behavioural Sciences (Anthropology) – Department of Behavioural Sciences and Karakoram Centre for Culture and Heritage
2013 – 2016, Dean of Faculty – Humanities and Social Sciences – Karakoram International University
Professor of Anthropology - LUMS
Asylum and immigration related cases in US and UK courts for South Asia, especially Pakistan and India on issues of: adultery, blasphemy, child custody, corruption, divorce, divorce at the woman’s initiative, disownment, documents’ assessment, corruption, domestic helpers, ethnic violence, federalism, freedom (opinion, religion, sexuality, gender), gender, health care (mental, children, women, elderly), “honour” killings, human trafficking, family feuds, inheritance, laws and legal remedies (appointment of judges, state protection, witness protection, police protection, judiciary), land grabbing, mafia, marriage (arranged, forced, love, mixed, exchange), minorities (religious, ethnic, linguistic, political), murder, political rivalries, political dissidents, property rights, return (danger of), relocation (internal), sexuality, social diversity, unaccompanied minors, vulnerable individuals (labourer, women, domestic help, children, ethnic and religious minorities, victims of violence)
Consultancies
since 2007 - Country expert in migration related cases (US and UK)
2011 - Federalism, social diversity and the appointment of judges (Forum of Federations 2011)
2013 - Review of Country of Origin Information India, 2012 and Operational Guidance Notes, 2013 (Independent Chief Inspector of Border and Immigration of His Majesty of the United Kingdom)
2014-15 – independent social audit of Gilgit Baltistan Police
Fieldwork
2016 – current – cultural expertise in Europe
2013 – 2016 – State and non-state practices of law in Gilgit Baltistan (Pakistan)
2009 – 2013 - Criminal and civil cases in Pakistani law courts: especially divorce at the woman’s initiative, honour killings, property and gender, judiciary and gender, judiciary and federalism.
2008 - 1 month fieldwork in India (Tamil Nadu) and 2 months in California (USA) on Savitri case (socio-legal expertise and relationship between state and non-state jurisdiction)
2007, 2 months fieldwork on migration issues related to Hindu diaspora in Brisbane (Australia)
2006, 3 months fieldwork on matrimonial remedies in rural Madhya Pradesh (India)
2004, 4 months fieldwork on the praxis of defence lawyers in Naples (Italy)
2003, 3 months fieldwork on the praxis of defence lawyers in Naples (Italy)
1999-00, 6 months fieldwork on matrimonial remedies in rural Madhya Pradesh (India)
1998-99, 2 months fieldwork on matrimonial remedies in rural Madhya Pradesh (India)
1995-96, 7 months fieldwork on traditional Hindu jurisdiction in rural Madhya Pradesh (India)
Books
Holden, Livia ed. (2015) Legal Pluralism and Governance in South Asia and Diasporas, London: Taylor & Francis.
Holden, Livia ed. (2013) Legal Pluralism and Governance in South Asia and in the Diasporas, Journal of Legal Pluralism 45, 1.
Holden, Livia ed. (2012) Cultural Expertise and Litigation: Patterns, Conflicts, Narratives. London: Routledge (paperback edition)
Holden, Livia ed. (2011) Cultural Expertise and Litigation: Patterns, Conflicts, Narratives. London: Routledge.
Holden, Livia (2008) Hindu Divorce: A Legal Anthropology, Aldershot: Ashgate.
Book chapters
Holden, Livia (2012) ‘Divorce at the Woman’s Initiative in South Asia and in the Diasporas’ in Interpreting Divorce Laws in Islam, Rubya Mehdi, Werner Menski, Jørgen Choler Nielsen (eds.), DJØF: Copenhagen.
Holden, Livia (2012) ‘Religion, Tradition, and Gender : Arguments for Divorce in South Asia and in the Diasporas’, in Bulfoni, C. (ed.), Tradizioni religiose e trasformazioni dell'Asia contemporanea, Milano-Roma, Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana-Bulzoni, Asiatica Ambrosiana, 4.
Holden, Livia (2011) ‘Introduction: Reflexivity, Culture, and Ethics’, in Cultural Expertise and Litigation: Patterns, Conflicts, Narratives, Holden, Livia ed.,London: Routledge.
Holden, Livia (2011) ‘Expert Report Writing: Professional Commitments and Legal Outcomes’, in Cultural Expertise and Litigation: Patterns, Conflicts, Narratives, Holden, Livia ed.,London: Routledge.
Commissioned papers
Holden, Livia (2011) Social Diversity and the Judiciary in Pakistan [A paper commissioned for the Conference on Diversity organized in Kathmandu, June 2011 as part of the activities of the Project “Strengthening Federal Governance in Pakistan” supported by funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany] http://www.forumfed.org/libdocs/Pakistan2011/Livia%20Holden_DiversityandtheJudiciaryinPakistan.pdf
Refereed journal articles
Holden, Livia (under preparation) ‘Lady-Judges of Pakistan: Human Rights, Justice, and Professionalism’
Holden, Livia (2013) Introduction in Holden, Livia ed. Legal Pluralism and Governance in South Asia and in the Diasporas, special issue for the Journal of Legal Pluralism 45,1, 1-4.
Holden, Livia and Azam Chaudhary (2013) ‘Daughter’s Inheritance, Legal Pluralism, and Governance in Pakistan’, in Holden, Livia ed. Legal Pluralism and Governance in South Asia and in the Diasporas, special issue for the Journal of Legal Pluralism 45,1, 104-123.
Holden, Livia (2004) ‘Official policies for (un)official customs: the hegemonic treatment of Hindu divorce customs by dominant legal discourses’, Journal of Legal Pluralism 49, 47-74.
Holden, Livia (2003) ‘Custom and law practices in Central India: some case studies’, South Asia Research, n.23, 115-133.
Films and Multimedia
Holden, Marius and Holden, Livia (2013) Lady-Judges of Pakistan, documentary-film in English and Urdu with English subtitles, 3 versions (29, 54, and 75 min.), Gold Coast: Insights.
Holden, Marius and Holden, Livia (2000) Runaway wives. Customary divorce and remarriage in Shivpuri district (Madhya Pradesh-India), Melbourne: Access Studio, 40 min. documentary in Hindi with English subtitles.