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BA(Hons)(Bucknell) MA(Colorado State) JD(Colorado) PhD(NSW)

Stephen Young 2019 image

Contact

Office 10 Floor – 10C12
Email stephen.young@otago.ac.nz

Teaching

Stephen teaches Torts, Laws and Indigenous Peoples, and International Human Rights Law.

Research interests

Stephen's research explores law's fringes. His work examines forms of legal resistance and contested legality, including pseudolaw and sovereign citizen movements, Indigenous peoples’ rights, and the strategic use of human rights claims. Through these topics, he investigates how individuals and communities challenge, reinterpret, and reconfigure legal authority. His scholarship sits at the intersection of legal theory, socio-legal studies, and critical legal scholarship, with a focus on how law’s authority is contested in everyday encounters with the state.

Background

Before joining the Faculty, Stephen was a Teaching Fellow at the University of New South Wales where he also completed his PhD.

Prior to pursuing an academic career, he worked in private practice as a civil litigator focusing on tort disputes in Denver, Colorado. He obtained a JD from the University of Colorado, an MA from Colorado State University, and a BA from Bucknell University.

Publications

Young, S. (2026, September). Outlawed: Responding to the global rise of sovereign citizens and legal conspiracies. Author Talk, City Library, Dunedin Public Libraries, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Public Lecture]. Other Research Output

Hobbs, H., & Young, S. (2026). A market for crystals, cookies and conspiracies. Herald Sun, (29 August), 70-71. Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles

Hobbs, H. & Young, S. (2026, August). Outlawed: The rise of the ‘sovereign citizen’ movement. Radio New Zealand, Nine to Noon. Retrieved from https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2019049357/outlawed-the-rise-of-the-sovereign-citizen-movement Other Research Output

Hobbs, H. & Young, S. (2026, August). Outlawed: Responding to the global rise of sovereign citizens and legal conspiracies. Author Talk, Scorpio Books, Christchurch, New Zealand. [Public Lecture]. Other Research Output

Hobbs, H. & Young, S. (2026, August). What happens when people decide the law no longer applies to them? Outlawed: Responding to the global rise of sovereign citizens and legal conspiracies. Author Talk, Unity Books, Wellington, New Zealand. [Public Lecture]. Other Research Output

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