Brasilia And Tort Law

Building Brasília

Sophia La Banca | JStor Daily | 11th March 2026

Why does Brasília exist? It was created in the middle of a sparsely-populated and hostile landscape in the mid 20C. The historic and populous city of Rio de Janeiro would seem to be a much better capital. But Brasília represents a very old idea: that moving the focus of Brazil inland would promote independence from colonisers. Built at great human cost, it is a fascinating piece of urban design (2,400 words)

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What Is A Tort?

Ketan Ramakrishnan | Harvard Law Review | 10th March 2026

Long, scholarly and surprisingly readable exploration of a knotty legal question. Existing tort definitions usually emphasise either the economic efficiency of tort law or its role in remedying "relational wrongs" between private actors. In fact, a tort is more of a "remedial pigeonhole", a "coarse doctrinal device" that identifies a wrongdoer's moral liability to pay for a loss caused, regardless of intent (28,000 words)