Socio-Legal Trajectories in Europe: Comparative Perspectives of the UK, Germany and beyond (culture, pedagogy, institutions and scholars)

The workshop at the IISL will explore questions that socio-legal studies pose at the intersection of theory, method, culture and biography. The workshop aims to initiate the development of a network of scholars interested in comparative research on the history and sociology of socio-legal studies. It is based on a research project in which we are examining the contours and cultures in the field of law and society in Germany and the UK, concentrating on academic and legal cultures, pedagogy, institutions and scholars. In this workshop we build on, and expand, this outlook to include more countries and their socio-legal trajectories across Europe.

Participants have been asked to investigate, self-reflectively, what they are doing as a socio-legal scholar, and what motivates the questions they are asking and the methods and theories that they are using. They reflect on these issues against the background of the legal and academic context in which they work, guided by their historical trajectories. Presentations at the workshop will thus connect individual work with the intellectual, institutional, and political context which has influenced it, and to which it is in conversation with. They will also provide an opportunity to critically engage with the findings of the comparative research project.

The contributions will be published in a collected volume in the IISL's publication series. The volume will distinguish itself from existing literature by focusing on the connection between structure (such as academic and legal cultures, institutions, and political context) and agency (scholars and their work). The individual contributions will be tied together through self-reflexivity and a comparative perspective on socio-legal studies.

Previous publications:
Creutzfeldt, N., Kubal, A. and Pirie, F. 2016. Introduction: exploring the comparative in socio-legal studies. International Journal of Law in Context. 12(4), pp.377–389.
Hendry, Jennifer, Naomi Creutzfeldt, und Christian Boulanger. 2020. “Socio-Legal Studies in Germany and the UK: Theory and Methods”. German Law Journal 21 (7): 1309–17. https://doi.org/10.1017/glj.2020.83.