Rethinking Legal Culture in Europe > About the conference

About the conference

Objectives

In the current era of European integration and globalization a development towards an increasing importance of basic principles and values in law can be observed.  Although law may be described in terms of texts and legal rules, these texts and rules both rely on, and contribute to the moral, political and economic culture of the society in which the rules are applied. The institutions, the traditions, and the values and ideologies that surround legal rules, are at least as important as the rules themselves, in determining the way in which these rules make a difference to the social life within the community in which these rules operate.

It is the objective of this conference to address some of the basic issues that contribute to the integration or fragmentation of legal culture in Europe. How far has Europe progressed towards what might be referred to as a "thick legal integration", that is, an integration, which includes not only common rules, but also a common legal culture? To make such an assessment one necessarily has to consider national, trans-national, and supranational processes and changes, as well as the interdependence of these transformations and their relations to European legal culture at large.

Inter-European Processes

Europe has never developed into a unified political, legal or moral structure, but there have always been important cultural connections between the various parts of Europe. What these connections amount to, and how they have changed over time, make up the cultural history of Europe. Within this cultural history, we can identify the immediate post-WWII period as a key turning point at which European political, legal and economic co-operation was first institutionalised in an entirely novel way. The European Union, The European Council, and the two associated courts are symbols of the dramatic transformations of the continent following WWII. Assessing the extent to which these developments, symbols and institutions actually function as channels of cultural integration - as compared to other trans-national channels - constitutes a key element in any comprehensive analysis of the role of European law and legal culture. While much research so far has concentrated on the institutions of The European Union and the Council of Europe, the attempt to grasp European culture, or the integration of European cultures, as a long-term project of a less visible kind, has only received scant attention. 

Changing global positions

The collapse of the socialist states has led to a period of disintegration, which has again led to a rethinking of what European culture - including European legal culture means. The expansion of the European Union and of the institutions has had as a consequence that ‘Europeanness' has become more diversified and contested.

Economic globalization, a focus on North-South relations, the ‘war on terror' and the increasing focus on transnational religious norms, as well as ‘culture wars' may lead to a development where  a common historical European heritage is underlined. In these processes both global positions, size and history matter for communities and States seeking to reorient and, ultimately, reposition themselves.

Organisation of the Conference

Each day starts with a keynote speaker and a plenary discussion.

The conference is further organised around a number of panels which tackle a series of interconnected issues related to the interplay of national, regional and global positions of European legal culture.

The intention is to publish extended versions of the presented papers after the conference.

Conference venue:  Udvalgsværelse 3, Nørregade 10, University of Copenhagen

Organisers

The conference will be hosted by the Center for Studies in Legal Culture, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Law. The members of the management group and of the organizing committee are

• Prof. dr. jur. Hanne Petersen, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen  (Hanne.Petersen@jur.ku.dk)
  
• Dr. Mikael Rask Madsen, at the University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Law and associate researcher, Centre de Sociologie Europénne, Paris (Mikael.Madsen@jur.ku.dk)
  
• Prof. dr. jur. Henrik Palmer Olsen, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen (Henrik.Palmer.Olsen@jur.ku.dk)
  
• Prof. dr. jur. et phil. Ditlev Tamm, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen (Ditlev.Tamm@jur.ku.dk)

Speakers have been selected on the basis of their inter-disciplinary approach to subjects within their fields. Furthermore, speakers come from various backgrounds: Law, Sociology, Political Science, Anthropology, and History.