Seminar with Professor Eva-Maria Svensson

What if the contextual presumption, central to feminist legal philosophy, is taken seriously? This presumption, that knowledge reflects the particular conditions in which they are produced and by whom, forms the backdrop of this project which will result in a book. A general objective is to synthesize, transmit/hand over and to actualize the feminist legal philosophical research I have pursued over some 30 years in a book on contemporary Nordic feminist legal philosophy. As such I wish to integrate insights from Nordic feminist legal philosophy into legal philosophy, and to bring consistency into the scholarly debate by being more sensitive to the outcomes of critical feminist encounters with the legal philosophical tradition. I also wish to integrate insights from Nordic feminist legal philosophy into international feminist legal philosophy, and to bring consistency into the scholarly debate by being more sensitive to the outcomes of critical Nordic feminist encounters with the international feminist legal philosophical tradition.

But the most important objective is to offer a way of thought with help of a ‘Nordic feminist version of legal philosophy’ about law’s possibilities to meet today’s challenges beyond what is at the present. What would an imaginary legal philosophy look like, a legal philosophy beyond ‘the tipping point of the apocalypse’? The explorative studies encompass questions like

  • What is legal philosophy, and what does it do?
  • Can legal philosophy be of help in the shaping of the future (and if so, how)?
  • Could legal philosophy be helpful to meet the urgent challenges of today, such as the transformation of democracy (including individualization), the increased focus on parts of the population as ‘the others’, the re-commodification of human beings (and other living bodies)?

What a ‘Nordic feminist version of legal philosophy’ could be will be elaborated through the ‘classical legal philosophical questions’.

The book is (so far) structured in three parts. The first one introduces the contextual starting points, the field of knowledges and some of the essential differences between them, and methodological reflections. The second one is structured out of the ‘classical legal philosophical questions’: (1) what law is, transformed to what law does, (2) how we can get knowledge about law, and (3) how we can legitimize the law. The third one focus on some urgent challenges of today’s political and legal situation. The question if law is suited to meet these challenges is posed, and if not, how it could be changed to meet the challenges in an alternative way, is reflected upon.

Bio

Eva-Maria Svensson is professor in Legal philosophy and theory at the Department of Law, School of Business, Economics and Law of University of Gothenburg. Her research covers a broad variety of fields; legal philosophy and theory, particularly in the field feminist/gender legal studies, gender equality law and policy, and freedom of speech. She also does interdisciplinary research in the fields of ageing and capability, gender equality in the Arctic as well as Studies of Academic Knowledge in Law. She takes part in several research networks, in jurisprudence, feminist/gender studies, socio-legal studies, critical legal studies, free speech issues, such as the international network on Gender Equality in the Arctic TUARQ, the Nordic Network in Women’s Law and Feminist/Gender Legal Studies, several International Network in Feminist and Feminist Legal Studies, Critical legal scholars, NORSIL (the Nordic Research Network for Sámi and Indigenous People's Law), and the International Association for Legal Philosophy and Social Philosophy (IVR). During her visit she will work on a book with the working title A contextual legal philosophy.

Registration

Please register here - no later than Tuesday 16 April 2024 at 12:00. Please note there is no more than 20 seats available.