Maastricht Foundations of Law Colloquia

The Department of Foundations of Law in the Faculty of Law cordially invites you to the next meeting of our Maastricht Foundations of Law Colloquia. On 21 May, our speaker is Anna Beckers from Maastricht University - Title: An institutional (re)turn in legal scholarship

Abstract: 
In times of crises and social transformations, lawyers turn to analysis of the institutions of law. The paper I present discusses this frequent (re)turn to institutions in sociologically informed legal scholarship, both theoretically and to build a normative argument on how to rely on institutional approaches today. I first trace the institutional turn in economics, political economy and sociology as a strategy to be able to understand and reveal the constitutive role and transformative potential of law in social relations. I then argue for the need to return to institutional analysis and include, to that end, legal theories of institutions. Relying on legal institutionalism by Hauriou and Romani and Esposito’s new institutionalism, we need to draw our attention to the function of institutions in responding to and embracing conflicting societal demands and to an active role of the law in shaping social institutions. To that end, I suggest three strategies in law towards institutions: protection, transformation and generation.


The colloquium’s format is pre-read. Those attending are expected to have read the text in advance. The draft will be circulated in advance.

Convenors:
Lukasz Dziedzic
Sebastian Reyes Molina
Roland Pierik

The colloquia will take place physically and online. The Zoom link for the online sessions will be distributed later.