(image: Maastricht; Source: Wikimedia Commons)
The 25th Ius Commune Conference will
take place in Maastricht (26-27 November 2020), and a Workshop will be devoted
to the impact of paradigmatic shifts in the history of private law.
The workshops on “Comparative Legal
History–Ius Commune in the Making” aim to reveal and understand the nature and
effects of various legal formants in the development of law. Indeed, forces of
legal formants are too often lost or hidden beneath a superficies of
commonalities. History is a living laboratory. In the past, we explored the
role of legal actors (Edinburgh 2014), legal sources (Maastricht 2016), force
of local laws (Utrecht 2017), methods and dynamics of law (Amsterdam 2018), and
networks (Leuven, 2019).
The current Workshop aims to explore
the impact of paradigmatic shifts in the history of private law. Kuhn offered ground-breaking ideas on
scientific paradigms in his work The
Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962). According to Kuhn, a scientific paradigm is an achievement that is “sufficiently
unprecedented to attract an enduring group of adherents away from competing
modes of scientific activity” and “sufficiently open-ended to leave all sorts
of problems for the redefined group of practitioners to resolve.” Legal
scholars have entered the playfield. Legal paradigms are fundamental in legal
reasoning, and consequently present in the legal narrative throughout history.
Examples of paradigm-changes are omnipresent. On a grand scale, one may
identify, amongst many others, the (re)discovery of the Digest, the appearance
of Ramism, and the enlightened shift towards codifications around 1800.
Likewise, on a micro-level, one is able to identify fundamental shifts in
paradigms, such as the development of unjustified enrichment with Grotius or
the Rechtsgeschaeft with von Savigny.
We need to understand our
paradigmatic shifts, and thus our law. As always, calls for change may be heard,
from within or from outside the legal domain. History is a necessity, as it
offers us the opportunity to identify and analyse paradigmatic shifts. We seek to
identify the nature of these paradigms and their changes. Many of these changes
have not happened overnight, but came to be constructed in the course of the
legal narrative. Reasons and motivations for change may be highlighted, and
reveal the contextual formants, like prevailing ideologies, in time and space.
This workshop invites to address
theories, doctrines, and sources of law that experienced such a paradigmatic
shift, its interpretation or application in the various domains of law and
society. This workshop aims therefore to highlight some of those tipping points
throughout the history of private law. Different periods, that of Roman law,
the learned ius commune, nineteenth-century codification, and the more recent
efforts towards a European private law harmonization will offer insights on the
impact of paradigmatic shifts in the history of private law. Law in the making
can be better explained by a look into the impact of paradigmatic shifts at
different times and places.
Senior researchers and PhD candidates
are invited to submit an abstract of a paper related to the above-mentioned
theme. Abstracts (max. 400 words) should be sent to Agustin Parise (agustin.parise@maastrichtuniversity.nl) no later than 15 July 2020. Shortly after that, the
authors will be informed whether their papers are selected for a presentation
during the Workshop. All contributions should be in English. Co-authored papers
will be also considered.
Researchers from within and outside
the Ius Commune Research School will be eligible to present abstracts. Please also forward this call to colleagues
who might be interested.
Should you have any questions please
do not hesitate to contact a member of the organizing committee,
Harry Dondorp (j.h.dondorp@vu.nl)
Wouter Druwé (wouter.druwe@kuleuven.be)
Michael Milo (j.m.milo@uu.nl)
Pim Oosterhuis (janwillem.oosterhuis@maastrichtuniversity.nl)
Agustin Parise (agustin.parise@maastrichtuniversity.nl)
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