Call for Papers: Changing Narratives of the Rule of Law: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

Op 28 en 29 januari 2016 vindt in Hotel New York, Rotterdam het congress ‘Changing Narratives of the Rule of Law: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives’ plaats. Het congres is de kick-off van het nieuwe multi-disciplinaire onderzoeksproject aan de Erasmus University Rotterdam, genaamd Integrating Normative and Functional Approaches to Rule of Law and Human Rights’ (INFAR). Key note sprekers zijn onder andere Prof. Kim Lane Scheppele (professor of sociology and international affairs, Princeton University), Prof. Jan Klabbers (professor of International Law, University of Helsinki), Prof. Nikolas Rajkovic (professor of international law, Tilburg University) en Prof. Robert von Friedeburg (professor of early modern history, Erasmus University).

Call for papers
Geïnteresseerden zijn van harte uitgenodigd om een abstract (van 300-500 woorden) in te zenden voor een paper. De abstract kan gestuurd worden per email naar Dr. Nathanael Ali, at ali@law.eur.nl voor 16 December 2015. Vermeld in uw mail uw naam, titel en de instantie waar u aan verbonden bent. Er is beperkte funding beschikbaar voor deelnemers die onvoldoende funding van hun eigen universiteit kunnen krijgen. Voor verdere vragen kunt u contact opnemen met de organisatoren: Dr. Nathanael Ali (ali@law.eur.nl) en Prof. Sanne Taekema (taekema@law.eur.nl)

Thema
In legal scholarship on rule of law, history seems mostly taken for granted. The prevailing presumption being that there is a universal linear trajectory towards the rule of law, and with it a march towards liberal substantive values such as human rights. Twenty-first century reality shows, however, that we can no longer assume that substantive values are shared, but need to incorporate pluralism. Recent scholarly work in this regard goes a step further in suggesting that the actual historical emergence and subsequent meaning of ‘rule of law’ is related to European identity formation and has more to do with the objective of stifling democratic movements. It is, therefore, necessary to appeal more systematically to the historical insights gathered during the last fifty years about the fictitious nature of an allegedly unproblematic linear trajectory towards the rule of law. A re-consideration of the historical narratives on the rule of law is also crucial in reconstructing its meaning to fit present-day problems. How can, for example, the European Union accommodate the pluralism of national traditions while at the same time making good on its promise to protect and enhance rule of law? This conference addresses these issues by revisiting the construction of ‘rule of law’ in the contexts of medieval, renaissance and colonial periods of European history, recent post-conflict societies across the world, and in the context of the interaction of the European Union and its recently-added member states.

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