Call for papers – Law in the Risk Society

On 9 and 10 April 2015 the Utrecht Centre for Accountability and Liability Law will host its annual conference: Law in the Risk Society

Call for papers
Scholars and legal practitioners are invited to submit a paper within one of the themes, to be presented at the conference in April. The main language of the conference will be English, but both English and Dutch papers are accepted. If you wish to participate please send an abstract (300 words) to the coordinator of one of the subthemes before 1 January 2015. For more information about the subthemes, click here. For an abstract in the general theme, and for further information about the conference (registration, practical information and publication possibilities), please send an email to Ubaldus de Vries – UCALL.Congres2015@uu.nl

Theme
In 2016, it will be thirty years ago that Ulrich Beck published his Risikogesellschafft. Auf dem Weg in eine andere Moderne (Risk Society – Towards a New Modernity). The essence of the book is that contemporary modern society is confronted with the side effects of the successes of the processes of industrialisation and individualisation. This confrontation is visible in, amongst others, the (social) consequences of climate change, industrial activity and linear economic growth, the shift of focus from freedom to security, preven­tion and precaution, the disembeddedness of groups and individuals, and the deepening of inequality in terms of both wealth and risk exposure. Beck suggests that to seek answers to the questions this confron­tation gives rise to, we need to be reflexive upon the intellectual foundations of modernity. For lawyers and legal scholars, it means to explore and possibly reconsider the legal foundations of the “modern project”, their concepts and methodology, in order to deal effectively and justly with these side effects. This can have consequences for the foundations of accountability and liability law, but also changes the relations between public and private regulatory systems that concern modern risks.

This need for reflexivity is explored in the general theme of the conference illustrated above and in nine subthemes. The subthemes are:

Subtheme 1    Regulatory failures and new forms of risk regulation in modern risk society
Subtheme 2    From prevention of risks to imputation of consequences; duties of care, positive obligations and causation
Subtheme 3    Risk, poverty and global justice
Subtheme 4   Social and private consequences of social risks and safety risks in the “participation society”: rethinking the welfare state?
Subtheme 5    Responsibility of corporate entities for human rights and environmental risks in host countries
Subtheme 6    Risk commodification and the economic opportunities of the risk society
Subtheme 7    TBA
Subtheme 8    The risk society and the need for a new methodology for research and education
Subtheme 9    Student research – Master and beginning PhD students