Extra-legal Perspectives for Legal Research

Part of the self-conception of modernity is that legal ideas are not immutable and always require justification. Our assumption is that these justifications are produced by processes of discourse and can therefore be researched using methods of social science discourse analysis. The aim of this project is to reconstruct the developments which result in certain justifications being embraced or, conversely, rejected in legal discourse communities. In particular, we are interested in determining which events, actors, or processes account for shifts in what is deemed plausible or (un)sayable. more

Among the dominant themes of family sociology is the inquiry regarding the social functions of the family. In contrast to biological functions, this refers to the functions that families have for and within society. Three main functions are often distinguished: economic functions (family as a guarantee of material security), socializing functions (family as a place of education and care), and political or locational functions (social placement through family). In the framework of three sub-projects (financing, care, status), we want to investigate how family law reflects these social functions of family practice in the contemporary world. more

Many areas of the humanities, cultural studies, and social sciences rely on comparison as a method of knowledge and can look back on long specialist histories and diverging lines of methodological debate. Such insight opens up approaches to comparative law that have not yet been systematically explored. more

In general, the ruling of a court is of interest owing to the decision-making function that it plays. For legal scholarship as well, court rulings are largely the place where legal questions are clarified and decided, as is done by applying, concretizing, shaping and justifying legislative rules. The aim of this project is, however, to analyse another function of court jurisprudence, one that has not yet been systematically examined: the storage of certain forms of knowledge through court decisions. more

Is European family law developing in a manner consistent with the sociological predictions of modernity? To answer this question, family law needs to be analysed from a variety of perspectives. First, it is necessary to undertake an overall assessment: In what ways is family law ‘modern’ in a socio-theoretical sense and in what ways is it not? more

Although siblings are part of the innermost family circle, family law scholars have thus far paid little attention to their legal position. The present interdisciplinary research project aims to both portray and close this gap. more