Call for Abstracts
for the
Maastricht Centre for Law & Jurisprudence (MCLJ) Annual Conference 2027
Future Normativities:
The Foundations of Law and Political Community
As established legal and political frameworks face growing pressure, questions concerning the normative foundations of collective life have regained urgency. What principles sustain – or should sustain – legal authority, political membership, solidarity, and legitimacy? How should future political and legal communities be imagined, constituted, and governed?
Contemporary developments such as democratic backsliding, geopolitical fragmentation, migration, technological innovations, ecological crisis, and the increasing pluralisation of legal orders have intensified debates about the foundations of law and political community. These developments raise fundamental jurisprudential questions concerning the authority of law, the legitimacy of institutions, the nature of political obligation, and the possibility of solidarity in increasingly diverse and interconnected societies.
The Maastricht Centre for Law & Jurisprudence (MCLJ) invites contributions for its Annual Conference 2027 on Future Normativities: The Foundations of Law and Political Community. The conference aims to bring together scholars working in legal philosophy, jurisprudence, constitutional theory, political theory, and related disciplines to reflect on the normative foundations of law and political organisation in changing social, institutional, and transnational contexts.
We welcome jurisprudential, philosophical, historical, and interdisciplinary contributions. Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
- the concept and authority of law;
- political membership, borders, and belonging;
- solidarity, citizenship, and democratic legitimacy;
- Europe as a legal and political project;
- constituent power and institutional futures;
- historical lessons for future communities;
- new forms of governance beyond the state;
- future global normativities.
Both established scholars and early-career researchers are warmly encouraged to submit abstracts.
The MCLJ Annual Conference 2026 will take place on Friday 29 January 2027 at the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University in Maastricht.
Submission Information
Please submit abstracts of 500-1000 words related to the conference theme and clearly outline the contribution’s main argument, methodology, and relevance. Please also include your name, institutional affiliation, and a short biography (max. 150 words). Participants are welcome but not required to develop full papers for the conference.
Abstracts should be submitted to e.couperus@maastrichtuniversity.nl by Friday 16 October 2026. Please put ‘Abstract Conference 2027’ in the subject line of your email.
Successful applicants will be notified by November 2026. Further information regarding the conference programme and venue will follow in due course.
About the Maastricht Centre for Law & Jurisprudence (MCLJ)
The Maastricht Centre for Law & Jurisprudence (MCLJ) is a research centre based at the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University. The centre promotes research in legal philosophy, legal theory, and (international) legal history, as well as the intersections between these fields. MCLJ adopts an interdisciplinary and internationally oriented approach to foundational questions concerning law, normativity, political community, and governance, with particular attention to contemporary societal and global challenges. For more information, please visit the centre’s website.
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