Juristische Zeitgeschichte - Contemporary History of Law

Podcast is available on OLAT

Format of the course

Podcast (entire program will be recorded) and Zoom meetings for questions and discussion on Wednesday from 12.15 to 13.45 (the Zoom meeting will be recorded).

Both available for the entire semester in OLAT.

For program, content and organisation see below.

Office hours for students

Every Wednesday from 10:00 to 12:00. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, the office hours will take place online.

Students can write an email for an appointment elisabetta.fiocchi@rwi.uzh.ch, or they can call Prof. Dr Fiocchi Malaspina on 044 634 30 49.

Content of the course

The course particularly draws attention towards the time from the 16th to the 20th century, scrutinizing the general theories of the modern state and the creation of the international law system. The complex and contradictory relations between violence and law, war and law, race and law, the economy and law and finally the (in)equality of men under the law will be addressed. The course will outline the legal consequences of these aforementioned entanglements, interactions and collisions. It will analyse how these consequences relate to the nature and construction of the social order from a historical perspective.

Reading of primary sources combined with a critical reconstruction of law and examining the works of jurists in their historical context will form part of the course.

Aim of the course and learning outcomes

After the successful completion of this course students can understand the social and cultural mechanisms of law in their historical contexts; to comprehend and critically explain the ways how law structures state systems and operates within international systems and therefore; to understand, discuss and explain how some concepts become «legal», and to analyse their fundamental influence on the social order from a historical perspective.

Materials

Sources and readings materials will be uploaded together with the slides. Please find slides and readings materials on OLAT.

Organisation and Structure of the Course