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Call for Applications Theme: Marriages, Human Rights and Pluralism in Europe Type: Research Group Institution: Department of Legal Sociology, Jagiellonian University Location: Krakow (Poland) Deadline: 21.5.2021 __________________________________________________ We would like to invite you to participate in the research group “Marriages, Human Rights and Pluralism in Europe”. The group will aim to organise a series of seminars concerning the proposed topic and publish a book with the papers. For a detailed description of the group, please see below. At the moment the PI, Prof. Mateusz Stępień, is applying for funding for this project from Priority Research Areas ‘Heritage’, which is a part of the Strategic Programme Excellence Initiative at the Jagiellonian University. The University was selected by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education to be one of the 10 most prestigious research universities in the country, which involves additional funding for research projects, including the creation of research groups. Here you can read about the funding competition: https://id.uj.edu.pl/en_GB/konkursy/-/journal_content/56_INSTANCE_nIq53oP7SddC/144624357/147691138 If the project gets the funding and the group is created, we are going to organise a series of online seminars with all the participants of the research group. Also, we would like to host a Special Workshop during the IVR World Congress in Bucharest in July 2022, where we would have an opportunity to discuss and comment on our papers (the costs of participation in the congress will be covered). Eventually, each of the members of the research group will be expected to prepare a paper for the book intended to be published in one of the respected international publishing houses (e.g. OUP, CUP, Springer, Routledge etc.). The deadline for the papers will be August 1st 2022. Then, we will have around 6 months for proofreading, editing and sending for the publication. There will be renumeration (1000 euro) for all authors and the costs of proofreading will be covered. If you are interested in participating in the research group, please send the email to mail to mateusz.step...@uj.edu.pl till May 21st 2021 with: a) the preliminary consent to participate in the research group and b) the preliminary description of the issue you would like to work on. In the case of the number of declarations greater than free slots, we will select the issues most consistent with the main topic of the group. Description of the topic: It is often assumed that contemporary European liberal democratic states are based on the idea that individuals have a right to choose their own way of life, especially in their private sphere. Marriages and the marriage-like relationships, in which many citizens spend their life, are of its most important aspects. It is confirmed by the art. 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). The right for respect for private and family life can be understood as the entitlement to establish and develop relationships with other human beings and the outside world, the right to be free to develop one's identity; or the right to live one's life in the manner of one's choosing. In other words, individuals can choose their own relationship design. A point of departure for the research group is the idea that for the above choice to be real, we need societies in which differences in system of beliefs, sexual orientation, culture etc. are considered to be a value, not a threat. It goes hand in hand with the postulate that human rights should lead the societies towards pluralism (normative, cultural, political, social etc.). Without the existence of the real possibilities of different ways of life there will be no respect for human dignity manifesting itself through the responsible agency. People need to have an opportunity to make a choice and find out for themselves what is right for them. Of course, human rights can be subjected to some reasonable limitations. However, putting this idea into practice can be difficult and complex. The influx of immigrants from other cultures, the emergence of new religious movements, postulates from discriminated minorities which haven’t got a platform to speak out before etc. All of this may pose new challenges and arouse opposition from the individuals and groups that value established order, traditions and culture as well as are afraid to lose their own way of life. Marriages and other marriage-like relationships may be good examples. On the one hand there is a vivid discussion concerning Muslim and Jewish religious marriages and what comes with it: the topic of divorces, religious norms and even farther religious judiciary such as Sharia Tribunals. On the other, there are postulates concerning same-sex marriages and the growing number of couples who chose to live in cohabitation. The aim of the research group is to work on this diversity of marriages and other marriage-like relationships and its relationship to human rights and various kinds of pluralism in Europe from the perspective of the interactions between law, society and culture. Exemplary topics to be addressed in the research group are (but are not restricted to): a) the pluralism of marriages and marriage-like relationship designs existing in Europe; b) the narrowness of the institution of civil marriage marriage from the perspective of this pluralism; c) the legal and social challenges faced by people in non-civil marriages and marriage-like relationships; d) the relations between the pluralism of relationship designs and human rights. Contact: Prof. Mateusz Stępień Department of Legal Sociology Jagiellonian University Krakow, Poland Email: mateusz.step...@uj.edu.pl __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: https://interphil.polylog.org InterPhil List Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/interphil@list.polylog.org/ __________________________________________________
