Law in the context of societal transformation

Far-reaching processes of transformation confront contemporary societies with profound challenges. Among these are the necessity of developing legal and institutional responses to climate change, of accompanying and critically shaping the pervasive digitalization of social life, and of addressing threats to democratic orders. Law assumes a constitutive role in structuring these transformative processes, insofar as it establishes the normative framework within which societal change unfolds.

Research at Leuphana Law School is devoted to the systematic inquiry into law in the context of current transformations. Central to this endeavor are analyses of the reciprocal relationship between legal regulation and societal change. This includes, on the one hand, the examination of how law responds to shifting environmental conditions and translates them into normative orders, and, on the other, the ways in which law itself exerts formative influence upon processes of societal transformation.

The research is conducted within an explicitly interdisciplinary framework, drawing upon methodologies and insights from cognate disciplines, particularly political science and economics. The program is, furthermore, international in orientation, as reflected in its substantive focus. A key area of emphasis is the analysis of law within the multi-level system, in which national, European, and international law, together with the law produced by non-state actors, operate concurrently (so-called transnational law). In addition, members of Leuphana Law School participate actively in international research consortia.