2 Annual CEENELS Conference

2nd Annual CEENELS Conference
An Uneasy Legacy:
Remnants of Socialist Legal and Political Thinking
in Central and Eastern Europe
Kraków, 7-8 January 2017
photo by Marcin Kaliński
The 2nd Annual CEENELS Conference “An Uneasy Legacy: Remnants of Socialist Legal and Political
Thinking in Central and Eastern Europe” will be hosted by the Department of History of Political and
Legal Thought, Jagiellonian University (Kraków, Poland) in collaboration with the Centre for Legal
Education and Social Theory, University of Wrocław (Poland) and will be held in Kraków on 7-8
January 2016.
Call for Papers: “An Uneasy Legacy: Remnants of Real-Socialist Legal and Political
Thinking in Central and Eastern Europe”
The period of "actually existing socialism" (also known as "real socialism" or "communism"),
lasted in Central Europe for 45 years (1944-1989) and in Eastern Europe for three decades
longer (1917-1991), thus comprising two or even three full generations in the development
of legal and political culture. Whilst it could be said that actually existing socialism meant a
total subjection of the legal and economic systems to the political system (monolistic rule of
the Communist Party), things are much more complicated if we look upon them from the
angle of legal and political culture. Indeed, from the very first days of the Bolshevik
revolution law was at the very center of political interest, and legal decrees (on land, on the
judiciary, on marriage, etc.) were of considerable importance not only as a means of
propaganda, but also as a genuine instrument of changing the world along the lines of
Marxist-Leninist ideology. Paradoxically, the placement of law at the centre of interest did
not prevent the ideology of legal nihilism to creep in.
Over four (or even seven) decades of socialist/communist legal and political practice left a
strong imprint upon the legal and political cultures of Central and Eastern Europe.
Importantly, the new Soviet approach to law often merged with pre-communist local
traditions, leading to an original blend of pre-modernist legal-political practices and
communist-modernis ones. Some authors, such as Kühn, identify this imprint with "ultraformalism" (also known as "hyperpositivism"), others, such as Uzelac, point to the
"overarching principle of instrumentalism" as being typical for real-socialist/communist legal
culture. Undeniably, real-socialist/communist legal culture impacted not only on legal
mentality, but also gave birth to new legal institutions (such as special property rights or
new types of contracts) or remoulded existing institutions (such as marriage, ownership or
the prosecution service). Political culture was also heavily impacted by
real-socialist/communist constitutionalism, with its fundamental dogmas of unity of state
power and the leading role of the Communist Party.
In order to study the uneasy legacy of the socialist period in legal and political culture in
Central and Eastern Europe, we invite especially contributions in the form of case studies
regarding the on-going impact of actually existing socialism/communism in different
countries of the region. Such case studies could concern specific legal institutions, whole
areas of law, legal methodology, legal professions, etc. Importantly, we do not intend to
limit the debate to the law-in-books but are also interested in case-law, legal theory and
philosophy, social theory, political philosophy, legal education and the ways of legal thinking
in general. We also invite papers discussing the fundamental concepts of ‘socialism’,
‘people’s democracy’, ‘actually existing socialism’/’communism’ which set the terms of
reference of our research.
Paper proposals of up to 300 words should be submitted to [email protected] no later
than until 31 Otober 2016. We will communicate acceptance of papers by 10 November
2016.
The conference fee of EUR 60 will be payable until 1 December 2016.
about CEENELS
The Central European Network of Legal Scholars (CENELS) was established in April 2015 in Brno at its
inaugural 1st annual conference devoted to "25 Years After the Transformation: Law and Legal
Culture in Central Europe Between Continuity and Discontinuity". Since May 2016, the network has
expanded its area of activity to Eastern Europe, consequently changing its name to "Central and
Eastern European Network of Legal Scholars" (CEENELS). The aim of CEENELS is to provide for a
platform of multilateral cooperation between scholars from Central and Eastern Europe, including the
Balkans, by organizing conferences, workshops, running a website and mailing list, as well as helping
scholars from the region find partners for international research projects.
Organizing committee: Piotr Eckhardt (UJ), Jacek Malczewski (UJ), Rafał Mańko (UvA), Michał Paździora
(CLEST), Michał Stambulski (CLEST)