Law’s Judgment, Racism’s Shadow: Reckoning with Ethnic Profiling at the Border

What happens after a court declares ethnic profiling unlawful? Drawing on more than 120 interviews conducted within the Dutch Military and Border Police, this keynote examines the lived aftermath of the 2023 Court of Appeal ruling on ethnic profiling. It moves beyond the familiar question of compliance to explore how legal judgments reshape professional judgment, organisational responsibility, and everyday border practices. The talk shows how a clear legal prohibition can generate new forms of caution, explanation, self-monitoring, and emotional labour among those expected to enact it. It also asks what happens when racism is legally named in a broader political and institutional context still deeply invested in colour-blindness. By tracing the “afterlife” of judgment, the keynote offers a socio-legal account of how legality, race, and responsibility continue to be negotiated long after the courtroom falls silent.

Maartje van der Woude is Professor of Law and Society at Leiden University (the Netherlands) and holds her chair at the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society. She is also affiliated with the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law at the University of Oslo as a visiting professor and member of the NORDHOST: Nordic Hospitalities in a Context of Migration and Refugee Crisis research group. In the past, she has held visiting positions at UC Berkeley’s Centre for the Study of Law and Society, UC Hastings College of the Law and the University of Maryland. Maartje holds a JD in Criminal Law, an MSc in Criminology (cum laude) and a PhD in Criminal Law and Criminology from Leiden Law School.

This session forms part of the Advanced Masterclass in Socio-Legal Studies (29 June – 1 July 2026), jointly organised by the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (CSLS), University of Oxford, and the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society (VVI), Leiden University.

Convenors: Adrian Bedner (VVI), Agnieszka Kubal (CSLS), Fernanda Pirie (CSLS), and Maartje van der Woude (VVI).

The masterclass is an intensive programme for advanced research students, designed to foster in-depth engagement with key themes in contemporary socio-legal scholarship through expert-led sessions and participant contributions.

While the masterclass itself is a closed workshop with attendance by application, this session has been opened to students and interested members of the university community. The event will be followed by drinks and an opportunity for informal discussion and networking.