Women in Legal Philosophy Conference hosted by the Law Faculty
David Enoch: Professor of Philosophy of Law
Ruth Chang: Professor of Jurisprudence
At the end of June 2024, Professor Ruth Chang, Professor David Enoch, and DPhil Candidate Filipa Paes, supported by the Law Faculty and the Surrey Centre for Law and Philosophy (through Professor Verónica Rodriguez Blanco), hosted a three-day conference to discuss recent work by women in legal philosophy. By bringing together over 50 women academics from the UK, North America, Latin America, several EU countries and South East Asia (and some men too, of course) the conference facilitated a collaborative and inclusive platform for the exchange of knowledge and the fostering of imaginative ideas and critical thinking in legal philosophy, in line with the mission of The Collective of Women in Legal Philosophy.
The delegates met at Balliol College, on the 22nd of June, to discuss 4 papers:
- Aditi Bagchi (Fordham), Contract as Exchange
- Liat Dasht (Yale), Moral Agency, Moral Shpatiency, and the State: A Case for Moral Agency Without (Anything Like) Full Moral Status
- Barbara Levenbook (NC State), Yesterday’s Statute
- Kritika Maheshwari (Delft), Reconsidering the Right to a Human Decision
The conference had the further objective of bringing women working in legal theory at different career stages together so as to further The Collective of Women in Legal Philosophy’s mission of building a sense of community in the field. Currently, more than 300 women who work in legal philosophy form a part of The Collective’s network. It was refreshing to witness some of these women, some of which are DPhil students at the Law Faculty, actively participating in the conference discussions and engaging with senior scholars, claiming a space so often dominated by male scholars.
In line with the conference’s ambitions, various social activities took place throughout these three days. Hertford College hosted The Collective and its members for a drinks reception on the 21st of June, and the conference dinner was held at Corpus Christi College on June 22nd. To bring the conference to a close, some of the delegates met again on the 23rd of June at the Cherwell Boathouse for punting and refreshments.
The Collective also took the opportunity to announce that the journal Law and Philosophy will be sponsoring The Collective's future annual conferences and publishing a special volume with papers presented at these events, following its usual rigorous peer-review process. Its next conference will be held at University of Illinois College of Law, Illinois, USA, starting on the 30th of May, 2025. The Collective will return to Oxford in 2026, with more details to be confirmed soon.
Founded in 2022, The Collective: Women in Legal Philosophy is an inclusive and supportive platform to promote and support women in legal philosophy and legal theory, broadly defined, by providing a means through which women involved in legal philosophy can meet to work out new arguments and exchange ideas. It aims to create the best possible intellectual environment for the flourishing of women's scholarship in legal philosophy through conferences, work-in-progress seminars, and a mentoring system. The Collective hosts a conference every year alternating between North America and the United Kingdom.
1st Annual Conference (20th – 21st September 2023) at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, Pennsylvania, USA. Hosted by Michelle Madden Dempsey.
2nd Annual Conference (21st – 23rd June 2024) at Balliol College and Law Faculty, University of Oxford, UK. Hosted and organised by Ruth Chang, David Enoch, Filipa Paes and Verónica Rodriguez Blanco.
3rd Annual Conference (30th May – 1st June 2025) at University of Illinois College of Law, Illinois, USA. Hosted by Heidi M. Hurd.
4th Annual Conference (TBC 2026) at Law Faculty, University of Oxford, UK. Hosted and organised by Ruth Chang and Filipa Paes.
You can stay up to date with events and activities organised by The Collective of Women in Legal Philosophy by following their Twitter account or by visiting their webpage.