Introduction to theory of science and legal scholarship

University of Gothenburg

What should legal research achieve? Who is legal research for? Are all kinds of legal research supposed to be scientific? What are the standards of scientificity in relation to legal scholarship? To what extent can we talk about all legal research as one and the same vocation? Is legal research, or some varieties of it, categorically different from research in the social sciences and the humanities because of how it relates to practical concerns and activities? These are the core questions around which this course revolves. The overall aim of the course is to familiarize doctoral students with the academic and societal context within which legal research takes place, the different demands placed on legal scholarship, the diverse questions asked in legal research and some of the methods that can be employed to answer those questions. The course also aims to offer practical guidance on how to write legal scholarship. By the end of the course the students are expected to present short essays in which they reflect on their individual projects in relation to the themes discussed in the literature and during the seminars.

The course will run between March 31, and June 17. The course is scheduled for four full days (Day 1, on March 31, Day 2, April 28, 2025, Tuesday, Day 3, 28 May 2025, Thursday and Day 4, 17 June 2025, Wednesday). The first three days will concentrate on discussions centering on the literature and the fourth day will be reserved for discussions of short essays (3000 - 3500 words) written by the participants. 

Course director: Leila Brännström (Leila.Brannstrom@law.gu.se) 

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