Taking contextual legal philosophy seriously: a feminist Nordic perspective
What if the contextual presumption central to feminist legal philosophy (FLP) is taken seriously? The objective of this synthesizing project is to bring consistency into the scholarly debate by being more sensitive to the outcomes of critical feminist encounters with the legal philosophical tradition. One central premise is the presumption that theories always interact with practice, i.e. theories are never out-of-context. This presumption forms the backdrop of this project fulfilling a synthesize of my research pursued over some 30 years into a book on contemporary legal philosophy.
The content of the book is structured around the classical legal philosophical questions: (1) what is law, transformed to what law does, (2) how can we get knowledge about law, and (3) how can we legitimize the law. These questions are opened up to include reflections on law’s relations to other norm systems and to the context and practical life. One important presumption, that will permeate the book, is the view on the legal subject as a relational human being. As an extra outcome I will, after finalizing the synthesizing project, also publish a text book in Swedish for students.
The content of the book is structured around the classical legal philosophical questions: (1) what is law, transformed to what law does, (2) how can we get knowledge about law, and (3) how can we legitimize the law. These questions are opened up to include reflections on law’s relations to other norm systems and to the context and practical life. One important presumption, that will permeate the book, is the view on the legal subject as a relational human being. As an extra outcome I will, after finalizing the synthesizing project, also publish a text book in Swedish for students.
Final report
The funding, which was granted in 2022 to start using on 1 April 2023, has been used to write a monograph as well as several articles and book chapters on themes (which are included in the monograph but addressed in specific). The funding has also been used for two stays as a visiting researcher, one at the Centre for European, Comparative, and Constitutional Legal Studies (CECS) and Legal Studies in Welfare and Market (WELMA), the Faculty of Law at the University of Copenhagen (April 2024) and one at Kent Law School at the University of Kent in Canterbury (June 2024). In these environments, I have held several seminars and discussed my project with colleagues. In Copenhagen, I also had a seminar at the Danish Institute for Human Rights (April 2024).
The funding has also been used to participate with a presentation of the project at the annual meeting arranged by the Swedish section of the International Association for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (May 2023) and at The Nordic Law and Gender Conference arranged by the Faculty of Law at the University of Copenhagen (August 2025). Moreover, with additional funding from The Richard C Malmsten Memorial Foundation Gothenburg, I have stayed at the Grez-sur-Loings Hôtel Chevillon Foundation in France (April 2023). I have also had a writing week in Visby at the Läromedelsförfattarnas hus.
The primary output is a monograph (A Feminist Nordic Legal Philosophy) which will be published in 2026 (by Makadam Publishing). This monograph starts from the question of what legal philosophy could look like if we took seriously the central assumption for feminist legal philosophy that theories always interact with practice. The book integrates insights from the Nordic feminist legal philosophical tradition with both the Nordic (non-feminist) legal philosophical tradition and the international feminist legal philosophical tradition. The book is thus at the same time also a synthesis of the research that I have conducted during my academic career. This research can be described as applied legal philosophy and combines theory with concrete legal themes and issues. Basic assumptions in law and legal scholarship are tested against, among other things, equality, justice, rights, discrimination, freedom of expression, indigenous issues and elderly issues. The overarching theme is the boundaries and exclusions of what is handled legally and how.
During the funding period, I have also written articles and book chapters that address themes included in the monograph but that develop more specific questions. Some of these have been published, others are finished but still in publication:
- Gustafsson, Håkan & Svensson, Eva-Maria (2024) 'Is the rights-based approach to social justice (really) the right way? Rightification and the question of social injustice', Nordic Journal on Law and Society, 7 (2), 1-28 (peer-reviewed article).
- Gunnarsson, Åsa & Svensson, Eva-Maria (2023) The Paths Made by Our Scholarly Walk, In Hellums metode. Festskrift till Anne Hellum 70 år, Gyldendal Akademisk, Oslo (peer-reviewed book chapter).
- Svensson, Eva-Maria (to be published in 2025) 'The Human Body in Market Capitalism, Nothing More Than a Commodity', In Festskrift till Johanna Niemi, edited by Daniela Alaattinoglu, Amalia Verdu Sanmartin & Kevät Nousiainen, HELDA Open Books, University of Helsinki (peer-reviewed book chapter).
- Svensson, Eva-Maria (to be published in 2025) 'Freedom of expression, equality and the welfare state' In Cambridge Handbook on Freedom of Expression and Democracy. European Perspectives, edited by Charles Girard, Andrew T. Kenyon & Pierre Auriel, Cambridge (peer-reviewed book chapter).
- Svensson, Eva-Maria (to be published in 2026) 'Gender Equality', In Nordic Cooperation and the European Union: 50 Years of Legal Integration, edited by Graham Butler & Helle Krunke Modern Studies in European Law, Hart Publishing/Bloomsbury, Oxford (peer-reviewed book chapter).
My plan is to, after the monograph A Feminist Nordic Legal Philosophy is published, rework it into a textbook in feminist legal philosophy. I have already published a chapter in a Norwegian textbook Kjønn og rett: Kvinne-, kjønns- og likestillingsperspektiver i jusstudiet, Ikdahl, Hellum, Asland, Bruserud, Astrup Hjort, Gudmundsdottir Jonassen, Skilbrei (eds.), with the title Feministisk rettsfilosofi (https://cdforskning.no/cdf/catalog/book/164). The planned textbook will be an expansion of this chapter and an abridged version of the monograph.
The funding has also been used to participate with a presentation of the project at the annual meeting arranged by the Swedish section of the International Association for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (May 2023) and at The Nordic Law and Gender Conference arranged by the Faculty of Law at the University of Copenhagen (August 2025). Moreover, with additional funding from The Richard C Malmsten Memorial Foundation Gothenburg, I have stayed at the Grez-sur-Loings Hôtel Chevillon Foundation in France (April 2023). I have also had a writing week in Visby at the Läromedelsförfattarnas hus.
The primary output is a monograph (A Feminist Nordic Legal Philosophy) which will be published in 2026 (by Makadam Publishing). This monograph starts from the question of what legal philosophy could look like if we took seriously the central assumption for feminist legal philosophy that theories always interact with practice. The book integrates insights from the Nordic feminist legal philosophical tradition with both the Nordic (non-feminist) legal philosophical tradition and the international feminist legal philosophical tradition. The book is thus at the same time also a synthesis of the research that I have conducted during my academic career. This research can be described as applied legal philosophy and combines theory with concrete legal themes and issues. Basic assumptions in law and legal scholarship are tested against, among other things, equality, justice, rights, discrimination, freedom of expression, indigenous issues and elderly issues. The overarching theme is the boundaries and exclusions of what is handled legally and how.
During the funding period, I have also written articles and book chapters that address themes included in the monograph but that develop more specific questions. Some of these have been published, others are finished but still in publication:
- Gustafsson, Håkan & Svensson, Eva-Maria (2024) 'Is the rights-based approach to social justice (really) the right way? Rightification and the question of social injustice', Nordic Journal on Law and Society, 7 (2), 1-28 (peer-reviewed article).
- Gunnarsson, Åsa & Svensson, Eva-Maria (2023) The Paths Made by Our Scholarly Walk, In Hellums metode. Festskrift till Anne Hellum 70 år, Gyldendal Akademisk, Oslo (peer-reviewed book chapter).
- Svensson, Eva-Maria (to be published in 2025) 'The Human Body in Market Capitalism, Nothing More Than a Commodity', In Festskrift till Johanna Niemi, edited by Daniela Alaattinoglu, Amalia Verdu Sanmartin & Kevät Nousiainen, HELDA Open Books, University of Helsinki (peer-reviewed book chapter).
- Svensson, Eva-Maria (to be published in 2025) 'Freedom of expression, equality and the welfare state' In Cambridge Handbook on Freedom of Expression and Democracy. European Perspectives, edited by Charles Girard, Andrew T. Kenyon & Pierre Auriel, Cambridge (peer-reviewed book chapter).
- Svensson, Eva-Maria (to be published in 2026) 'Gender Equality', In Nordic Cooperation and the European Union: 50 Years of Legal Integration, edited by Graham Butler & Helle Krunke Modern Studies in European Law, Hart Publishing/Bloomsbury, Oxford (peer-reviewed book chapter).
My plan is to, after the monograph A Feminist Nordic Legal Philosophy is published, rework it into a textbook in feminist legal philosophy. I have already published a chapter in a Norwegian textbook Kjønn og rett: Kvinne-, kjønns- og likestillingsperspektiver i jusstudiet, Ikdahl, Hellum, Asland, Bruserud, Astrup Hjort, Gudmundsdottir Jonassen, Skilbrei (eds.), with the title Feministisk rettsfilosofi (https://cdforskning.no/cdf/catalog/book/164). The planned textbook will be an expansion of this chapter and an abridged version of the monograph.