CALL FOR PAPERS SHAPING UTOPIA THROUGH LAW: Assistants’ conference ACCA – 21 October 2022

The ACCA team of the Faculty of Law and Criminology of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) would like to invite you to the eleventh edition of the Assistentenconferentie/Conférence des assistant.es (ACCA 2022). The theme of the conference will be “Shaping Utopia Through Law – How the law does (not) provide an answer to societal challenges”. There are many issues facing society now, ranging from health, democracy, equal rights, migration, peace and citizen participation to climate, sustainability, digitisation, and innovation. These challenges make us long for the idea of anideal society, a “utopia”; an image that was put forward by, among others, Thomas More. 

With its slogan “The world needs you” the VUB encourages everyone to contribute to an “ideal society”. Lawyers and criminologists undoubtedly play a central role therein, although this role raises various (research) questions. For example, what answers can legal studies and the criminological sciences provide to the aforementioned issues and challenges? Is it desirable to address these challenges through a legal solution? Is there such a thing as a law-based utopia?

We hereby invite all researchers, assistants, and doctoral students of the Belgian law and criminology faculties to give a presentation, based on their specialisation, that fits within this research theme. In addition, all speakers are encouraged to submit a paper for publication in a conference report. However, giving a presentation during the conference does not imply any obligation to make a written contribution.

Researchers will also have the opportunity to present their research by means of a scientific poster. A poster competition will be organised during the conference. The best scientific poster will win a prize.

Participation in the conference is free of charge, but registration is required. Registrations will open on 2 September 2022. All practical information will soon be available on the ACCA 2022 website, which will be online in the coming weeks.