Socio-Legal Perspectives on Brexit

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On 23 June 2016 the people of the United Kingdom voted in a referendum narrowly in favour of leaving the European Union. This historic decision, which will end the UK’s more than four decade long membership of the EU in 2019, has important consequences for all citizens; consequences that will be felt far into the future.

 

This panel proposes to investigate the opportunities and challenges, the rights and wrongs, the prospects and risks of Brexit from the perspective of socio-legal studies.  While much has now been said and written about Brexit, there are many unknowns and, while some citizens will undoubtedly meet the challenges that lie ahead with resilience and will take full advantage of the opportunities that a return of national sovereignty and a new form of politics promise, other citizens may be less fortunate and may see the rights and protections offered by the EU starkly withdrawn, leaving them more vulnerable and with diminished horizons and fewer prospects than previously.

 

The panel welcomes proposals which address the implications of Brexit when viewed through the lens of socio-legal studies. Papers may wish to address, for example, the social reality of the constitutional challenges of Brexit, the effect on sovereignty, issues of democracy, representation and participation, and the implications for minorities, women, families and marginalised groups in society. Papers may draw on a variety of substantive areas of law and regulation such as employment law, discrimination law, environmental law, trade law, migration law and citizenship rights.

 

The primary aim of the panel is to foster critical debate on the legal issues raised by Brexit, situating these issues within a broad social context and in order to identify their social effects and implications.

 

Convenors

Susan Millns (S.Millns@sussex.ac.uk); Nuno Ferreira (N.Ferreira@sussex.ac.uk)