Social movements and the law: Legal mobilisation in a comparative perspective

Legal mobilisation has been broadly theorised and empirically studied as a repertoire of contentious action within the inter-disciplinary scholarly field of social movements and the law. However, very rarely has the use of legal tactics been compared across different policy fields and social movements, resulting in an overall issue-specific literature on legal mobilisation. This conference aims to foster multi-disciplinary and comparative cross-movement research on legal mobilisation by bringing together scholars researching legal mobilisation from different angles and in different empirical fields.

Programme

20 May 2025

13,30-14 Arrival & welcome (Altana)

14-15,30 Keynote lecture (Altana) (Live streaming available here)
Lesley Wood (York University)
Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop! – Maintaining Momentum for Gaza Amidst Grief and Fear

15,30-16 Coffee break

16-17  Introduction (Altana) (Live streaming available here)
Donatella della Porta (Scuola Normale Superiore), Scott Cummings (University of California, Los Angeles) & Federico Alagna (Scuola Normale Superiore)

17-18,45 Session 1

1A. Cross-movement/1. Law and legal mobilisation practices across diverse domains (Altana Room) –  Chair: Gaëtan Cliquennois

Zuzanna Godzimirska (University of Copenhagen)
Friends or Foes: Amici Curiae in International Human Rights Courts

Daniela Musina (Scuola Normale Superiore) & Lorenzo Ghione (University of Bologna)
Entangled Struggles: Legal Mobilisations Against Institutional Violence in Italy and Tunisia

Lala Darchinova (European University Institute)
Left With No Alternatives? In The Quest For Radical Legal Imaginations

Vittoria Becci (European University Institute)
Aesthetics and dynamics of law and social space: how social movements imagine the law

Xenia Chiaramonte (University of Venice Ca' Foscari)
Reframing Law and Social Movements: legal forms in contemporary struggles

1B. Environmental and territorial justice (Aula Pollaiolo) – Chair: Laura Salzano

Federica Frazzetta (Scuola Normale Superiore) & Paola Imperatore (University of Pisa)
Legal mobilization in LULU campaigns: explore legal mobilization strategies and outcomes in asymmetric conflicts

Bartek Goldmann (University of Trento), Louisa Parks (University of Trento) & Elsa Tsioumani (University of Liège)
Legal mobilization for Environmental Justice: Indigenous Peoples and the Convention on Biological Diversity

Chris Hilson (University of Reading)
Legal Mobilisation and the Dutch Nitrogen Crisis: Connecting Legal Stock and Framing

Daniela Piana (University of Bologna)
P4P – people for planet justice. Environmental legal needs and access to justice

21 May 2025

9-9,45

Keynote lecture (Altana) (Live streaming available here)
Scott Cummings (University of California, Los Angeles)
Mobilizing Law against the Rule of Law

9,45-11,15 Session 2

2A. Regressive mobilisation and the use of law in non-democratic contexts (Altana Room) – Chair: Scott Cummings

Aleksandra Vaisberg (University of Bergen)
“Please sentence [this person] to a fine”: Legal Mobilization in the Repertoires of Contention of Human Rights Organizations in Russia

Gaëtan Cliquennois (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) & Simon Chaptel (Rennes University)
Conservative Tactics in the European Court of Human Rights: Interference, Blame, Shame, and Strategic Consequentialism

Michał Stambulski (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
Populism and Right-Wing Legal Mobilization in a Constitutional Key

Daniela Trucco (Université libre de Bruxelles)
From ‘progressive’ to ‘conservative’ legal mobilisation: a research project and trajectory

2B. Migration and borders/1 (Pollaiolo Room) – Chair: Chiara Denaro

Sarah Scott Ford (University of Copenhagen) & Alice Fill (École Normale Supérieure and University of Roma Tre)
Tapping into legal infrastructures: a way forward for migrants’ rights mobilization in West Africa

Laura Salzano (University of Barcelona) & Kris van der Pas (University of Tilburg)
Strategic interpretation and the “legal stretching”: The case of Article 38 of Spanish law 12/2009

Eriselda Shkopi (University of Venice Ca' Foscari)
Legal mobilisation in Canada: migrant agricultural workers’ and access to fundamental human rights

Mitali Agrawal (University of Copenhagen)
Understanding the influence of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)’s Legal Interventions

11,15-11,45 Coffee break

11,45-13,15 Session 3

3A. Feminism and reproductive rights (Altana) – Chair: Amira Tamim and Sophia Hoffinger

Elisa Bellè (University of Glasgow)
Objection Overruled. The feminist movement of the 1970s, between anti-institutional stances and legal mobilizations

Karolina Kocemba (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
The Clash Over Reproductive Rights: Example of Legal Mobilizations in Poland

Tamara Roma (University of Palermo)
The abortion infodemic. Detrimental legal effects in the US and beyond. A comparative analysis

3B. Migration and borders/2 (Aula Pollaiolo) – Chair: Alice Fill

Chiara Denaro (University of Palermo)
Legal mobilisations about border procedures in Italy, Albania and beyond. Preliminary considerations on their juridical and political impact

Caterina Ieronimo (University of Palermo)
The Use of Strategic Litigation in Challenging European Anti-Smuggling Laws: The Kinsa Case at the ECJ

Alice Lacchei (University of Bologna) & Adel-Naim Reyhani (University of Bologna)
From Borders to Courtrooms: Intermediaries and Legal Mobilization Against Refugee Pushbacks

Teresa Degenhardt (Queens University Belfast) & Alessandro Senaldi (University of Bari)
The border Abolitionist movement and the Law: the case of Italy (1990-2005)

13,15-14,45 Lunch break

14,45-16,30 Session 4

4A. Anti-racism, pro-Palestine movement and the compression of basic freedoms (Altana) – Chair: Bartek Goldmann

Sevgi Dogan (Scuola Normale Superiore)
The Convergence of Democracy and Authoritarianism: A Comparative Study of Attacks on Academic Freedom in Europe

Maja Sager (University of Lund) & Marta Kolankiewicz (University of Lund)
The law as pharmakon. Anti-racist engagements in the law in a Swedish context

Amira Tamim (University of Edinburgh) & Sophia Hoffinger (University of Edinburgh)
Lawfare in the shadow of Staatsräson: Continuities and change in the juridified struggle over Palestine in Germany

Laila Hassan (Scuola Normale Superiore)
Challenging Repression, Advancing Justice: The Role of Movement Lawyering in the Palestinian Solidarity Movement in Europe

Donatella della Porta (Scuola Normale Superiore) & Federico Alagna (Scuola Normale Superiore)
Legal mobilisation without the law? Lessons from the Palestine solidarity movement

4B. Cross-movement/2. Law and legal mobilisation practices across diverse sectors (Aula Pollaiolo) – Chair: Zuzanna Godzimirska

Erika Greco (University of Florence)
Re-politicizing strike actions: Sudd Cobas’ protests between indiscriminate repression and solidarity

Francesca Rispoli (University of Pisa) & Marco Antonelli (Scuola Normale Superiore)
Civil Party Litigation: Transformative Justice in Combating Organized Crime

Stefan Thierse (Bremen University)
From legal to political mobilization: constitutional litigation against blanket data retention and the involvement of social movement organizations

Gomer Betancor (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia) & Mert Arslanalp (Bogazici University)
Navigating Administrative Repression in Spain: The Case of Gag Laws and Bureaucratic Constraints

Carola Lingaas (VID Specialised University Oslo)
Resistance in Times of Reconciliation: Sámi Social Movement in Response to ‘Green Transition’

16,30-17

Donatella della Porta (Scuola Normale Superiore), Scott Cummings (University of California, Los Angeles) & Federico Alagna (Scuola Normale Superiore)
Taking stock and moving forward (Altana)
 

Image by istockphoto