Mateusz Stępień - Böcker

This interdisciplinary book brings together leading social and legal scholars to tackle the incompatibility of marriage laws with contemporary social reality in Europe. Their critique is based on the assumption that individuals should be able to choose how they organise their close relationships. The contributors emphasise the importance of pluralism of beliefs, values, cultures, and lifestyles and the consequent need for legal recognition to make individuals' private choices valid and respected. The first part of the book establishes the foundation for the subsequent chapters by exploring the advantages and challenges of focusing on values while accommodating relationship design plurality, the impact of the European Court of Human Rights on the issue, and the transformation of the institution of marriage. The second part presents different legal responses to non-state marriages, particularly religious marriages among Muslim communities, and proposals for reform. The third part of the book features empirical research on the marital experiences of two communities: Muslims and migrants. The chapters concentrate on polygyny among female converts to Islam, the importance of religious knowledge for practising Muslim women in securing rights in their marital relationships, transnational and interreligious marriages, and the impact of acculturative orientation and position in the dual labour market on the choice of life partner among Polish migrant women. The book will be of interest to academics, researchers, and policymakers working in the areas of human rights law, family law, legal anthropology, law and religion, socio-legal studies, feminism and queer studies, and sociology of family.

This interdisciplinary book brings together leading social and legal scholars to tackle the incompatibility of marriage laws with contemporary social reality in Europe. Their critique is based on the assumption that individuals should be able to choose how they organise their close relationships. The contributors emphasise the importance of pluralism of beliefs, values, cultures, and lifestyles and the consequent need for legal recognition to make individuals' private choices valid and respected. The first part of the book establishes the foundation for the subsequent chapters by exploring the advantages and challenges of focusing on values while accommodating relationship design plurality, the impact of the European Court of Human Rights on the issue, and the transformation of the institution of marriage. The second part presents different legal responses to non-state marriages, particularly religious marriages among Muslim communities, and proposals for reform. The third part of the book features empirical research on the marital experiences of two communities: Muslims and migrants. The chapters concentrate on polygyny among female converts to Islam, the importance of religious knowledge for practising Muslim women in securing rights in their marital relationships, transnational and interreligious marriages, and the impact of acculturative orientation and position in the dual labour market on the choice of life partner among Polish migrant women. The book will be of interest to academics, researchers, and policymakers working in the areas of human rights law, family law, legal anthropology, law and religion, socio-legal studies, feminism and queer studies, and sociology of family.

This book presents empirical research uncovering the views and experiences of Polish judges regarding the utilization of empathy in their work. Although there is growing interest in the role of empathy in judicial decision-making, there is little research on how judges themselves approach this issue. This volume offers an alternative to the usual focus on common law jurisdictions. It adopts a perspective that underscores the impact of professional pressures on judges’ empathic abilities, leading to a form of "empathy labor" influenced by the unique characteristics of the judicial profession. It offers an in-depth examination of judges’ opinions, collected through an empirical study involving in-depth interviews. The narrative delves into real cases and judicial behaviors discussed by judges, providing reference to relevant literature from other jurisdictions. The core finding of the study reveals that while judges may differ in their approaches to empathy in a judicial context, many of their practices and strategies can be linked to empathy-like phenomena. The findings also substantiate the claim that empathy used by judges is not the same as judicial empathy, which covers empathic abilities integrated into performing the judicial role. This applied theoretical perspective of "empathy labor" offers an intriguing view of how the occupational context influences judges’ empathic inclinations throughout their careers. In addition to demonstrating how judges understand the role of empathy in their work, the book outlines a scenario for empathy training based on their experiences and expectations. Presenting an original approach to studying the role of empathy in judicial decision making, the book will be of interest to academics and researchers working in the areas of philosophy of law, legal theory, sociology of law, psychology of law, and emotions studies.

The book presents a comprehensive reconceptualization of Geert Hofstede’s well-known concept of power distance, applying the theory to the specific case of judge–witness courtroom interactions in Polish regional courts.

The book presents a comprehensive reconceptualization of Geert Hofstede’s well-known concept of power distance, applying the theory to the specific case of judge–witness courtroom interactions in Polish regional courts.

Divided into three parts, this book examines the relationship between law and culture from various perspectives, both theoretical and empirical. Part I outlines the framework for further considerations and includes new, innovative conceptualizations of two ideas that are essential to the topic of law and culture: legal culture and customary law.

Divided into three parts, this book examines the relationship between law and culture from various perspectives, both theoretical and empirical. Part I outlines the framework for further considerations and includes new, innovative conceptualizations of two ideas that are essential to the topic of law and culture: legal culture and customary law.

This book offers a comprehensive exploration of the struggle against smog in Małopolska, a province in the EU member state Poland. Although there is extensive literature on pollution, the perspective offered by the social sciences is rarely used to address this critical issue. Pursuing a socio-legal approach, the book examines the social and political processes behind the implementation of parts of the EU’s anti-air pollution policies and regulations. The case of Małopolska is particularly interesting for two reasons. First, because the region – and its capital, Kraków – were once confronted with severe smog, which led to the premature deaths of thousands of citizens. Despite the tremendous scale of the problem, public awareness remained surprisingly low. Second, because in the 2010s, a massive social movement emerged that pressured the local government to introduce two pioneering measures: a total ban on coal and wood heating in Kraków, and a gradual ban on inefficient furnaces in the rest of the region. The book provides a detailed account of these processes and assesses the effectiveness of the attendant measures, thereby contributing to the broader literature on effective tools for cleaner air. It offers a valuable resource for anyone interested in addressing complex societal challenges through the law, and for all agencies involved in combating environmental issues, especially through the social sciences insights it shares.

This book discusses the legal thought of Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942), undoubtedly one of the titans of social sciences who greatly influenced not only the shape of modern cultural anthropology but also the social sciences as a whole. This is the first comprehensive work to focus on his legal conceptions: while much has been written about his views on language, magic, religion, and culture, his views on law have not been fairly reconstructed or recapitulated. A glance at the existing literature illustrates how little has been written about Malinowski’s understanding of law, especially in the legal sciences. This becomes even more evident given the fact that Malinowski devoted much of his scholarly work to studying law, especially in the last period of his life, during which he conducted broad research on law and “primitive jurisprudence”. The main aim of this book is to address this gap and to present in detail Malinowski’s thoughts on law. The book is divided into two parts. Part I focuses largely on the impact that works of two distinguished professors from his alma mater (L. Dargun and S. Estreicher) had on Malinowski’s legal thoughts, while Part II reconstructs Malinowski’s inclusive, broad and multidimensional understanding of law and provides new readings of his legal conceptions mainly from the perspective of reciprocity. The book offers a fresh look at his views on law, paving the way for further studies on legal issues inspired by his methodological and theoretical achievements. Malinowski’s understanding of law provides a wealth of fodder from which to formulate interesting research questions and a solid foundation for developing theories that more accurately describe and explain how law functions, based on new findings in the social and natural sciences.