ozsw

Reimagining Justice is the 6th annual conference of the SAFI (Societas Aperta Feminarum in Iuris Theoria) network (see below about SAFI). This annual conference moves to different countries each year, and this time, Amsterdam was chosen as the venue in light of the growing community of philosophers who are working at the intersection of philosophy, ethics, and law.

This year’s theme, Reimagining Justice, not only interrogates dominant paradigms but also envisions more inclusive, restorative, and equitable legal futures. At a time when legal institutions are facing crises of legitimacy, philosophical engagement is urgently needed to rethink justice beyond retribution and toward transformation. For instance, the ongoing migration crisis across Europe and beyond forces us to confront the realities of displaced populations seeking refuge from conflict, persecution, and economic hardship. Similarly, the legacy of genocide—whether reflecting on historical scars or more recent mass atrocities—continues to shape debates over reparative justice, collective responsibility, and reconciliation. Meanwhile, technological breakthroughs that claim to offer innovative tools for crime prediction, evidence gathering, or monitoring compliance with international human rights standards risk reinforcing bias and eroding judicial discretion, often disproportionately affecting already marginalized groups.

Another key dimension involves the intersection of justice with power, race, and gender within legal structures. The state’s monopoly on legitimate force underpins many legal practices, yet this authority often obscures the inherent violence of judicial processes. From harsh sentencing laws to the structural coercion embedded in policing and incarceration, power dynamics determine who is granted access to justice and who is excluded. Historically, marginalized communities—especially along racial and gender lines—have been disproportionately subjected to legal scrutiny, punishment, and systemic exclusion. The composition of legal decision-makers further influences these outcomes: whose perspectives shape legal norms, and whose experiences remain overlooked in judicial reasoning?

The aim is to:

1. Critically examine the relationship between justice and legal institutions by engaging philosophical perspectives on punitive systems, structural inequality, and the legitimacy of legal authority.
2. Explore justice in the context of contemporary crises, including migration, genocide, racial injustice, and systemic exclusion, with a view to developing reparative and forward-looking legal frameworks.
3. Encourage reflection on the normative foundations of law, particularly how moral and philosophical inquiry can inform the evolution of more equitable legal systems.
4. Promote inclusive and interdisciplinary dialogue between scholars in legal philosophy, political theory, applied ethics, and related fields, with a focus on transformative approaches to justice.
5. Amplify the work of women in legal academia, particularly in ethics, legal and political philosophy, by providing a dedicated platform for research dissemination, professional visibility, and strategic networking.
6. Foster international scholarly collaboration, with a particular emphasis on strengthening connections between researchers in the Netherlands, the UK, and other global institutions.
7. In the longer term, the conference aims to serve as a foundation for developing an educational programme in legal philosophy that is inclusive, interdisciplinary, and internationally connected.

This conference is organized by SAFI (Societas Aperta Feminarum in Iuris Theoria), with support from the OZSW. SAFI is an international and interdisciplinary support network for women in legal philosophy. Women remain significantly underrepresented and often overlooked in both philosophy and legal academia, making SAFI’s mission all the more urgent.