Destabilizing Institutions: Empirical Research and the Construction of the Legal Field

Abstract (English)

This panel seeks to examine how empirical research challenges the stability and neutrality of legal and institutional structures. Drawing from interdisciplinary perspectives in law, sociology, anthropology, and political science, the panel will explore the dynamic and mutable nature of institutions, questioning how legal norms and institutional frameworks are socially constructed, contested, and transformed. By engaging with the concept of “dispositive” and its role in shaping institutional practices, we aim to discuss the role of law both as a tool of continuity and as an instrument for change. Through case studies on legal decision-making bodies, regulatory agencies, corporate influence in norm production, and crises of institutional legitimacy, this panel will provide a critical discussion on the performative nature of legal institutions. The panel will also engage with methodological innovations in empirical legal research, highlighting approaches that uncover how institutions function beyond their formal frameworks.