Alice Margaria of the Max-Planck-Institut für ethnologische Forschung has just published The Construction of Fatherhood. The Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights with Cambridge University Press. A great example of combining social sciences and the law. The book has already received praise from scholars who referred to it as “exemplary piece of scholarship” (Eva Brems), “a crystal-clear overview of the construction of fatherhood” (Frederik Swennen) and “nothing short of a jewel – the author knows how to allow a highly complex, dynamic and technical theme to unfold gradually and naturally. In doing so, she has produced a ‘tour de force’ that is both highly enlightening and genuinely exciting to read” (Marie-Claire Foblets). This is the abstract:
‘The book tackles one of the most topical socio-legal issues of today: how the European Court of Human Rights is responding to shifting practices and ideas of fatherhood. The jurisprudential analysis is situated in a context of social change that offers radical possibilities for the fragmentation of the conventional father figure and therefore urges decisions upon what kind of characteristics makes someone a legal father. In a range of paradigmatic domains, this book explores the Court’s understanding of what it means to be a father today, and whether care is valued at all. It also reflects on the genesis of the Court’s (re-)construction of fatherhood, thus shedding light on the roles played by doctrines of interpretation.’
