I’m pleased to say you can now pre-order my next book, ‘Fairies: A History’ (out in February 2026) from @politybooks.bsky.social. Thank you to Jeremy Harte, Simon Young, Jo Hickey-Hall and Owen Davies for such generous endorsements! 🌿📚 www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...

“Like many others, we will continue to engage and, true to her spirit, also challenge her many ideas and insights.” We are excited to share our new special issue which explores the work of late feminist scholar Drucilla Cornell. You can read more here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The @culturelawbody.bsky.social network is organizing a workshop on Human Rights and the Body at @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social on Friday 21 November 14.00-17.00. More information: rnc-lb.sites.uu.nl/2025/08/18/h... @willemijnruberg.bsky.social and @elwinhofman.bsky.social welcome all of you!

a very long but interesting essay by prof. Jill Lepore on how the democratic process of constitutional amendments has been replaced by judicial interpretation, mostly by the US Supreme Court, under the much debated philosophy of Originalism. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Ik schreef een recensie van de nieuwe boeken van @manongarcia.bsky.social en van Mathilde Levesque over het proces-Pelicot in de @groene.nl. Het proces-Pelicot, of: hoe 51 verkrachters dingen zeiden als: ‘ik had geen keuze’ www.groene.nl/artikel/heel...

My review of Dagmar Herzog's excellent new book The Question of Unworthy Life. Eugenics and Germany’s Twentieth Century has been published in the International Review of Social History: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Super proud of Pauline Dirven, who has won the Praemium Erasmianum for her thesis 'Embodied Performances of Forensic Expertise: Epistemic virtues, gender, and emotions in British forensic culture 1920-1980'! It was a joy to supervise her with @jochenhung.bsky.social erasmusprijs.org/dissertatiep...

This afternoon 4-5pm (CET)/3-4pm (GMT), professor Maksymilian Del Mar will give an online talk on ‘Kinesic Legal Humanities’ @culturelawbody.bsky.social. Contact me to receive a link ([email protected]). rnc-lb.sites.uu.nl/2025/02/02/k...

This Monday, Maks Del Mar will talk about 'Kinesic Legal Humanities'. Wondering what that is? Send me a message to join online (it's something very exciting, I promise) @culturelawbody.bsky.social

This Thursday 15-17 is my talk 'On or in the body? Physical examinations by police and forensic doctors and the right to bodily integrity' for the PULSE seminar, UvA. Prof. Ian Burney will talk about cultures of innocence and justice. @culturelawbody.bsky.social; @rebeccawynter.bsky.social

Join us for this online talk on legal humanities by prof. Del Mar on 28 April! @culturelawbody.bsky.social @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social

Fantastic panel @esshc.bsky.social #esshc2025 on 'Bodily Autonomy in Criminal Justice' ⚖️ @willemijnruberg.bsky.social on forensics & the body, @elwinhofman.bsky.social on phone books, torture & police 🚓interrogation, Lidia Zanetti Domingues on medieval punishment & Javier Cubo on changes 18th->19thC

Important article on sexual forensics: McMillan, L., Corrigan, R., Mulla, S., Rees, G., & White, D. (2025). Compliance and credibility: a critique of the sexual assault forensic examination from international perspectives. Gender and Justice, 1(1), 119-139. (Mar 5, 2025: doi.org/10.1332/3033...

Maandag vertel ik in Utrecht wat een goed politieverhoor is - of was. Het wordt een rollercoaster langs martelingen, psychologische trucs, good cops en bad cops. Ook jij kan erbij zijn! sg.uu.nl/agenda/2025/...

A clear explanation of originalism and post-originalism legal thought in the US. On why some conservative theorists compare the powers of the American president with those of Roman emperors. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/15/u...

My latest article, “A Common Law Power to Dissect: A Medico-Legal History,” is published in the Medical Law Review. I argue that some jurists claimed that dissection was lawful independent of statute. Such a power preceded and was parallel to the Anatomy Act 1832. academic.oup.com/medlaw/artic...

The @culturelawbody.bsky.social research network is organizing an online talk by prof. Maksymilian Del Mar (Queen Mary) on 'Kinesic Legal Humanities': on 28 April 4-5pm CET/3-4pm (GMT). More information: rnc-lb.sites.uu.nl/category/eve... @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social @elwinhofman.bsky.social

The programme for the new seminar series of the PULSE network (Medical &Health Humanities) is here! Looking forward to giving a talk on 24 April, in the session with prof. Ian Burney: the theme of that seminar is Justice. In Amsterdam! www.pulsenetwork.nl/seminars/

The @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social Humanities Graduate School Conference 2025 is on The Human Body: Culture, History, and Expression. 22 May 2025 in Utrecht! Deadline for abstracts: 1 Feb. 2025. hgsc.sites.uu.nl

Cultural History @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social has a vacancy for a temporary lecturer in Cultural History (for 1 year; 0,7fte; starting 1 Feb. 2025; deadline 17 Jan.). We will consider all specializations, but hope to hire someone with expertise in Russian or US history. www.uu.nl/en/organisat...

Looking forward to reading this book by Elsa Dorlin: Se défendre. Une philosophie de la violence (2017) www.editions-zones.fr/livres/se-de...

The proofs of my book have arrived. One final check and it’s (hopefully!) ready for the world. 🌈🎓

On 23 Oct. prof. Hans Pols will give a talk at Utrecht University: “Trauma” in the Indonesian Popular and Medical Imagination:The May 1998 Riots'. 10.00-12.00 Kromme Nieuwegracht 80, Room 007. Join us! www.uu.nl/en/events/se... If you want to join online, send me an email: [email protected]

Great to see BODIES BEYOND BINARIES in print. I contributed an afterword to the volume. #bodyhistory

Structural Injustice and the Law now available, open access from @uclpress.bsky.social Fill your virtual boots. discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10...

Erg trots op dr Pauline Dirven die helder over haar proefschrift vertelt op de radio bij dr Kelder en co: over Engelse forensische cultuur en belichaamde expertise. www.nporadio1.nl/fragmenten/d...

Nearly 30 participants today at the workshop 'Criminal Interrogation: Past & Present', organized by @elwinhofman.bsky.social. Historians, forensic psychologists, criminologists: this shows the importance of conversation between scholars of different disciplines. @culturelawbody.bsky.social

Super proud of new dr Pauline Dirven, who brilliantly defended her PhD thesis 'Embodied performances of forensic expertise' today: www.uu.nl/en/events/ph...

I only recently discovered Nell McCafferty's work. She advocated the right to bodily integrity for the women in Armagh Prison in the Irish Times in 1980 and put it on the agenda as a feminist and human rights issue.

Are you a #historian? #anthropologist? #Literature? Interested in #socialjustice? 🧪🗃️♿️🩺 I am inviting you to submit to a special issue I’m co-curating for MH’s 25th anniversary. Looking at medical humanities, ethics, sci-med, disability rights, LGBTQIA. Abstracts by Oct 1. Please share! Details:

Goed dat het @Openluchtmuseum veel aandacht heeft voor de materiële aspecten van de geschiedenis van menstruatie. #bodyhistory www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2024/...

So excited that BODIES BEYOND BINARIES… is forthcoming with Leiden University press after years of working with brilliant women! Pre-order for your library today so I can show off my shiny new affiliation with Texas Woman’s University! 😺 lup.nl/publications...

The preliminary programme for the workshop 'Criminal Interrogation: Past & Present' in Utrecht on 13 September is now online! interpsy.sites.uu.nl/workshop-cri... There are limited places for non-speakers to attend; be in touch if you're interested #crimhist

I was interviewed by @drhollyfletcher.bsky.social for the series 'New Directions in the History of the Body': about embodied practices, toxic bodies, new materialism and the future of body history. sites.manchester.ac.uk/bodies-emoti...

Wonderful PhD position in #bodyhistory on the early modern female body at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen with @khollewand.bsky.social . www.rug.nl/about-ug/wor...

CALL FOR PAPERS: An Edited Collection: Emotions, Law, and Performance in England c. 500-1500 legalhistorymiscellany.com/call-for-pap...

Network events: conference Beyond Binaries: Intersex Body Politics in Premodern Islamic Legal, Medical, and Literary Discourses (26 June) and @elwinhofman.bsky.social's workshop 'Criminal Interrogation: Past & Present' (13 Sept) at @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social: rnc-lb.sites.uu.nl/category/eve...

Interesting lecture by Keith Carlson on 4 June 15-17 @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social: Remembering and forgetting 19th-century ‘smallpox bioterrorism’. www.uu.nl/en/events/le...

We're hosting a conference on Futures of Social Justice on the 17th May! It's going to be a great day full of wonderful speakers, with a keynote from @folukeifejola.bsky.social. See the full programme and sign-up information here: essl.leeds.ac.uk/law/events/e...

Promotieplaats aan de Universiteit Utrecht over de geschiedenis en het erfgoed van queer bars in de Lage Landen, onder begeleiding van @elwinhofman.bsky.social, Marijke Huisman, Julie Deschepper en mijzelf. Deadline voor sollicitaties: 19 mei. www.uu.nl/organisatie/...

I and @elwinhofman.bsky.social are looking for papers on bodily integrity and criminal justice for a session at the @ESSHC25. Please send your abstract to [email protected] and [email protected] before 10 April 2024. More information: rnc-lb.sites.uu.nl/2024/04/04/c...

Manon Garcia and Robert E. Goodin, each in their own way, skilfully expose the problems and intricacies of consent – yet their achievements also leave the impression that consent may ultimately be a misleading guide in the sexual realm. www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/the...

Pauline Dirven of my ERC-funded FORCE project just published this wonderful article in Social History of Medicine: 'Detached from Sympathy, Unconscious of Trauma: The Impact of the Forensic Virtues of Impartiality and Detachment on Rape Examinations in Britain 1924–1978'. doi.org/10.1093/shm/...

On the notion of fetal personhood in law: www.nytimes.com/2024/03/03/m...

We're organizing an interdisciplinary (history, law, psychology,...) workshop on the *past & present of criminal interrogation* in Utrecht on 13 September 2024. Do submit a proposal if your research touches upon interrogations! More info: interpsy.sites.uu.nl/workshop-cri... Reposts appreciated!

Very much looking forward to this talk: At the NYU Center for Humanities on February 27 at 6pm, Stefanos Geroulanos will introduce Lauren Benton and her new book They Called It Peace: Worlds of Imperial Violence events.nyu.edu/event/329348...

Am trying to figure out what the right to bodily autonomy meant and how it can be contextualized. Now working on history of abortion and sexual reform; later on history of forensics (bodily examination, blood tests, DNA, castration and consent). 2/2

Now working on the history of abortion 1920-1950 in Germany, the Soviet Union and France. Am so impressed with earlier work on abortion in Weimar Germany by Atina Grossmann and Cornelie Usborne. And the newer work (on sexual reform) by Laurie Marhoefer. It's great to read stuff on other countries 1/

I signed up for the 17th Annual Feminist Theory Workshop, 22-23 March 2024 at Duke, but luckily also online. With many interesting contributors, e.g. Julie Livingston, Jasbir Puar, and Rana Jaleel. gendersexualityfeminist.duke.edu/17th-annual-...

Courting: An Intimate History of Love and the Law (La Trobe UP, 2023) www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/courting