Eva Schömer is Professor of Law and Associate Professor (Docent) in Sociology of Law. Her research addresses questions of law, normativity and power in working life and care-related contexts. It is grounded in an understanding of legal norms as socially and practically embedded, where the meaning and effects of written law are shaped through institutional practices, everyday language use and organisational structures.

Theoretically, Schömer’s research is oriented towards a practice- and judgement-based conception of normativity, drawing on later philosophy of language and the virtue ethics tradition. Legal norms are not understood as self-applying rules, but as dependent on human judgement, interpretation and context, which entails a critical stance towards strictly doctrinal and abstract legal theories.

A central component of her research is a feminist sociology of law, in which questions of gender, power, dependency and vulnerability are given analytical weight. Particular attention is paid to the interaction between formal law and informal norms, cultures of silence and organisational practices that may undermine legal protection.

Schömer holds the title of Excellent Teacher and is subject lead in law. She teaches primarily labour law and gender studies. Her research combines a normative ambition with a critical analysis of the limitations of law, with the aim of contributing to reflection on how law and institutions can be developed to better meet demands for dignity, responsibility and justice in asymmetrical relationships.

Collaboration

• The Labour Law Network (national network)

• The Commercial Law Network (national network), Uppsala University

• GRIP – Governance, Regulation, Internationalisation and Performance

• MIA – Human Beings in Working Life

• The Network for Work-Oriented Care Research (national network), Stockholm University

• Law and Vulnerability, Faculty of Law, Lund University

• The Swedish Association for Gender Research (SGf)

• Access to Justice, Aarhus University, Denmark