Emotions and the law under the spotlight in new research project

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Emotions and the law under the spotlight in new research project

Understanding where emotions have received legal attention and the reasons behind it is the focus of a new research project involving the School of Law.

‘A History of Hurt Feelings and the Law’ will explore when, why and in what contexts people have sought legal redress for injured feelings from the 1750s through to the modern day.

The four-year study will focus on Scotland, a small jurisdiction with a long and rich history of compensating for hurt feelings. It will combine approaches from law, history of emotions, medical history and legal history, charting how injured feelings have been identified, defined and addressed by courts.

Dr Alice Krzanich, along with lead investigator Professor Chloë Kennedy at the University of Edinburgh and Professor Katie Barclay from Macquarie University, Australia, will work on the project following a £372,000 funding grant from the Leverhulme Trust.

The project will explore how socially and culturally-informed ideas of selfhood, wellbeing, dignity and respect have shaped legal processes and examine how class, race and gender have affected litigation and legal decision making.

“I am hugely excited to be undertaking this project”, says Dr Krzanich. “In law, we often focus on pecuniary remedies and the financial cost of illegal or offensive behaviour. This project though is a chance to consider how the law responds - both now and historically - to more intangible harm in the form of grief, stress, heartbreak, fright or anger. It will thus make an important contribution to the rich and ever evolving field of law and emotions.”

The project will start in May this year and the team will include a Post-doctoral Research Fellow.

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