Love and Law in Europe

First published in 1998, this volume aims to draw attention to an ongoing shift in the perception of law, which is now increasingly understood as a cultural and historical phenomenon. As other such phenomena – like music, literature, or art – it is acknowledged that it is created in a specific environment, on which it is dependent for its functioning and interpretation.

The historical aspects of love in a European and Nordic context are underlined, as well as the modern understanding of love and law as incompatible and contrasting concepts. Developments within the European Union and especially the relation of the EU to so called third country nationals and immigrants demonstrate that the problematic concerning law and love is not only one of legal philosophy but also of legal and everyday reality.

The claim that love has been specifically ‘European’ is discarded as Eurocentrist, and the need for more particular emotions and a more pragmatic approach to romantic feelings, for a ‘reasonable love’ is discussed from legal, feminist and philosophical perspectives.