The Search for Transhistorical Legal Concepts

My presentation examines the ways in which certain legal concepts (such as dignity, the person, the human, the symbolic, the anthropological function of the law) have gained prominence in recent years, especially in questions pertaining to the family, gender, and sexuality.  My goal is to trace the genealogy of these terms and to highlight their religious roots.  Ultimately, I wish to suggest that these concepts have been defined and constructed as universal and transhistorical in order to resist historical change and to counter the discourse of equal rights.