Prison Born: Understanding Colonial Racism according to a Systems Theory of Law

Imagine if you - at your birth - were automatically taken from your mother and denied the ability to bond with her. Imagine this being done with zero due process, without any individualized consideration of the likely health effects of denying you – as a newborn – access to your mother. This is the reality for infants in most of Canada who are born to persons who are incarcerated at the time of their birth.

Automatic separation is happening because of unfair blanket assumptions against women and their children that circulate in the legal system. Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory of law explains how these dehumanizing ideas circulate in the legal system, and how they can be rejected.

About Robin Hansen

Robin F. Hansen is an Associate Professor in the USask College of Law. An international law specialist, she teaches public international law, conflict of laws and torts. Her work has been published in journals including the Modern Law Review, Global Jurist, and the Journal of Legal Education. Her primary research interest is on how legal personhood is constructed within legal systems, and particularly how this construction frames accountability.

Professor Hansen is interested in interdisciplinary scholarship, including analysis from systems theory, international political economy, and critical theories. Her examination of legal personhood has led her to study systemic biases in law. She has also written on topics including multinational enterprise tort liability, corporate nationality in investment arbitration, and human rights impact assessment.

Professor Hansen is a past recipient of the Provost’s College Award for Outstanding Teaching.

Event Details

When:
Time:
12:00 PM - 01:00 PM CST
Location:
MLT Aikins Lecture Theatre (Room 150), College of Law, 15 Campus Drive
File:
Lecture Poster

Contact

Katie Richard

Related Links