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L’interdisciplinarité en droit : l’ère nouvelle du soutien solidaire à la doctrine par le savoir externe

Violaine Lemay

Le droit est-il une discipline savante ?

Finn Makela
This article is intended as a contribution to debates in the academic literature on the place of legal research in universities. The discussion revolves around the question of the classification of law as an academic discipline. Based on a sociological rather than ontological conception of disciplinarity, the article argues that law is an academic discipline not by virtue of its relationship to a subject of study or a methodology, but rather by its ability to legitimately produce institutionally recognized academic discourse. The argument is based on the distinction between internal and external perspectives, both within law and within other disciplines.

Fostering interdisciplinarity in legal education: The quest for autonomy

William Gabriel Rioux
This article wades into the debates in the existing literature on the place of interdisciplinarity in law schools and its contribution at a time when legal education is being brought into question. The challenges that future law students will face during their careers will require a collective awareness of the knowledge they are taught. There is a fine line between autonomy and interdisciplinarity in a context where the question of whether law is a discipline is still being debated to this day. We contend that law, so as to integrate with and not depend on interdisciplinarity, must acquire and develop greater autonomy and independence in regard to other disciplines. In this article we propose ways to achieve interdisciplinarity without depending on other disciplines, namely by gaining self-determination.

La formation (inter)disciplinaire en droit civil des juristes français

Safia Bouabdallah
In civil law systems, legal education has historically been built upon a national and disciplinary approach, centered on the study of positive law, with a significant emphasis on legal doctrine. In France, this strictly disciplinary approach to legal studies has naturally been questioned. While the study of civil law appears to be a prime area for crossing disciplinary boundaries, has interdisciplinarity actually been translated into real and effective practice in the training of lawyers? To answer this question, our study analyzes the curricula of undergraduate law programs, as well as civil law textbooks intended for students. This study, based on pedagogical materials central to the development of legal thinking, allows us to better understand the uses and limitations of interdisciplinarity in the thinking of French civil law jurists.

Conscientiser les juristes de demain à l’interdisciplinarité et à la réflexivité pour répondre aux défis contemporains de la pratique du droit

Adeline Audrerie, Clémence Bensa, Julie Bourgault and Marie-Neige Laperrière
This article presents the initiatives implemented by the Department of Law at the Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) to raise students’ awareness of interdisciplinarity and, consequently, reflexivity. The integration of these two concepts into undergraduate law programs aims to better prepare future jurists for the challenges of contemporary practice while sharpening their critical thinking skills with a view to advancing social justice. To facilitate such learning, the Department has opted for a de-compartmentalized approach to interdisciplinarity. The creation of a new program has provided a unique opportunity to draw on recent advances in legal education and pedagogy. Thus, a variety of tools have been deployed to achieve these objectives. For example, from the very outset of the program’s design, foundational principles oriented toward interdisciplinarity and reflexivity were incorporated. In addition, the adoption of pedagogical methods centered on the development of competencies has been facilitated by the program-based approach that was chosen.

La pluralité des formes de connaissances dans la recherche et l’enseignement du droit : au-delà de l’interdisciplinarité comme technique de croisement de savoirs scientifiques, la nécessité d’entretenir un rapport élargi aux savoirs locaux et autochtones et de considérer leurs porteur.euses

Doris Farget
This article draws on decolonial theories to introduce two observations. The first is to remind how interdisciplinarity can be a learning space for documenting complex socio-legal phenomena. The second observation notes the limitations of an interdisciplinary perspective that is confined to the intersection of disciplinary and academic knowledges. Indeed, this perspective can erase again indigenous and local knowledges, which are necessary for our understanding of socio-legal phenomena. The article proposes maintaining a broader relationship with legal knowledges, supported by a diversification of research actors and relationality. It recognises also the challenges faced by researchers in doing so. Drawing on concrete elements derived from my research practice, I conclude with few suggestions and observations about legal education.

La pédagogie du droit à l’ère de la transition socioécologique : pour une démarche tranquille, conviviale et collective vers la postcroissance

Alexandre Lillo
Starting from the premise that legal pedagogy is a tool that can support the socio-ecological transition, this study explores how it can be rethought to be more aligned with today's ecological imperatives. By mobilizing post-growth theories as a lever for this transition, the article first explores the reasons why university law teaching is a context requiring an evolution of practices and a change of culture. It then sets out the foundations on which to build a legal pedagogy that contributes to the socio-ecological transition to post-growth. The proposal is thus centered around three characteristics: that of a quiet pedagogy based on slowing down, that of a convivial pedagogy built around pleasure, and that of a collective pedagogy built on harmonious relationships.

L’interdisciplinarité à travers le modèle de Global Kids Online pour promouvoir les droits des enfants dans l’environnement numérique

Marie-Pier Jolicoeur
Global Kids Online is an international research network that aims to contribute to the collection of interdisciplinary data on the risks, opportunities, and online safety of children. Members of this group, guided by researcher Sonia Livingstone, are behind the creation and implementation of a new, innovative theoretical framework that invites researchers from all disciplines to reflect holistically on the issues arising from the omnipresence of new technologies in the lives of minors. This model allows, for example, consideration of the excessive use of digital screens and its risks to children’s overall health, the protection of online privacy, video game addiction, the promotion of quality digital education in a hyperconnected society, the understanding of new risks of sexual exploitation of minors through technology, and access to pornography as well as child pornography generated by artificial intelligence, to name just these issues. The aim of this text is to offer a first French-language publication on the scope of the Global Kids Online theoretical model — a model undeniably rooted in an interdisciplinary perspective of legal research and a flexible approach to norms. This research framework proves useful for understanding the complexity of the issues at stake and the interrelationship between the underlying causes of digital challenges in childhood and their consequences. The first part of this article will present the Global Kids Online model in its original version as well as its current version. The second part will be devoted to an analysis of the new opportunities this model offers, as well as a look at the necessary conditions for its effective implementation.

L’intégration de disciplines connexes dans la recherche en droit : mon parcours vers l’interdisciplinarité et son application dans ma thèse doctorale

Jean-Paul Dautel
This article highlights the importance of interdisciplinarity in legal research and education, drawing on the author’s doctoral experience (2017–2022). It shows how the integration of disciplines from the social sciences and health studies into the analysis of Quebec law on reasonable accommodation, applied to return-to-work situations following a mental health disorder, enriched both the author’s understanding and analytical approach. This perspective made it possible to move beyond the confines of positive law to better grasp the real-world issues at stake and to propose both legal and practical avenues for improvement. The article thus illustrates the potential of interdisciplinarity to renew legal analysis and encourages legal scholars—whether early-career or experienced—to engage in addressing complex problems that transcend traditional legal frameworks. It is structured around the definition of interdisciplinarity, the author’s personal journey toward it, and its application in his doctoral research.