Funding from the Academy of Finland for a project led by Collegium Researcher Pekka Länsineva
The Academy of Finland has granted funding for a four-year research project "How to Rule the Economy? The Laws Regulating the Economy" led by TIAS Collegium Researcher Pekka Länsineva.
Setting the markets free has been the primary concern of national as well as international neo-liberal economic policy advanced in the last two decades. Many restrictions that were previously imposed upon markets have been lifted. Deregulation has been the winning regulatory strategy. The faith placed in the markets seems naïve. In the aftermath of the worldwide credit crisis it should be clear that under-regulated markets have a great potential at wreaking havoc, both economically and morally. Markets must be regulated in order to meet important goals of social justice and democracy, let alone sustainable development. However, the core values of law including human rights obligations are not part and parcel of the usual economic regulation. In important respects law seems all too often to betray its noblest values. The challenge for legal scholarship is to resist the dominance of the economy and balance the economic concerns with normative requirements of law.
The research project consists of three sub-projects sharing the same general research interest: all aim at studying how normative requirements of law can be put into action through regulation of economy. The sub-projects approach the theme from closely interconnected perspectives, and each provides a specific insight on how economic goals can and must be balanced with essential legal, social and ethical requirements:
- Implementing human rights in business contexts
- Rethinking the traditional core of economic regulation in the European Union context
- Rethinking regulatory strategies and theories
The methodological idea of the project is to revive the law’s inherent politics and morals.
There are 13 researchers from different disciplines – law, philosophy and economic sociology – involved in the project. The project was granted 550.000 EUR from the Research Council for Culture and Society.
TIAS has given an excellent opportunity for gathering an active, multidisciplinary research team, says Project Leader, Collegium Researcher Pekka Länsineva.
Länsineva works as a TIAS Collegium Researher in the Faculty of Law at the University of Turku. The purpose of the Turku Institute for Advanced Studies is to promote cutting-edge university research in the humanities and social sciences. There are currently 10 researchers working in TIAS.
Further information on the project: Collegium Researcher Pekka Länsineva, E-mail: peklan[at]utu.fi, Tel: +358 2 333 5508Faculty of Law, University of Turku