Welcome



Welcome to my homepage. Since August 2008, I am professor of Legal Philosophy and Jurisprudence (rechtsfilosofie en rechtstheorie) at Erasmus University Rotterdam; since 2026, I am emeritus.

News

Afscheidsrede 30 oktober: Lof der veelkleurigheid

Op vrijdag 30 oktober 2026 zal ik mijn afscheidsrede uitspreken met de titel: Lof der veelkleurigheid. Een inclusief perspectief op diversiteit in democratie, wetenschap en onderwijs

Aanvang: 16.00 uur precies in de Aula, Erasmus Gebouw, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam.

Iedereen van harte welkom!

PS. Cadeaus zijn niet nodig; een gift aan het UAF wordt op prijs gesteld. NL41INGB0000076300 t.n.v. Stichting voor Vluchteling-Studenten UAF te Utrecht o.v.v. INZ 2859 afscheidsrede Wibren van der Burg

July 2026: New publication: ‘‘Globalisation: A Call for Contextualising Legal Research and Reframing Its Background Theory’

‘Globalisation: A Call for Contextualising Legal Research and Reframing Its Background Theory’, Athena – Critical Inquiries in Law, Philosophy and Globalization, 6(2026)1, 1–37 (with S. Taekema). https://doi.org/10.60923/issn.2724-6299/24309.

This article argues that globalisation poses a serious challenge to the traditional way of doing legal doctrinal research. Globalisation drives us towards comparison, creating comparative awareness; it creates the need to understand multidimensional legal orders; and it problematises the paradigm that the state is central to legal change. We argue that these three implications of globalisation challenge both the dominant theory of law, legal positivism, and the traditional methodology of legal research. Although our basic stance is that of theoretical and methodological pluralism, meaning that the choice of theory and methodology depends on the research problem and the approach taken to address it, we believe that it is not possible to address globalisation meaningfully with a legal positivist theory and a monodisciplinary methodology. The complexities of globalisation lead to interlinked, multidimensional legal orders that show gaps, lead to incoherence and give rise to controversies about meaning and interpretation. Dealing with these characteristics of ‘global’ law requires opening up legal theory to include a variety of sources and arguments and acknowledging the role of other actors than the state. It also requires contextualising legal research methodology because understanding the gaps, incoherences and controversies is only possible by relating legal orders to their historical, political, socio-economic and theoretical contexts.

  • Interview in AD (regionale edities)‘Professor schrok zich ‘kapot’ van opmerking tijdens zijn college en komt in actie: ‘Dit is onacceptabel’’ 4 februari 2026
  • February 2026: Nieuwe publicatie ‘De regenboog als symbool van diversiteit en inclusie’ (The rainbow as symbol of diversity and inclusion)
    • ‘De regenboog als symbool van diversiteit en inclusie’, Tijdschrift voor Religie, Recht en Beleid 16(2025)3, 83-92. 10.5553/TvRRB/187977842025016003010
      • In debates concerning religion and homosexuality, we may discern three phases or frames. In the 1960s and 1970s, a freedom frame was dominant, focusing on liberty rights and self-determination. From the 1970s onward, an equality frame gained momentum, focusing on equality and non-discrimination. Since 2001, a diversity and inclusion frame emerged, focusing on pragmatic DEI-policies aimed at combating concrete disadvantages of various minorities. The use of rainbow and pride flags by public institutions can be justified in this frame, but no compelling arguments for or against can be derived from fundamental rights or the principle of neutrality.
  • 24 januari 2026: Woensdag en gisteren heb ik mijn (voorlopig) laatste colleges rechtsfilosofie gegeven, over discriminatie. https://www.linkedin.com/in/wibren-van-der-burg-736389ab/
  • January 2026: excited to announce this three-day Spring Course on legal research methodologies in March which I will teach with a group of ESL colleagues. https://www.linkedin.com/in/wibren-van-der-burg-736389ab/
  • December 2025: Just published: ‘The tragic character of a multidisciplinary researcher’, in C. Bouteligier, P. Phoa & S. Taekema, (eds.), Forever Composed of Nows: Celebrating Jeanne Gaakeer’s work on law, language and literature, The Hague: Boom Uitgevers, 247-256.
  • For older new items, see under News*

Teaching and research

Since my master thesis, the central theme of my research and teaching has been the interaction between law, ethics and society. I studied law and ethics, with a strong interest in social sciences, and my research usually has an interdisciplinary character.

My current research focus is threefold. The first focus is that of methodologies of interdisciplinary legal research and of philosophy. With Sanne Taekema, I published a book on the methods of law-in-context research: Contextualising Legal Research. A Methodological Guide, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar 2024. We advocate the integration of doctrinal research, empirical research and the humanities, especially legal philosophy and ethics. On these topics I frequently give seminars for master students and Ph.D. students, in Rotterdam and elsewhere.

A second focus is pluralism. In our pluralist world there are other sources of law and power than states. International law and EU law constitute legal orders in their own right. Multinationals are very powerful. Migration, international trade, digitalisation and tourism make state borders less relevant. How should we order this pluralist world? The ideals of democracy, rule of law, human rights and justice provided inspiration for the institutional design of the Dutch state. These ideals are also important for the pluralist global order, but we should rethink their meaning. In 2025, I published a book on this theme: Rechtsfilosofie in een pluralistische wereld. Nadenken over de verantwoordelijkheid van juristen, Boom juridisch 2025. [‘Legal philosophy in a pluralist world. Reflecting on the responsibility of lawyers’]

The third focus is that of the dynamic relation between law and morality. In 2014, I published a book on this topic: The Dynamics of Law and Morality A Pluralist Account of Legal Interactionism (Ashgate/ Routledge 2014). Strongly inspired by the work of Philip Selznick and Lon Fuller, I developed an interactionist theory of law. The 2025 book builds partly on that theory.

A special focus has been on how law and politics should deal with the dynamics of cultural and religious pluralism. I have widely published on this theme, also in popular publications in Dutch.

Publications

Most of my articles may be found as pdfs on this website (I am still working on that…) or on SSRN. My most recent publications are

  • The tragic character of a multidisciplinary researcher’, in C. Bouteligier, P. Phoa & S. Taekema, (eds.), Forever Composed of Nows: Celebrating Jeanne Gaakeer’s work on law, language and literature, The Hague: Boom Uitgevers, 247-256.
  • ‘Saturation as a methodological principle in philosophy’, Metaphilosophy 56(2025)5, 508-522. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/meta.70016 (with Jing Hiah and Robert Poll).
  • Rechtsfilosofie in een pluralistische wereld. Nadenken over de verantwoordelijkheid van juristen, Den Haag: Boom 2025. [‘Legal philosophy in a pluralist world. Reflecting on the responsibility of lawyers’]
  • Contextualising Legal Research. A Methodological Guide, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar 2024 (with Sanne Taekema)
  • ‘Pragmatist Reflective Equilibrium’, Synthese 203 (2024): 52. 1-26 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-023-04455-1
  • ‘From Ethical Analysis to Legal Reform: Methodological Reflections on Ethical Transplants in Pluralist Contexts’, De Ethica 7(2022)1, 41–59 https://doi.org/10.3384/de-ethica.2001-8819.227141
  • ‘Conceptual Theories of Law and the Challenges of Global Legal Pluralism: A Legal Interactionist Approach’ (in: Paul Schiff Berman (ed.) Oxford Handbook on Global Legal Pluralism, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2020, pp. 319-338
  • ‘Social Change and the Accommodation of Religious Minorities in the Netherlands: New Diversity and Its Implications for Constitutional Rights and Principles’, Journal of Law, Religion and State, 8(2020)1, 1-33.  DOI: 10.1163/22124810-201900 (with Wouter de Been)

Contact

Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam; e-mail: vanderburg (at) law.eur.nl

News and Announcements

In October 2021, I gave a number of lectures on research methods in Poland, in Krakow, Warsaw and Wroclaw. One of my lectures in Wroclaw, Creativity in Legal Scholarship, may be found on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T4nLYcF55o