Bergen Exchanges On Law & Social Transformation 2025

Every year, the Bergen Exchanges on Law and Social Transformation brings together scholars, lawyers, activists and policymakers from across the world to examine how law is used and contested in struggles over democracy, rights, and social change. This year’s edition continued that tradition with a week of intense dialogue that spanned continents and disciplines.

Participants from around the world created a unique space where academic perspectives met grassroots experiences. The 2025 program revolved around a central theme of how law is mobilised in times of democratic backsliding and civic repression, and how those same tools can be reclaimed to build more inclusive and just societies.

The week opened with debates on the global wave of autocratisation, looking at how governments deploy courts, constitutions, and criminal law to silence dissent. Yet alongside sobering analyses came examples of resistance from grassroots organisations to the creative use of litigation to protect vulnerable groups.

Participants also examined the rise of “gender lawfare” where rights related to women’s and LGBTQ+ communities are rolled back through legal reforms. Others shared strategies for advancing reproductive justice and tackling sexual violence in deeply conservative environments. Questions of identity and decolonisation were also raised, as attendees reflected on how knowledge itself is shaped by power, and how to centre marginalised voices in academia.

Art, health, and psychology were all featured over the course of the week, underscoring how law intersects with everyday life. An exhibition at Kunsthall 3:14 highlighted art as a form of resistance, while discussions on sexual harassment and workplace rights revealed how abstract legal principles translate into lived struggles. Later in the week, attention turned to indigenous rights and climate change, showing how authoritarian tendencies and environmental challenges collide in today’s political landscape. The multitude of topics that are addressed and the diversity in which they are tackled is all part of what makes the Bergen Exchanges distinctive. Sessions are interactive and interdisciplinary, often bringing academics into dialogue with activists who face repression on the ground.

What emerged across the week was a sense of urgency but also of hope. While participants agreed that civic spaces are shrinking worldwide, they also highlighted how international solidarity, new strategies, and persistent advocacy can make a difference. Conversations did not end in despair but in a call to action, emphasising the need for collaboration across borders.

Since its establishment in 2014, the Bergen Exchanges has evolved into more more than an academic conference, it has become an important meeting place for conversations on global justice. The 2025 edition reaffirmed its role as a platform for reflection, strategy, and connection, reminding us that while law can be used to entrench power, it can also be reclaimed to transform societies.

Bergen Exchanges is hosted by the Centre on Law and Social Transformation (LawTransform) – a collaboration between the University of Bergen and CMI.

Recordings from several Bergen Exchanges 2025 panels are now available:

Activist Strategies in Repressive Conditions 

Annual Lecture “The Future of International Human Rights Law”