Book Launch: Family and Justice in the Archives

Please join Concordia University Press to celebrate and discuss the release of Family and Justice in the Archives: Historical Perspectives on Intimacy and the Law. Edited by Peter Gossage and Lisa Moore, this new collection features sixteen essays by historians and legal scholars at every career stage, exploring legal archives as a privileged window onto familial, domestic, sexual, and other intimacies across time and space.

What does it mean to explore intimacies throughout history, particularly through the lens of court records and other legal documents? What are the ethical challenges raised by this sort of archival work, which tends to capture ordinary people in moments of vulnerability, struggle, emotional pain, and violence? And how do individual case studies – grounded in local settings and focused on specific topics such as child welfare, sex work, incest, inheritance, and infanticide – fit with the broader themes, objectives, and scope of the project as a whole?

With these questions as a starting point, the editors and contributors will engage in a roundtable discussion in a hybrid format. Followed by light refreshments, further conversations, and an opportunity to purchase the volume at a special book launch discount.

How can you participate? Join us in person or online by registering for the Zoom Meeting or watching live on YouTube.

Have questions? Send them to info.4@concordia.ca

Peter Gossage is a professor in the Department of History at Concordia University.

Lisa Moore is a PhD candidate in the Department of History at Concordia University.