SCALA - Scarcity, abundance and law
How does the law organise distribution, access and participation in situations of limited resources as well as in constellations of apparent abundance?
Scarcity, abundance and justice
Under the leitmotif SCALA(Scarcity, Abundanceand Law), the faculty analyses how law shapes social order under conditions of scarcity and abundance. The focus is on questions of distribution, access and participation as well as the regulation of new technological and economic dynamics. The umbrella structure combines different Law perspectives within a common analytical framework.
Key idea: Law between scarcity of resources and phenomena of abundance
The starting point of SCALA is the realisation that modern societies are simultaneously characterised by a scarcity of resources and phenomena of abundance. While traditional distribution issues - for example in social, financial or administrative law - continue to pose central challenges, new constellations are emerging: digital abundance of information, technological reproducibility or an increasing concentration of legal norms are changing power relations and the need for control.
SCALA recognises these developments as common Law issues. It analyses how legal procedures, institutions and regulatory models must be designed in order to guarantee consistent, legitimate and functional regulatory structures under these conditions. The umbrella structure thus creates a unifying framework for different sub-areas and at the same time promotes interdisciplinary and international connectivity.
Research focal points, institutes and projects ending dates
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Other fields (labour, social affairs, medical law, financial law, etc.)
Events in the current semester
- 07.05.2026: Lecture by Prof Dr Markus Artz: "Rent for all?"
- 28.05.2026: Lecture by Prof.'in Dr Sudabeh Kamanabrou: "Undue influence as the driving force behind a fairness requirement in labour law"
- 09.07.2026: Prof Dr Guo, Yiting (Macau University Of Science And Technology): Scarcity, abundance and law
Past events (winter semester 2025/2026)
- 08.01.2026: Lecture by Prof. Dr Pedro S. d. M. Aleixo (Universidade Federal de São Paulo): "Between Scarcity and Abundance in Legal Interpretation, Legislation and Law - Risks and Opportunities of Linking Legal Theory, Dogmatics and Practice"
- 20.11.2025: Lecture by Prof. Dr Fritz Jost, Prof. Dr Marie Herberger, Prof. Dr Stephan Barton (with the participation of Prof. Dr Anne Sanders, Prof. Dr Charlotte Schmitt-Leonardy): "Law as a scarce resource"
- 13.11.2025: Lecture by Prof. Dr Oliver Ricken: "Pensioners back to the workbench" - Labour law impulses to combat the shortage of skilled workers