Antoine Vauchez, a CNRS Research Professor in political sociology and law at Université Paris 1-Sorbonne, leads the Max Planck Law Fellow Group on ‘Independence and Democracy in the European Union: A Historical and Socio-legal Approach’. As a Max Planck Law Fellow he works with Institute Directors, Professors Armin von Bogdandy and Stefan Vogenauer.
For Vauchez, there is an inherent contradiction in the concept of independence: on one hand, independence is necessary for democracy; on the other hand, independence undermines democracy when the institution becomes an unaccountable locus of power. In a recent interview, Vauchez offered further insight on how he approaches this: ‘The idea is not to resolve the contradiction, but to historicize this contradiction, to see how it has been evolving, because there’s nothing ahistorical about it’. Thus, his research has traced the socio-historical trajectory of independence, revealing how its meaning has shifted across different political and legal contexts since the 1960s.
A further aspect of his work lies in the recognition that independence is inherently normative. ‘Normative ideology relates to social, political, or functional meanings that are given to specific words,’ he observed, meaning ‘independence’ is far from a neutral term. It has been continuously redefined to serve institutional purposes, from the autonomy of central banks to judicial independence in the face of political pressures.
While Vauchez acknowledges the normative weight embedded in the concept, his aim is not to make prescriptive normative judgments himself. ‘One of the ways through which we can hold these independent institutions accountable… is for scholars to clarify the stakes that there are in the notion of independence,’ he remarked. In other words, the aim is to illuminate the normative political, social, and legal dimensions underpinning independence so as to enrich our understanding of the concept and its capacity to hold institutions accountable.
It is important to note that, since the beginning of the project, the focus has evolved beyond the strict concept of independence in relation to democracy. ‘Now we’re moving to a book… titled Legal Infrastructures and Democracy, which broadens the framework to study how legal infrastructures are put under pressure in the context of democratic backsliding’. To support this evolving research agenda, his Fellow Group intends to recruit a postdoctoral researcher who will contribute both to the development of the project and its forthcoming publications.
Publications emerging from this project include ‘The Genie of Independence and the European Bottle’, published in the International Journal of Constitutional Law (open access), which explores the contested role of independence in EU governance. His forthcoming blog post in Verfassungsblog, ‘Academic Vertigo …’, examines the destabilization of core legal concepts in today’s polarized political climate. Additionally, his appearance on the Max Planck Lawcast, ‘Europe’s “Independence Wars”’, situates contemporary debates within a broader historical narrative (listen here).
Reflecting on his experience within the Max Planck Law network, Vauchez expressed both appreciation and enthusiasm: ‘I’m very honoured to be part of the network. It’s a great hub for socio-legal research, one of the few of its kind in Europe’. He also highlighted the importance of the Franco-German collaboration fostered through the network, which strengthens socio-legal scholarship across Europe.