Bruno Debaenst

Bruno Debaenst is a Senior Lecturer in Legal History and Associate Professor at the Department of Law, Faculty of Law, Uppsala University, where he has been based since 2018. A Belgian (Flemish) scholar, he brings a comparative perspective to his work, focusing on both Belgian and Swedish legal history.

His academic training spans history (1999), law (2003), and criminology (2006), and he practiced as a lawyer in Ghent from 2003 to 2008. His research is centered on the history of social law, with a particular emphasis on the juridification of workplace accidents in 19th-century Belgium, the development of modern welfare states, and the role of international organizations as catalysts for legal change. He also explores broader themes such as Belgian legal culture, language in nation-building, and the digital revolution from a legal historical viewpoint.

The most recent publications highlight a diverse range of interests, from the artistic representation of industrial disputes and the history of environmental law in Stockholm, to the epistemic communities that preceded the ILO and the 1974 Swedish Constitution. His work often bridges comparative and transnational perspectives, analyzing legal developments across Europe and beyond.

Bruno Debaenst is deeply committed to teaching, offering courses in legal history, comparative legal history, and legal futurology, and supervising numerous student theses. He has also led a popular doctoral course on legal history for PhD students in law. His international collaborations include work with the Centre d'histoire judiciaire in Lille, France.