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Justus Heck, M.A.

University of Bielefeld

Curriculum Vitae

Justus Heck studied Sociology, Political Science, and Philoshopy at the University of Konstanz from 2005 to 2008 and Sociology at the University of Bielefeld from 2008 to 2012. His studies were supported by a scholarship from the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes. After successfully completing his Master’s degree, he began his doctoral studies at the University of Bielefeld. His dissertation examines “Vermittlung im Streit. Gesellschafts- und interaktionstheoretische Studien” (“Conflict Mediation: Societal and Interaction-theoretical Studies”). His undertaking, which was completed successfully in May 2020, was funded by the rectorate of the University of Bielefeld. From 2013 to 2016, Justus Heck was an instructor for specific areas at the University of Bielefeld. He resumed this role again in 2017, following an international and interdisciplinary research endeavor at the University of Lucerne (Switzerland). This research project, which was fell under the realm of “Eikon Picture Critique”, focused on “Visual Semantics and Visual Observation”. Since early 2020, he has been a research associate at the Department of Law at the University of Bielefeld.

From mid-May to December 2020, Justus Heck was a Fellow at the Käte Hamburger Center for Advanced Study in the Humanities “Law as Culture” in Bonn.

Research Project

“Judicial Contact Systems”

The influence of lawyers involved in court proceedings on legal culture is sometimes underestimated, which is reflected, for example, in the practice of delivering verdicts or approving settlements. A certain degree of compliance is expected when lawyers involved are “communitarized” – either because they regularly face each other in the courtroom or because they live in the same small town. I argue that such local relationships among lawyers also represent communities that shape the culture of legal conflict resolution. The communitarization of lawyers has been observed in various ways; however, its stages of development and the resulting consequences have not been sufficiently researched in the sociology of law – neither theoretically nor empirically. In my project, I therefore aim to examine which forms of legal communitarization can be distinguished, how they begin, which social and organizational foster them, and if their existence must be deplored sociologically.

Publications (selected)

  • Heck, Justus (2015): Erving Goffmans Asyle. In: Stefan Kühl (Ed.): Schlüsselwerke der Organisationsforschung. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, pp. 303–307.
  • Heck, Justus (2016): Der beteiligte Unbeteiligte. Wie vermittelnde Dritte Konflikte transformieren. In: Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie 36 (1), pp. 58–87.
  • Heck, Justus (2016): Von der Unwahrscheinlichkeit des Versöhnens. Report on the Conference “Verzeihen ‒ Versöhnen ‒ Vergessen” at the University of Lucerne, March 4-5, 2016.
  • Heck, Justus; Bora, Alfons; Jost, Fritz (2016): Vorbemerkungen zum Themenschwerpunkt. In: Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie 36 (1).
  • Heck, Justus; Letztel, Walter (2018): Mediation in Selbst- und Fremdbeschreibung. In: Perspektive Mediation, pp. 103–107.
  • Heck, Justus (2019): Die Angst des Schiris vor dem Elfmeter. Zur Interaktionssoziologie des Fußballspiels. In: Sport und Gesellschaft 16 (1), pp. 33–60.
  • Heck, Justus; Itschert, Adrian; Tratschin, Luca (forthcoming): Legitimation durch Verfahren: Zum Entstehungskontext und zur Aktualität eines Nicht-Klassikers.In: Soziale Systeme (Introduction to the special issue “Legitimation durch Verfahren”).
  • Heck, Justus (forthcoming): Vermittlung im Zivilverfahren. Zu Funktionen und Folgen undifferenzierter Konfliktbearbeitung. In: Soziale Systeme (Special issue “Legitimation durch Verfahren”).
  • Heck, Justus (in preparation): Vermittlung im Streit. Interaktions- und gesellschaftstheoretische Studien.