2025 Conference
of the French Academy of Legal Studies in Business (AFD&M)
December 11 and 12, 2025
University of Caen Normandie
Campus 1 – Esplanade de la Paix – Caen (FRANCE)
CALL FOR RESEARCH AND TEACHING PAPERS
« Legal and Managerial Reconfigurations in an Era of
Global Transformation«
The French Academy of Legal Studies in Business (AFD&M) invites submissions for its annual conference, to be held on December 11–12, 2025, in Caen, Normandy, France. This year’s conference is dedicated to the theme of legal and managerial reconfigurations in an era of global transformation. Modern society is undergoing profound, multidimensional changes—economic, technological, geopolitical, societal, and environmental – which are significantly reshaping normative frameworks and managerial practices. In response to these global, often interrelated shifts, both legal and managerial approaches are being critically re-examined. The evolving environment may give rise to new configurations at both local and global levels: adaptation of regulatory regimes, emergent forms of governance, expansion of organizational accountability, and hybridization of legal and managerial models.
We therefore invite contributions from researchers, professionals, and educators that explore these transformations through diverse disciplinary lenses and methodological approaches.
Call for papers in research and/or practice in law, management, and law & management, whether completed, under revision, or works in progress
We invite submissions offering critical reflections on these ongoing transformations – be they theoretical analyses, case studies, or comparative approaches – with the aim of shedding light on the evolving interactions between law and management. Proposals may address but are not limited to, the following areas:
- Impacts of the Anthropocene on organizations.
- Evolution of normative frameworks: regulation and deregulation; interdependence of legal systems; extraterritorial application of norms; cooperation between international institutions and/or corporations in lawmaking.
- Reconfiguration of Law and Management practices in the field of CSR (including the implications of the CSRD and CS3D directives; contractualization of obligations along value and activity chains).
- Legal recognition of the rights of nature and emerging approaches to natural resource governance.
- Sustainable and participatory governance models in response to demographic shifts, geopolitical risks, and climate threats.
- Integration and oversight of ESG criteria in corporate governance and practice.
- Achieving transparency and comparability in assessing corporate performance.through accounting standards, and challenges related to non-financial reporting.
- Intellectual Property and AI regulation in the age of information and disinformation.
- Evolving legal concepts of civil liability and property rights in light of new technological, ecological, and economic environments.
- Emerging forms of normativity driven by non-traditional actors such as NGOs, activists, and a globalized civil society that influence legal and managerial norms.
- Reconfiguration of individual and collective labor relations
- including the decline of widespread remote work, hybrid employment statuses, and the evolving roles of employee representative bodies (e.g., the “CSE” in France).
- Transformation of the role of insurance in corporate risk management: rethinking insurability in the face of major and systemic risks.
Researchers from all legal, economic, and management disciplines are encouraged to contribute to this multidisciplinary exchange of ideas. Paper proposals should explore how law and management adapt to and influence one another in response to today’s complex challenges. We invite you to submit your abstracts and participate in this important conversation on the future of legal and governance frameworks in our evolving society.
Call for teaching papers
The global transformation that is reshaping legal frameworks and managerial practices also profoundly influence educational approaches and content. In the face of economic, technological, geopolitical, and environmental challenges, it is essential to rethink both the modalities of learning and the integration of these major issues into academic programs.
We invite proposals addressing the integration of learning methods and curricular themes related to the key societal challenges of our time. Central questions include, but are not limited to:
- Have sustainability concerns disrupted or transformed the content of legal and management education?
- What are the impacts of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) on pedagogy? Should institutions adopt a strategic approach to its use (strategic, geopolitical, and environmental risks that should be discussed with students)?
- What is the role of teachers, trainers, educators in navigating the tensions between ecological and societal transitions and mounting geopolitical risk? Do climate and geopolitical challenges compel us to revise the business law curriculum toward greater interdisciplinarity?
- What should we be teaching students for the world of tomorrow—and how?
- Should our students become specialists in CSR, environmental law and the fight against climate change in the workplace? Contribution and prospects of sustainability issues for tomorrow’s education and training.
- Are we educating students—or citizens?
- What contributions and future directions do sustainability issues offer for the training programs of tomorrow?
- How can we design new hybrid management courses which systematically integrate legal fundamentals to foster a comprehensive understanding of risk and its management? (Toward hybrid legal education in business schools).
This annual AFD&M conference aims to strengthen the connections among its members. It is both a scientific gathering centered on research and teaching, and a convivial event spanning a day and a half—its structure will be shaped by the nature and diversity of contributions received.
Calendar
Abstract: September 1, 2025
Evaluation of papers will be conducted solely based on abstracts.
Presentation
Proposals should take the form of an abstract of approximately 8,000 characters, including the research question and the main methodological tools employed. Submissions may be written in French or English.
The first page will contain the names and titles of the author(s), and the title of the paper. Subsequent pages will only include the title, the abstract – if possible, in French and English – and 4 to 5 keywords.
The text will be written in a text file, Times New Roman 12 font, A4 format, with 2.5 cm margins, single spacing, to be sent via email to the following address: secretariat-general@afdm-droit.com.
Publication
The works presented at the 2025 Conference of the French Academy of Legal Studies in Business may be considered for publication by the Revue Interdisciplinaire Droit et Organisations (RIDO). The acceptance for publication in the said journal remains subject to a process that is autonomous and independent from the acceptance for presenting at the 2025 AFD&M conference. Articles submitted to RIDO must strictly comply with the author instructions available on the journal’s website: https://www.revue-rido.com.
Papers presented at the AFD&M 2025 Conference may also be submitted for publication in the journal Vie et Sciences de l’Entreprise (VSE). The acceptance for publication in the said journal remains subject to a process that is autonomous and independent of the acceptance for presenting at the 2025 AFD&M conference. Submitted articles must comply with the guidelines available on the journal’s website: https://vse.andese.org/fr/presentation-editoriale/notes-aux-auteurs.html.
For junior scholars:
In collaboration with the Center of Business Law and International Trade (Centre de droit des affaires et du commerce international CDACI) of the University of Montreal, the Scientific Committee will present an award for the best contribution by a junior scholar (defined as a doctorate obtained within the last five years),in the form of an invitation to publish the paper presented at the conference in the Revue juridique Thémis of the Université de Montréal (peer reviewed).
Committies