Frederik Swennen - Selected Publications#

In a series of international peer-reviewed articles (with Mariano Croce), Frederik Swennen has introduced a new model for the legal recognition of non-traditional family constellations, dubbed cont(r)actualisation:

1) Swennen F and Croce M, 'The symbolic power of legal kinship terminology: an analysis of 'Co-motherhood' and 'Duo-motherhood' in Belgium and the Netherlands' (2016) 25 Social and legal studies 181;

2) Swennen F and Croce M, 'Family (law) assemblages: new modes of being (legal)' (2017) 44 Journal of law and society 532;

3) Swennen F, 'Un-coupling family law: the legal recognition and protection of adult unions outside of conjugal coupledom' (2020) 28 Feminist legal studies 39;

4) Croce M and Swennen F, 'Cont(r)actualisation: a politics of transformative legal recognition of adult unions' (2021) 30 Social and legal studies 230.

He has twice been a general reporter, and three times a country reporter (with English resp. French reports), for the world congresses of the International Academy of Comparative Law. As the sole general reporter on the theme of Contractualisation of Family Law, I edited a volume, with my general report, which was published with Springer. And I also contributed to a thematic conference, which resulted in a co-publication with my colleagues Yves-Henri Leleu and Géraldine Mathieu.

5) Swennen, F. (2015). Contractualisation of family law : global perspectives. Springer

6) Swennen, F., Leleu, Y.-H., & Mathieu, G. (2023). Diversité et pluralité des formes et fonctions familiales en Belgique. In Pluralité et diversité en droit. Formes familiaes et fonctions de la famille / Heaton, J. [edit.]; Kemelmajer A. [edit.] (pp. 161-188). Intersentia.

He is a long-standing member of, and currently (2023-2026) the president of, the International Society of Family Law. I have contributed to various surveys of the society, most recently:

7) Swennen, F., & Goossens, E. (2022). What is a Parent? Answers and Questions. In International Survey of Family Law 2022 / Wilson, Robin Fretwell [edit.]]; et al. [edit.] (pp. 47-66). Intersentia

He was invited as a speaker at McGill University (Montreal) to deliver a lecture in the renowned civil law workshop series of the Paul-André Crépeau Centre for Private and Comparative Law:

8) Swennen, F. (2019). The public in family law: should the law channel parents towards coupledom? In Le public en droit privé / Emerich, Yaël [edit.]]; et al. (pp. 119-150). Editions Yvon Blais

He was invited to contribute to a volume co-edited by the renowned US professor of international family law Barbara Stark:

9) Swennen, F. (2019). Personal relations and contact concerning children. In Routledge handbook of international family law / Stark, Barbara [edit.]; Heaton, Jacqueline [edit.]] (pp. 161-174). Routledge.

This is his monograph on family law, already in its 8th ed. It is the only Belgian handbook on family with a "guaranteed peer reviewed content" label. It is used as course material at two universities and one university college.

10) Swennen, F. (2023). Het personen- en familierecht: een benadering in context (8th ed.). Intersentia. 641 p.