Erwin Dijkstra is an external PhD candidate at the Department of Jurisprudence of Leiden University. His research focusses on the duties and constraints of liberal democracies regarding the opposition to discrimination.

More information about Erwin Dijkstra

Erwin Dijkstra researches the duties and constraints of liberal democracies regarding the opposition to discrimination. This research is expected to lead to a PhD thesis concerning the general obligations of governments in this regard, in addition to several scientific articles detailing the disadvantages and emancipatory struggles of specific marginalized groups.

Award-winning Research and Teaching

Both the research and teaching of Erwin Dijkstra have received recognition. In 2019 he was the first runner-up at the Leiden University Thesis Awards, with his master thesis on the societal position of physically and mentally impaired persons in the Netherlands. That same year he was also the first runner-up at the Netherlands Institute for the Near East BA and MA Thesis Awards, with his master thesis on the role of forests in the myths, legends, and folklore of the ancient Near East. Erwin Dijkstra has made extensive and personalized supervision and inclusivity the hallmarks of his teaching. This approach was rewarded with the JSVO-award for the best lecturer at the Leiden Law School in the academic year 2018-2019.

Current Research
The current research of Erwin Dijkstra, as mentioned above, concerns the duties and constraints of liberal democracies regarding the opposition to discrimination. As such, his research also looks at the necessary limitations of the deployment of criminal law, civil law, and governance, in this regard. Because, until very recently, most disadvantaged groups had more to fear from the law, than that they enjoyed its protection. A well-known example can be found in the juridical restrictions and disadvantages persons who identify on the spectrum of LGBTI+ encounter up to the present day. But one can also look at the formal and informal barriers women continue to experience when they are trying to shape their own lives. Dijkstra’s dissertation tries to anchor both the obligations and limitations liberal democracies encounter in regard to the opposition to discrimination, in the fundamental rights every individual enjoys and, ultimately, in the values of liberty, equality, and human dignity, which were the inspiration and the bedrock for these rights.

Diversity & Inclusivity
Adjacent to his work as a researcher and lecturer, Erwin Dijkstra is both a member of the Programme Committee and the Workgroup Diversity and Inclusivity of the Leiden Law School. Additionally, he is active for the Access & Support Platform, a network of disability experts by experience, both staff and students, at Leiden University.

Handicap & Recht

Besides his activities at Leiden university, Erwin Dijkstra is also one of the editors of the specialized law journal Handicap & Recht.

Publications