Recht hält jung. Zur Entstehung der Jugend aus rechtshistorischer Sicht: Deutschland im langen 19. Jahrhundert (ca. 1800–1919)

Stefan Ruppert

Recht hält jung. Zur Entstehung der Jugend aus rechtshistorischer Sicht:
Deutschland im langen 19. Jahrhundert (ca. 1800–1919)

Studien zur europäischen Rechtsgeschichte 333 (Lebensalter und Recht 9)
Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann 2023
XII, 440 S.
ISBN 978-3-465-04433-8

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Law keeps you young. Law makes you old. These bold statements contain the assumption that the various life phases are the result of a process of social definition which is largely influenced by law. Age limits and specific rules for different ages determine when we are ‘of age‘ and as such enjoy civic rights and liberties. They tell us when we are obliged to go to school and when to retire. The legally determined life phases assign each of us specific social roles; they formulate obligations, liberties, protective rules and expectations as to our behaviour. This becomes apparent in laws governing education, military service, juvenile criminal law and electoral laws, but also in laws prohibiting child labour. This volume uses the example of 19th-century Prussia to tell the story of the evolution of ‘youth‘ as a distinct formative period in the process of reaching maturity.