How do ideas of democracy transform the private sphere of family life? The DEMFAM panel “Democratisation of the Private? Law, Power and Family Relations in Transition” at the 55th Deutscher Historikertag in Bonn explored this question through legal, historical, and gendered perspectives. The discussion highlighted how family law and practice reflect broader shifts in power, rights, and equality — revealing that democratisation within the family remains a complex, uneven, and deeply political process.

The accompanying conference report by Geena Carlisle on H-Soz-Kult captures the panel’s key debates, from changing parent–child relations to tensions between legal reforms and lived realities. It offers an engaging insight into how the boundaries between the private and the public continue to evolve in democratic societies. Read more