A History of Hurt Feelings and the Law

This four-year project is an interdisciplinary study of legal redress for injured feelings across the modern period (1750-the present).

About the project

Combining approaches from law, history of emotions, medical history, and legal history, it will chart how injured feelings have been identified, defined, and addressed by courts. Using Scotland as a case study, we want to understand which – and whose – emotions have received legal protection and for what reasons. This will involve exploring how socially- and culturally-informed ideas of selfhood, wellbeing, dignity, and respect shaped legal processes, and examining how class, race, and gender affected litigation and legal decision-making.

This project is funded by the Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant.