Biography
Maria Sagmeister is a legal scholar at the interdisciplinary research platform GAIN – Gender: Ambivalent Invisibilities at the University of Vienna. Intersecting labor law, legal philosophy, and legal gender studies, Maria’s research pushes disciplinary boundaries and tackles pressing questions of new worlds of labor. She challenges normative conceptions of what we perceive as ‘real’ work and how it should be regulated to find solutions for the current care crisis and support gender equality.
The law has the power to shape reality. It can increase people’s autonomy or restrict it. But it does not come to a world untouched and needs to address inequalities created and perpetuated throughout history. Women were excluded from universities and legal professions for centuries and still face challenges, for example, through the unequal distribution of labor. Although much has been achieved, we must continue to support one another and fight inequalities.