A Bump in the Road. Ruling out Law from Technology

This article discusses the challenge posed by the upcoming field of technoregulation to the study of law and its relation to new technologies. Technoregulation is often hailed as a new legislative tool for the intentional regulation of human behavior by means of technology. Instead of making law redundant, technoregulation could give a new impetus to classical debates in legal theory about the nature of law, by adding questions about the medium of law investigated in the light of the practice turn. If one understands law as a practice, what does this mean for the distinction between medium and content, which seems to underlie much of the debate on technoregulation? Both Hartian practice theory that frames law as a system of 'incorporeal' rules and more material approaches that explain law in terms of its mediality are analyzed. These will be discussed in the light of Latour's studies of the specificities of legal practices and technological practices, which seem to supersede the extremes assumed by both.

ISBN:978-94-007-6314-2

Jaar van publicatie:2013

Trefwoorden:technoregulation, Bruno Latour, HLA Hart, Law, Semiotics, practice turn, legal practice