Law, Science, and Technology

The intersections between law, science, and technology have figured prominently in my research since my earliest (co-authored) book, Controlling Chemicals. My publications have helped establish that law is a powerful instrument for articulating and reaffirming what societies expect from science and technology. In particular, as first laid out in Science at the Bar, the law shapes our understandings of evidence and proof, invention and ownership, acceptable risk, and ethical responsibility. At a workaday level, legal processes are deeply implicated in both knowledge production and the governance of technology, partly by creating demands for new forms of knowledge and expertise (see The Fifth Branch), and partly by shaping the conditions within which discovery and technological development occurs (e.g., through intellectual property and tort liability regimes, as well as through more fundamental ideas of constitutionalism). The law’s role in making political subjects is explored in my work on co-production, bioconstitutionalism, and global governance.

For a complete bibliography of my publications on law, science, and technology click here.  Key papers include: