Introduction: Material Worlds: Intersections of Law, Science, Technology, and Society
| Author | Bettina Lange,Christopher Lawless,Alex Faulkner |
| Published date | 01 March 2012 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2012.00567.x |
| Date | 01 March 2012 |
JOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIETY
VOLUME 39, NUMBER 1, MARCH 2012
ISSN: 0263-323X, pp. 1±19
Introduction: Material Worlds: Intersections of
Law, Science, Technology, and Society
Alex Faulkner,* Bettina Lange,** and
Christopher Lawless***
`Material':
n. The substance or substances out of which a thing is or can be made.
adj. Being both relevant and consequential; crucial; `testimony material to the
inquiry'.
INTRODUCTION
The connections between law, science, and technology are ubiquitous and
increasingly complex in contemporary societies. Symbols of these connec-
tions can be seen in road signs, food labels, safety certificates, passports,
birth and death certificates, bank cards, medicinal prescriptions, property
deeds, door security locks, motor vehicle performance tests, public street
behaviour and its surveillance, and so on. Similar connections can also be
found in a myriad of more hidden social spaces, such as biochemical
laboratories, planning offices, industrial manufacturers, patent offices, crime
1
ß2012 The Author. Journal of Law and Society ß2012 Cardiff University Law School. Published by Blackwell Publishing
Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA
*Department of Political Economy, King's College London, Strand, London
WC2R 2LS, England
alex.faulkner@kcl.ac.uk
** Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford, Manor Road,
Oxford OX1 3 UQ, England
bettina.lange@csls.ox.ac.uk
*** Science Technology and Innovation, School of Social and Political
Science, University of Edinburgh, Old Surgeons' Hall, High School Yards
Edinburgh EH1 1LZ, Scotland
clawless@staffmail.ed.ac.uk
Early drafts of many of the articles in this volume were presented at a workshop held at
King's College London on 5 April 2011. The editors thank Karen Yeung, GearoÂid O
Â
Cuinn, and Asma Vranaki for their participation. For providing expert refereeing, we
thank Marie Fox, Barbara Prainsack, Bettina Lange, Veerle Heyvaert, Sujatha Raman,
Carole McCartney, Martyn Pickersgill, Michael Morrison, and Aaro Tupasela.
scenes, law courts, and parliaments. In all these cases, fundamental legally
framed social relationships are at stake: contractual relationships, property
ownership, as well as responsibilities, including liability, and rights arising
from these. The connections between law, science, technology, and society
continually evolve in interaction with each other, and to understand these
connections represents a significant academic challenge.
In this volume, we focus on how developing interactions between social
study of technology, science, and law can promote understanding of the
ways in which legal processes and instruments interact with and produce
`material worlds'.
1
In doing so, we draw upon recent research that has
explored the relationship between society and the material forms of science,
technology, and nature. The contributions present challenging new per-
spectives on how legal practices relate to materiality, and invite theoretical
reflection on how society even construes some material activities as `law'.
The volume explores the practices which shape intersections of law,
science, technology, and society, spanning spatial and temporal boundaries.
The contributors explore how legal instruments and procedures co-emerge
with new materialized realities. Legal landscapes evolve as local practices
interact with globalization, leading to greater internationalization of govern-
ance and jurisdictions. In exploring this theme the collection draws together
a wide variety of empirical topics, including the environment, medicine,
forensic science, biotechnologies, nanotechnology, and human reproduction.
The collection indicates new ways of understanding the continually evolving
relationships between law, science, technology, and society. More specific-
ally, it highlights developing synergies between scholarship in socio-legal
studies (SLS) and science and technology studies (STS). To begin with, we
will set out key developments in STS and SLS with reference to law-science-
technology-society (LSTS) relationships.
2
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STUDIES
From the 1970s onwards, social studies of science and technology have grown
in prominence and scope. STS is now a space where a variety of disciplinary
perspectives engage with science and technology, including sociology,
philosophy, anthropology, economics, and political sci ence. Many key
2
1 We use the term `material worlds' to emphasize the pluralities in the convergence of
law, technology, and society. We note that other authors have used a similar term, for
example, T. Pinch and R. Swedberg, Living in a material world (2008), (referring to a
song by Madonna). We also have an eye to `social worlds' theory (for example, A.E.
Clarke, `Soc ial Worlds/ Arenas Theo ry as Organiz ational The ory' in Socia l
Organization and Social Process: Essays in Honor of Anselm Strauss, ed. D. Maines
(1991) 119±58.
2 We use `LSTS' here simply as shorthand to refer to relationships between law,
science, technology, and society, rather than to define a specific field of study.
ß2012 The Author. Journal of Law and Society ß2012 Cardiff University Law School
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