Discussion: Law's Knowledge in Times of a Changing Climate

The Law in Societies Cluster and the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies will be holding a discussion as part of the joint event with the 2024 Annual Socio-Legal Lecture, which will be delivered by Professor Annelise Riles.



A key theme of Prof. Annelise Riles’ multi-faceted work is to explore law as a set of knowledge tools. This workshop builds on this theme and explores how the knowledge resources that law draws on are shifting in the age of surveillance capitalism, which harnesses data as a tradeable commodity. The governments seek access to big data for solving public policy challenges, such as the climate crisis. But do potentially enhanced ways of representing social worlds also enhance state law’s capacity of socio-legal ordering? What are the risks of climate smart technologies?



Three presenters will share their ideas with us in short presentations, leaving plenty of time for a broader discussion with the audience.



CHRIS DECKER

A changing role for state law in the age of surveillance capitalism?



LISA VOELZMANN

Harnessing big data for tackling climate change?



BETTINA LANGE

Surveillance capitalism and environmental regulation – changing techniques of law?