Posted on 15 March 2021
Professor Joshua A.T. Fairfield (Washington and Lee University)
26 March 15:00-16:15 ZOOM
Professor Joshua A.T. Fairfield (William Donald Bain Family Professor of Law, Washington and Lee University) will present his latest book Runaway Technology: Can Law Keep Up?, published by Cambridge University Press in February 2021. Professor Fairfield is a former Fernand Braudel Fellow of the EUI and author of the famous book Owned: Property, Privacy, and the New Digital Serfdom (CUP 2017).
In an era of corporate surveillance, artificial intelligence, deep fakes, genetic modification, automation, and more, law often seems to take a back seat to rampant technological change. To listen to Silicon Valley barons, there's nothing any of us can do about it. In this riveting work, Joshua A.T. Fairfield calls their bluff. He provides a fresh look at law, at what it actually is, how it works, and how we can create the kind of laws that help humans thrive in the face of technological change. He shows that law can keep up with technology because law is a kind of technology - a social technology built by humans out of cooperative fictions like firms, nations, and money. However, to secure the benefits of changing technology for all of us, we need a new kind of law, one that reflects our evolving understanding of how humans use language to cooperate.
All interested academics are most welcome to participate. After Prof. Fairfield’s presentation, attendees will be able to interact and take part in the open discussion, asking their questions and sharing comments.
To register for the event, please send an e-mail by Wednesday 24 March 2021, 12.00PM, at [email protected]