Communications Technologies on Trial
Law on Trial , a week-long programme of free events from the School of Law , returns to Birkbeck from 10-14 June 2019, on the theme of Communications Technologies on Trial.
Through a series of focused debates, the College will open its doors to the public for scholars to investigate the implications and regulation of communications technologies. Often used as though it were a public good, most communications technologies are privately owned and the major actors and platforms that connect the infrastructure to the users are also transnational corporate interests.
In particular, the week's events will focus on the ways that the architecture of the communications technology system poses serious challenges to legal regulation, while the dominance of neo-liberal thought arguably creates political resistance to regulatory solutions.
Communications Technologies on Trial will investigate these issues through a range of presentations, panel discussions and public debates that focus on the sub-themes of democracy, social and financial exclusion, cultural production, work and the environment, and security, privacy and surveillance. It is jointly organised with the Velux funded digital humanities project The Past's Future, which is based at the Saxo Institute and the School of Law at the University of Copenhagen.
Events
The events are free to attend and open to the public however guests should register via the links below:
- Monday 10 June Democracy
- Tuesday 11 June Social and Financial Exclusion
- Wednesday 12 June Cultural Production
- Thursday 13 June Work and the Environment
- Friday 14 June Privacy, Security and Surveillance
Established in 2010, Law on Trial is Birkbeck's annual showcase of free lectures, discussion panels and workshops, featuring leading academics, practitioners, activists and leaders from civil society.
The events explore a different theme each year, and aim to stimulate a burst of critical legal thinking and interaction between our speakers and our audience that will reverberate long after the week has ended.
Past events illustrate the diverse research interests within the School of Law, with topics including scientific evidence and experts in courts, social justice and inclusion, religion and the law, and the European Union.