Law, Media Theory and Cultural Techniques

With German media theory as its focus, this book situates the work of Friedrich A. Kittler, Wolfgang Ernst, Bernhard Siegert, Markus Krajewski, Sybille Krämer and Geoffrey Winthrop-Young within contemporary legal scholarship. Media theory, and German media theory in particular, has been somewhat neglected in interdisciplinary legal studies. This is surprising given that Cornelia Vismann, a key figure in contemporary legal theory, was also a prominent media theorist. Her influence can be seen in legal scholarship addressing issues such as posthuman law, legal materiality, law and the arts, and law in the Anthropocene. This book provides an informed starting point for developing new approaches to legal scholarship with media theory as its springboard. Bringing together an international range of scholars from across legal studies, media theory, the humanities and the social sciences, the book uses media theory to present historical as well as contemporary analyses of law’s cultural technologies. It covers the historical materiality of legal practices; how legal spaces, bodily presence and performance shape legal experiences; and the transformation of law through automation and technology.