Thomas Vesting - Böcker

There has been renewed and growing interest in exploring the significant role played by law in the centralization of power and sovereignty – right from the earliest point. This timely book serves as an introduction into state theory, providing an overview of the conceptual history and the interdisciplinary tradition of the continental European general theory of the state. Chapters present a theory of the state grounded in cultural analysis and show liberal democracy to be the paradigm of today’s western nation-state. The analysis includes the emergence of legal forms and institutions that are linked either to the constitutional state (the securing of civil liberties and fundamental rights), the welfare state (social and welfare law), or the network-state (regulation of complex digital technologies). Thomas Vesting focuses on illustrating the fundamental features of these evolutionary stages – the three layers constituting the modern state – and reveals their cultural and social preconditions. This book will be an ideal read for students, postgraduates, and other academic audiences with interests in state theory, jurisprudence, legal theory, political theory, and legal philosophy.

This book provides a historically informed reconstruction of the social practices that have shaped the formation of the modern subject from the early modern period to the present. The formal legal protections accorded to subjects are, and always have been, latent in social practices, norms, and language before they are articulated in formal legal orders. Vesting argues that in Western societies legal personhood is closely tied to three ideal types of social personhood – what he calls the gentleman, the manager, and Homo digitalis. By examining these three ideal types and their emergence in society, we can see that Western formal law does not bring these ideal types into being but, on the contrary, they arise from the social and cultural conditions that they generate and reflect.  Correspondingly, Western legal personhood, or “legal subjectivity,” arises from the history and culture of Western nations, not the other way around. Therefore, signature features of Western formal law, particularly its valorization of the rights of persons (whether natural or nonnatural), come from the particular sociohistorical cultural developments that had already generated the strong ideas of social personhood inherent in the ideal types of the gentleman, the manager, and Homo digitalis.Subjectivity Transformed is a major contribution to legal and social theory and, with its original analysis of the formation of modern subjectivity, it will be of interest to students and scholars throughout the social sciences and humanities.

This book provides a historically informed reconstruction of the social practices that have shaped the formation of the modern subject from the early modern period to the present. The formal legal protections accorded to subjects are, and always have been, latent in social practices, norms, and language before they are articulated in formal legal orders. Vesting argues that in Western societies legal personhood is closely tied to three ideal types of social personhood – what he calls the gentleman, the manager, and Homo digitalis. By examining these three ideal types and their emergence in society, we can see that Western formal law does not bring these ideal types into being but, on the contrary, they arise from the social and cultural conditions that they generate and reflect.  Correspondingly, Western legal personhood, or “legal subjectivity,” arises from the history and culture of Western nations, not the other way around. Therefore, signature features of Western formal law, particularly its valorization of the rights of persons (whether natural or nonnatural), come from the particular sociohistorical cultural developments that had already generated the strong ideas of social personhood inherent in the ideal types of the gentleman, the manager, and Homo digitalis.Subjectivity Transformed is a major contribution to legal and social theory and, with its original analysis of the formation of modern subjectivity, it will be of interest to students and scholars throughout the social sciences and humanities.

This new textbook offers an important new guide to legal theory in its contemporary context. It reflects recent jurisprudential debates on what the theory of law should look like in a legal landscape where media and communication play an increasingly central role. Firstly, it offers a guide to the fundamental principles and basic concepts of the theory of law. In so doing, it lays the foundations of the legal theory; the formation of legal systems; and the application of laws. In the second part, these basic theoretical principles are explored through the prism of the contemporary context, with particular emphasis on the impact of communication.

As many disciplines in the humanities have experienced a focus on culture’s impact in recent decades, questions surrounding the significance of media such as writing, print, and computer networks have become increasingly relevant. This book seeks to demonstrate that a media and cultural theory perspective can also be highly productive for legal theory.Thomas Vesting approaches law as an artificial and constructive element within culture and emphasizes the many possibilities that varied forms of media have opened to law, from oral history through to scripture, print and modern day digital networks. While providing historical examples for these theoretical assumptions, the connections between media and law are reconstructed in a practical way and with an eye toward the future. The book closes with an analysis of our present age as a network culture and discusses how this metaphorical framework can be of use in thinking about issues such as constitutionalism, human rights, the state, democracy and education.Legal Theory and the Media of Law will be of great interest to legal, cultural and media theorists as well as academics of politics, sociology and philosophy.

There has been renewed and growing interest in exploring the significant role played by law in the centralization of power and sovereignty – right from the earliest point. This timely book serves as an introduction into state theory, providing an overview of the conceptual history and the interdisciplinary tradition of the continental European general theory of the state. Chapters present a theory of the state grounded in cultural analysis and show liberal democracy to be the paradigm of today’s western nation-state. The analysis includes the emergence of legal forms and institutions that are linked either to the constitutional state (the securing of civil liberties and fundamental rights), the welfare state (social and welfare law), or the network-state (regulation of complex digital technologies). Thomas Vesting focuses on illustrating the fundamental features of these evolutionary stages – the three layers constituting the modern state – and reveals their cultural and social preconditions. This book will be an ideal read for students, postgraduates, and other academic audiences with interests in state theory, jurisprudence, legal theory, political theory, and legal philosophy.

The rule of law in cyberspace currently faces serious challenges. From the democratic system to the exercise of fundamental rights, the Internet has raised a host of new issues for classic legal institutions. This book provides a valuable contribution to the fields of international, constitutional and administrative law scholarship as the three interact in cyberspace.The respective chapters cover topics such as the notion of digital states and digital sovereignty, jurisdiction over the Internet, e-government, and artificial intelligence. The authors are eminent scholars and international experts with a profound knowledge of these topics. Particular attention is paid to the areas of digital democracy, digital media and regulation of the digital world.The approach employed is based on a comparative perspective from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal and Brazil. One particular focus is on how various legal systems are coping with increasing difficulties in the exercise ofdemocracy with regard to disinformation and hate speech. The roles of legislators, the judicial system and public administrations are analysed in the light of the latest cases, conflicts and technologies.In addition to this comparative approach, the book explores the evolution of rule of law in cyberspace and the upcoming new legal regimes in the European Union and Brazil. Special care is taken to offer a critical review of both the literature and the latest legal solutions adopted and being considered regarding the regulation of cyberspace from a constitutional and administrative perspective.Given its scope, the book will be of interest to researchers and scholars in the field of digital law whose work involves constitutional problems in cyberspace and/or practical problems concerning the regulation of social networks and online commerce.

The rule of law in cyberspace currently faces serious challenges. From the democratic system to the exercise of fundamental rights, the Internet has raised a host of new issues for classic legal institutions. This book provides a valuable contribution to the fields of international, constitutional and administrative law scholarship as the three interact in cyberspace.The respective chapters cover topics such as the notion of digital states and digital sovereignty, jurisdiction over the Internet, e-government, and artificial intelligence. The authors are eminent scholars and international experts with a profound knowledge of these topics. Particular attention is paid to the areas of digital democracy, digital media and regulation of the digital world.The approach employed is based on a comparative perspective from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal and Brazil. One particular focus is on how various legal systems are coping with increasing difficulties in the exercise ofdemocracy with regard to disinformation and hate speech. The roles of legislators, the judicial system and public administrations are analysed in the light of the latest cases, conflicts and technologies.In addition to this comparative approach, the book explores the evolution of rule of law in cyberspace and the upcoming new legal regimes in the European Union and Brazil. Special care is taken to offer a critical review of both the literature and the latest legal solutions adopted and being considered regarding the regulation of cyberspace from a constitutional and administrative perspective.Given its scope, the book will be of interest to researchers and scholars in the field of digital law whose work involves constitutional problems in cyberspace and/or practical problems concerning the regulation of social networks and online commerce.

"Nach der "Gesellschaft der Individuen" die "Gesellschaft der Organisationen", nach der "Gesellschaft der Organisationen" die "Gesellschaft der Netzwerke"!" So beschreibt Karl-Heinz Ladeur schlagwortartig die Selbsttransformation der Gesellschaft in den westlichen Ländern der letzten hundertfünfzig Jahre. Der Untergang eines von monarchischer Repräsentationskraft bestimmten Staates führte auch in den kontinentaleuropäischen Rechtssystemen seit dem späten 19. Jahrhundert zu einer stärkeren Öffnung für eine Welt aus Relationen. Die überkommenen subjektphilosophischen Transzendentalfiguren und vertikalen Begründungsverhältnisse werden durch horizontale Beziehungen ergänzt und ersetzt, an denen zunächst primär Organisationen und Gruppen und heute mehr und mehr sich fortlaufend verändernde Netzwerke beteiligt sind. Auf diese gewandelte gesellschaftliche Situation muss sich das Recht einstellen. Es muss dazu die veränderte Rolle der Ungewissheit verarbeiten, die nicht länger im Sinne klassischer Rationalitätsvorstellungen durch die Gewinnung eines festen Grundes weitgehend beseitigt oder zumindest verdrängt werden kann. Gefordert ist die Anpassung des modernen Rechts an eine Netzwerklogik der relationalen Rationalität, die in unterschiedlichen Feldern - Rechtstheorie, Rechtsmethodologie, Staatstheorie, Verfassungstheorie, Verwaltungsrecht usw. - zu operationalisieren ist.

Grundrechtlich geschützte Rechtspositionen werden in der gegenwärtig dominierenden Lesart mit individuellen Freiheiten gleichgesetzt. Leitbild ist die Autonomie des einzelnen Subjekts. Über die Individualdimension hinausweisende "kollektive" oder "institutionelle" Aspekte des Grundrechtsschutzes bilden in dieser Perspektive nur ein Sekundärphänomen, das sich von der primär einschlägigen Individualfreiheit ableitet. Die Beiträge des Bandes stellen diese geläufige Sichtweise auf die Probe. Sie gehen aus von der Frage, inwieweit die überkommene Grundrechtstheorie und -dogmatik den transsubjektiven gesellschaftlichen Gehalt, der sich in den Grundrechten ausspricht, systematisch unterschätzt.