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Between Truth and Power: The Legal Constructions of Informational Capitalism
Our current legal system is to a great extent the product of an earlier period of social and economic transformation. From the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century, as accountability for industrial-age harms became a pervasive source of conflict, the U.S. legal system underwent profound, tectonic shifts. Today, struggles over ownership of information-age resources and accountability for information-age harms are producing new systemic changes.
In Between Truth and Power, Julie E. Cohen explores the relationships between legal institutions and political and economic transformation. Systematically examining struggles over the conditions of information flow and the design of information architectures and business models, she argues that as law is enlisted to help produce the profound economic and sociotechnical shifts that have accompanied the emergence of the informational economy, it is too is transforming in fundamental ways. Drawing on elements from legal theory, science and technology studies, information studies, communication studies and organization studies to develop a complex theory of institutional change, Cohen develops an account of the gradual emergence of legal institutions adapted to the information age and of the power relationships that such institutions reflect and reproduce.
A tour de force of ambitious interdisciplinary scholarship, Between Truth and Power will transform our thinking about the possible futures of law and legal institutions in the networked information era.
In Between Truth and Power, Julie E. Cohen explores the relationships between legal institutions and political and economic transformation. Systematically examining struggles over the conditions of information flow and the design of information architectures and business models, she argues that as law is enlisted to help produce the profound economic and sociotechnical shifts that have accompanied the emergence of the informational economy, it is too is transforming in fundamental ways. Drawing on elements from legal theory, science and technology studies, information studies, communication studies and organization studies to develop a complex theory of institutional change, Cohen develops an account of the gradual emergence of legal institutions adapted to the information age and of the power relationships that such institutions reflect and reproduce.
A tour de force of ambitious interdisciplinary scholarship, Between Truth and Power will transform our thinking about the possible futures of law and legal institutions in the networked information era.
376 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 2, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 29, 2021
A robust analysis of the relationship between law and technology in our information economy. Rather than being entirely driven by technology — or, in the opposite direction, being its sole master — both legal institutions and technological platforms act as mediators that are at the same time shaped by the political economy and profoundly influence social life in ways that current regulatory instruments, designed for an industrial economy, are ill-equipped to deal with. Part I of the book deals with the legal structures that enable informational capitalism by establishing patterns of entitlement and disentitlement over digital resources, while Part II provides a deep dive into the changes legal institutions undergo in response to the dynamics of informational capitalism. While the book focuses on US perspectives, it often brings discussions from other jurisdictions: contrasts with EU approaches are common, while the last few chapters highlight international and transnational organisms. All in all, this book provides an excellent job of showing the substantial impacts of information technologies while avoiding technological determinism, in both its "technology will save us" and "technology will doom us" variants.
July 28, 2022
3.5.
I was really hyped for this book as Amy Kapczynski's review suggested that everything that is lacking in Zuboff's Surveillance Capitalism is done much better here. But for me, who is not a legal scholar, the discussion seemed way too specific. While reading, I was wishing that I simply read an article explaining the macro-level interactions between the changing digital media landscape and how the legal system adapts to them whilst guided by the managerial ideology of neoliberalism. Also, several criticisms levied against Zuboff (by Kapczynski) for engaging in hyperbole regarding the dangers of SC were often acknowledged by Cohen (e.g., whether SC companies' practices of behavioral modification do primarily follow the radical behaviorist paradigm). So perhaps reading the polarizing review of the two books prior to reading the book somewhat overhyped it for me. Either way, would primarily recommend if one really wishes to know the legal intricacies (esp. in the US context) of the interactions between the large SC corps and law.
I was really hyped for this book as Amy Kapczynski's review suggested that everything that is lacking in Zuboff's Surveillance Capitalism is done much better here. But for me, who is not a legal scholar, the discussion seemed way too specific. While reading, I was wishing that I simply read an article explaining the macro-level interactions between the changing digital media landscape and how the legal system adapts to them whilst guided by the managerial ideology of neoliberalism. Also, several criticisms levied against Zuboff (by Kapczynski) for engaging in hyperbole regarding the dangers of SC were often acknowledged by Cohen (e.g., whether SC companies' practices of behavioral modification do primarily follow the radical behaviorist paradigm). So perhaps reading the polarizing review of the two books prior to reading the book somewhat overhyped it for me. Either way, would primarily recommend if one really wishes to know the legal intricacies (esp. in the US context) of the interactions between the large SC corps and law.
February 10, 2022
Un libro medio denso sobre teoría legal y los cambios que ha traído el avance de las tecnologías digitales en esta. Sirve para ir juntando lecturas que ya había hecho dentro de un marco conceptual más grande, agrandar el marco teórico, y tomarlo como punto de partida para abordar ciertos debates, como la protección de derechos fundamentales en el mundo digital, como es el caso del último capítulo. Siento que lo leí de manera muy diagonal, pero que dentro de un plan de investigación más serio podría ser bastante útil de releer y tomar notas.
August 12, 2020
Such a brilliant book! This is easily the best exploration of the role of law in the platform-based, algorithmic-driven world we currently inhabit. Highly, highly recommend for everyone especially those seeking to understand how industrial-era laws and regulations are no match to today's information era.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews