My research is critical and interdisciplinary, seeking to integrate methods and frameworks drawn from philosophy, social theory and critical political economy into the study of legal concepts and legal theory. Current research centres principally on the relationship between intellectual property, information capitalism and the public sphere. Some of my recent work draws on critical political economy to explore the role of the copyright system in underpinning the profitability of the culture and information industries, and in shaping the major cultural forms (visual art, music and film) that organise artistic expression within today’s cultural public spheres. Other work draws on modern European philosophy and critical social theory to investigate alternative ways of thinking about, and instituting, authors’ rights. At present I’m especially interested in exploring the implications for law of two apparently opposed understandings of authorship yielded by critical social theory today: as rational-critical communication, and as 'immaterial' labour.
I'm open to inquiries from potential research students who are interested in exploring critical perspectives on legal theory or on intellectual property.
