Description

Wikipedia offers (yet) another example of a scheme of ‘private ordering’, regulation and governance that works largely outside of state law. Its institutions and procedures show strong resemblances to those found in legal systems generally.  But what may distinguish Wikipedia (or what some Wikipedians claim does so) is the frequent discursive insistence on the risks of taking rules seriously and the dangers of what they call ‘Wikilawering’. In this talk, I will seek to explore why this is so and what it means in actual practice, also with reference to various ‘trouble cases’ as illustrations.

Please click HERE for the flyer. 

About The Speaker

David Nelken is Professor of Comparative and Transnational Law, and former Head of Research, at the Dickson Poon Law School, KIng’s College, London. Professor Nelken’s research focuses on theoretical enquiry and empirical investigation in the areas of comparative sociology of law, criminology, and legal and social theory. He taught law at Cambridge, Edinburgh and University College, London, from 1976-1989 before moving to Italy in 1990 as Distinguished Professor of Legal Institutions and Social Change at the University of Macerata. From 1995 to 2013 he was also Distinguished Research Professor of Law at Cardiff University, and from 2010 to 2014 Visiting Professor of Criminology at Oxford University. Awards received include the American Sociological Association Distinguished Scholar Award (1985), the Sellin-Glueck International award of the American Criminological Society (2009), the Podgorecki Distinguished senior scholar award from the International Sociological Association (2011) and the (USA) Law & Society Association’s International Scholar Award (2013). He is also a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences. On the editorial board of numerous journals, he is also a member of the Independent Board of the SCOPUS (Elsevier) Database of peer-reviewed literature, where he is responsible for evaluating all law journals worldwide. He was a Panel member of Scottish Children’s Hearings juvenile justice system 1979-1983, a member of Italian Regional Crime committees in the 1990’s and, amongst many visiting appointments, was the Global Law professor at Tilburg University, the Netherlands, for 2014.