The American Bar Foundation (ABF) is pleased to announce that Walter G. Johnson (he/him), a Ph.D. candidate at the Australian National University in the School of Regulation and Global Governance with a J.D. from Arizona State University, has won the 2024 Graduate Student Paper Competition from Law & Social Inquiry (LSI) for the article “It’s (Not) Just Semantics: ‘Neurotechnology’ as a Novel Space of Transnational Legal Governance.” This article, based on his dissertation, examines the sociolegal and political dynamics involved in the emergence of a new space of global governance around neurotechnology.
The ABF is the institutional home of LSI, a quarterly publication that analyzes law, legal institutions, and the legal profession from a sociolegal perspective. Every year, LSI conducts a competition for the best journal-length paper in the field of law and social science written by a graduate or law student. Submissions are evaluated by LSI’s editors, and the winning submission will be sent to scholars for advisory reviews before publication.
Presenting an empirical case study of neurotechnology governance, this project draws on data from 30 interviews with governing elites, participant observation, and documents and archival resources. Johnson uses the concept of boundary work to show how individual and organizational actors, rather than creating new legal spaces, establish boundaries both around and within these legal spaces. This process leads to the exclusion of some stakeholders while favoring others in the formation of lawmaking agendas. The case study supports the argument that what is being regulated can influence who creates the laws and how they’re made. In making new spaces of transnational law like neurotechnology intelligible and visible, Johnson opens doors to research and discussion around the intricacies behind emerging legal regimes.
“Johnson’s ambitious and innovative paper makes a major contribution to transnational sociolegal scholarship,” said Christopher W. Schmidt, co-editor of Law & Social Inquiry. “Through a detailed case study of the early stages of regulation of neurotechnology, Johnson provides new insights into dynamics of transnational legal governance. We at LSI are thrilled to recognize the work of this promising young scholar.”
“I am honored and delighted that Law & Social Inquiry selected my piece for this recognition, which is the first major output from my dissertation,” said Johnson. “I hope this paper can help illustrate how power is already at work even at the earliest stages of a legal space coming into existence.”
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About the American Bar Foundation
The American Bar Foundation (ABF) is the world’s leading research institute for the empirical and interdisciplinary study of law. The ABF seeks to expand knowledge and advance justice through innovative, interdisciplinary, and rigorous empirical research on law, legal processes, and legal institutions. To further this mission the ABF will produce timely, cutting-edge research of the highest quality to inform and guide the legal profession, the academy, and society in the United States and internationally. The ABF’s primary funding is provided by the American Bar Endowment and the Fellows of The American Bar Foundation.