In the second part of my three-part blog series, I discuss the Olympic myth, and the way we view nationhood and sporting success. Continue reading
Category Archives: Research
Justin Gatlin and the ‘performance enhancing drugs’ debate
In the first instalment of a three-part blog series on the world of sport, I look at some of the issues surrounding the Olympic movement, and in particular the question of ‘performance enhancing drugs’. Continue reading
Law and war in outer space
I recently had the pleasure of attending the Iredell Law Conference at Lancaster University to present a paper, ‘Beyond the horizon: law, exception and conflict in outer space’. In my paper, I spoke about law and warfare in outer space, and what I see as a fundamental problem in the operation of law, and the exercise of sovereignty in outer space.
After my presentation one of the delegates posed the question, well what about Antarctica and colonies at the bottom of the sea? According to current practice, international law does apply in both of these situations, so doesn’t that set a precedent for law on the Moon?
My response to this question was very definitely a ‘no’, however I didn’t have time to expand on my argument. In this blog, I hope to discuss some of the issues surrounding law and sovereignty in outer space, and the problem of just how you impose sovereign rule on a colony that could advance many decades in the time it takes for a message to reach it… Continue reading
The biopolitics of warning signs
Every morning here at Lancaster I like to take a walk down to the lake to see the ducks.[1] I find it’s a great way to clear my head before I start my day of work.
But one morning last week my walk was disturbed by the appearance of a whole raft of new signs bolted on to the fences alongside the hockey pitches Continue reading
Is killing the ultimate form of control?
I recently had an enjoyable day at Lancaster House, chatting to members of the TTAC21 reading group on subjects including drone theory, armed conflict, the Prevent strategy, and the International Court of Human Rights.
As most of the participants were drawn from law departments, it was interesting as a relative ‘outsider’ to get a view on how those in the law discipline view issues such as life, death and sovereign power. One particularly interesting question that cropped up was ‘Is killing the ultimate form of control?’
Unfortunately we didn’t really have time to explore the question during the course of the day, so I thought it useful to gather a few thoughts here to open up some discussion… Continue reading