This book provides an historically informed reconstruction of the social practices that have shaped the formation of the modern subject from the early modern period to the present. The formal legal protections accorded to subjects are, and always have been, latent in social practices, norms and language before they are articulated in formal legal orders.  Vesting argues that, in Western societies, legal personhood is closely tied to three ideal types of social personhood – what he calls the gentleman, the manager, and Homo Digitalis. By examining these three ideal types and their emergence in society, we can see that Western formal law does not bring these ideal types into being but, on the contrary, arises from the social and cultural conditions that these ideal types generate and reflect.  Correspondingly, Western legal personhood, or ‘legal subjectivity’, arises from the history and culture of Western nations, not the other way around. Therefore, signature features of Western formal law, particularly its valorization of the rights of persons (whether natural or non-natural), come from particular socio-historical cultural developments that had already generated the strong ideas of social personhood inherent in the ideal types of the gentleman, the manager, and Homo Digitalis. Subjectivity Transformed is a major contribution to legal and social theory and, with its original analysis of the formation of modern subjectivity, it will be of interest to students and scholars throughout the social sciences and humanities.

The rule of law in cyberspace currently faces serious challenges. From the democratic system to the exercise of fundamental rights, the Internet has raised a host of new issues for classic legal institutions. This book provides a valuable contribution to the fields of international, constitutional and administrative law scholarship as the three interact in cyberspace.The respective chapters cover topics such as the notion of digital states and digital sovereignty, jurisdiction over the Internet, e-government, and artificial intelligence. The authors are eminent scholars and international experts with a profound knowledge of these topics. Particular attention is paid to the areas of digital democracy, digital media and regulation of the digital world. The approach employed is based on a comparative perspective from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal and Brazil. One particular focus is on how various legal systems are coping with increasing difficulties in the exercise of democracy with regard to disinformation and hate speech. The roles of legislators, the judicial system and public administrations are analysed in the light of the latest cases, conflicts and technologies. In addition to this comparative approach, the book explores the evolution of rule of law in cyberspace and the upcoming new legal regimes in the European Union and Brazil. Special care is taken to offer a critical review of both the literature and the latest legal solutions adopted and being considered regarding the regulation of cyberspace from a constitutional and administrative perspective. Given its scope, the book will be of interest to researchers and scholars in the field of digital law whose work involves constitutional problems in cyberspace and/or practical problems concerning the regulation of social networks and online commerce.

This volume presents the lectures and discussions held at the conference of the "Vereinigung der deutschen Staatsrechtslehrer" (the association of german professors for public law), October 1st - Ocober 3rd, 2003, Hamburg.

This new textbook offers an important new guide to legal theory in its contemporary context. It reflects recent jurisprudential debates on what the theory of law should look like in a legal landscape where media and communication play an increasingly central role. Firstly, it offers a guide to the fundamental principles and basic concepts of the theory of law. In so doing, it lays the foundations of the legal theory; the formation of legal systems; and the application of laws. In the second part, these basic theoretical principles are explored through the prism of the contemporary context, with particular emphasis on the impact of communication.