Reframing Rights: Constitutional Implications of Technological Change

当代民主社会宪法中的权利概念反映了工业革命之前对人类身份、自由、财产和自然的理解，更不用说今天所谓的信息、遗传和环境科学和技术革命了。此外，宪法推理通常认为社会和自然之间的边界，或者法律、规范和权利与科学技术之间的边界是理所当然的。许多关于科学、技术和法律的文献都被简单化地用技术决定论来框定。因此，这项法律被视为试图弥合快速科技进步造成的差距和滞后。更广泛地说，技术被视为对被视为理所当然的宪法权利产生了影响，这些权利可能需要通过司法警惕来保护。本项目从科学技术研究工作的角度审视权利的概念(S和TS)。S与TS的研究表明，科技产品不仅影响而且嵌入了人类的规范和制度。臭氧空洞、基因、多利、智能炸弹、计算机和计算机等技术制品是人类承诺、推理、道德判断和社会实践的宝库。这类文物的部署在许多层面上涉及并重塑了我们对权利的看法，远远超出了正式的宪法法律：例如，通过重新划定人与非人之间的边界，通过改变身份的基本概念，通过挑战对隐私和自主的既定期望。法律学术应该更好地考虑科学事实和技术产物与权利概念相互作用的复杂方式。这项为期三年的研究和培训项目设在哈佛大学肯尼迪政府学院，将培训博士生、博士后研究员和教师，通过法律、公共政策和S律师事务所的跨学科工作，重新审视科学和技术变革的宪法影响。将特别注意围绕遗传学、信息和环境领域的新发展对权利概念进行显性和默示的重新表述。该计划将讨论美国的法律发展和与全球宪法规范出现有关的发展。理论工作将与政策分析相结合，以鼓励在科学、技术和法律的交叉点上进行更多的反身性实践。该计划包括核心研讨会、研究伦理和公共政策研讨会，以及年度研究研讨会。该计划将广泛宣传，以吸引足够的多样性和质量的申请者池。NSF的资金将用于在该奖项的三年内每年支持两名研究生和一名博士后研究员。对该项目的监督由一个教师顾问委员会负责，委员会成员包括S律师事务所、法律、伦理、政治学以及S律师事务所拨款涵盖的三个领域的专业知识。结果将包括论文项目和学术以及与政策有关的出版物，通过流行出版物和从业人员讲习班进行宣传，一个项目网站，该领域高级专业人员的培养和安置，以及新的课程。该项目还将成为一个新兴的法律、S和科罗拉多公共政策项目的催化剂。总之，这些活动将促进S与TS作为哈佛大学一个研究领域的整合。

Concepts of rights in the constitutions of contemporary democratic societies reflect understandings of human identity, liberty, property, and nature that predate the industrial revolution, let alone today's so called revolutions in information, genetic, and environmental sciences and technologies. In addition, constitutional reasoning generally takes for granted the boundary between society and nature, or between law, norms, and rights on the one hand and science and technology on the other. Much of the literature on science, technology and the law is simplistically framed in terms of technological determinism. Thus, the law is seen as trying to bridge gaps and lags created by rapid scientific and technological advances. More generally, technology is seen as having impacts on taken-for-granted constitutional rights, which may need to be protected through judicial vigilance. This project examines the concept of rights from the standpoint of work in science and technology studies (S&TS). S&TS research has shown that the products of science and technology not only influence but also embed human norms and institutions. Technological artifacts such as ozone holes, genes, Dolly, smart bombs, computers, and the oncomouse are repositories of human commitments, reasoning, moral judgments, and social practices. The deployment of such artifacts engages with and reshapes our perception of rights at many levels, going far beyond formal constitutional law: for instance, by redrawing the boundary between human and non-human, by altering fundamental notions of identity, and by challenging settled expectations of privacy and autonomy. Legal scholarship should take better account of the complex ways in which scientific facts and technological artifacts interact with concepts of rights.This three-year research and training program, based at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, will train doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty to reexamine the constitutional implications of scientific and technological change through interdisciplinary work in law, public policy, and S&TS. Particular attention will be given to explicit and tacit reformulations of rights conceptions around new developments in the areas of genetics, information, and the environment. The program will address both US legal developments and developments pertaining to the emergence of global constitutional norms. Theoretical work will be integrated with policy analysis in order to encourage more reflexive practice at the intersections of science, technology, and law. The program includes core seminars, a seminar in research ethics and public policy, and an annual research workshop. The program will be widely advertised to attract adequate diversity and quality in the applicant pool. NSF funds will be used to support two graduate students and a post-doctoral fellow each year over the three years of the award. Oversight of the project resides in a committee of faculty advisers that includes members with expertise in S&TS, law, ethics, political science, and the three areas of S&T covered by the grant. Results will include dissertation projects and scholarly as well as policy relevant publications, outreach via popular publications and practitioner workshops, a project website, the development and placement of sophisticated professionals in this field, and new curricula. The program will also serve as a catalyst for an emerging program in law, S&TS, and public policy based at the KSG. Together, these activities will promote the integration of S&TS as a field of study at Harvard.