Symbolic Legislation Theory and Developments in Biolaw

Bart van Klink is Professor of Legal Methodology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He has published several articles and books on symbolic legislation theory, among which his dissertation De wet als symbool (Law as a Symbol, 1998) and, together with Nicolle Zeegers and Willem Witteveen, the edited volume Social and Symbolic Effects of Legislation under the Rule of Law (2005). He is co-founder of the research group Biolaw and Symbolic Interaction (BioSI).Britta van Beers is Associate Professor at the Department of Legal Theory at VU University, Amsterdam. Her research involves the legal-philosophical aspects of the regulation of medical biotechnology. Recent publications include the edited volume Humanity across International Law and Biolaw (with Luigi Corrias and Wouter Werner, Cambridge University Press 2014); and 'Is Europe ‘Giving in to Baby Markets’? Reproductive Tourism in Europe and the Gradual Erosion of Existing Legal Limits to Reproductive Markets’ (Medical Law Review, 2015).Lonneke Poort is assistant professor at Erasmus School of Law in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She is also member of the subcommittee on social and ethical aspects of genetic modification of the Netherlands Commission on Genetic Modification (COGEM). She published several articles and a book on the interactive approach to law among which her dissertation Consensus & Controversies in Animal Biotechnology. An Interactive Legislative Approach to Animal Biotechnology in Denmark, Switzerland, and the Netherlands (Den Haag: Eleven International Publishing 2013).

• Contributors.- Preface: New Challenges.- 1 Introduction: Symbolic Dimensions of Biolaw; Lonneke Poort, Britta van Beers & Bart van Klink.- Part I Symbolic Legislation: The Symbolic Quality of Law.- 2 Symbolic Legislation: An Essentially Political Concept; Bart van Klink.- 3 The Emerging Interactionist Paradigm and the Ideals of Democracy and Rule of Law; Wibren van der Burg.- 4 How Law Matters: Sociological Reflections on the Symbolic Dimension of Legislation; Rob Schwitters.- 5 The Tension between the Functions of Law: Ending Conflict vs. Dynamics; Lonneke Poort.- 6 Symbolic Legislation and Authority; Oliver W. Lembcke.- 7 On Legal Symbolism in Symbolic Legislation: A Systems Theoretical Perspective; Jiří Přibáň.- Part II Symbolic Approaches to Biolaw: Biolaw as a Symbolic Order.- 8 The Law and the Symbolic Value of the Body; JonathanHerring.- 9 Revisionist versus Broad Bioethics and Biolaw; Herman De Dijn.- 10 Bioeconomy, Moral Friction and Symbolic Law; Klaus Hoeyer.- 11 From Winged Lions to Frozen Embryos, Neomorts and Human-Animal Cybrids: The Functions of Law in the Symbolic Mediation of Biomedical Hybrids; Britta van Beers.- 12. The Symbolic Meaning of Legal Subjectivity; Dorien Pessers.- Part III Legislative Strategies: Regulating Biomedical Developments from a Symbolic Perspective.- 13 The Natural, the Informational, the Claimable? Human Body Material in US and European Patent Law; Sigrid Sterckx and Julian Cockbain.- 14 Material uncertainty: Nanomaterials, Regulation and Symbolic Legislation; Robert Lee and Elen Stokes.- 15 The Democratic Legitimacy of Interactive Legislation of the European Union Concerning Human Embryo Research; Nicolle Zeegers.- 16 Changing Expectations of Experts: the Symbolic Role of Ethics Committees; Lonneke Poort and Bernice Bovenkerk.- 17 Law as a Symbolic Order: Some Concluding Remarks; Britta van Beers, Bart van Klink and Lonneke Poort.