The computer alteration of law. Sociological perspective on the turn from legal rules into personal rights
Alauzen, Marie
The computer alteration of law. Sociological perspective on the turn from legal rules into personal rights - 2024.
26
How to turn from a rule of law, i.e. general and impersonal statement, to the individual application of rights? In current bureaucracies, addressing this question require not only to describe the interpretation performed by street-level bureaucrats, but the translation of the rules to computer programs that automatically carry out acts on a massive scale, such as the calculation of social benefits or taxation. Drawing on a retro-engineering investigation on the program that compute housing benefits in France and interviews, the article highlights the tasks performed in departments and the National Family Allowance Fund: passes and translation of the law. By pointing to a phenomenon of alteration of legal statements towards a technological agencing, it draws the attention to underestimated consequences of choices of interpretation and organization, before calling for new collaborations with computer scientists.
The computer alteration of law. Sociological perspective on the turn from legal rules into personal rights - 2024.
26
How to turn from a rule of law, i.e. general and impersonal statement, to the individual application of rights? In current bureaucracies, addressing this question require not only to describe the interpretation performed by street-level bureaucrats, but the translation of the rules to computer programs that automatically carry out acts on a massive scale, such as the calculation of social benefits or taxation. Drawing on a retro-engineering investigation on the program that compute housing benefits in France and interviews, the article highlights the tasks performed in departments and the National Family Allowance Fund: passes and translation of the law. By pointing to a phenomenon of alteration of legal statements towards a technological agencing, it draws the attention to underestimated consequences of choices of interpretation and organization, before calling for new collaborations with computer scientists.
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