Norm, normal and disruption: Introductory notes

Richard Mohr; Francesco Contini; Patrícia Branco

doi:10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1308

Authors

Richard Mohr Social Research Policy & Planning https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2127-0440
Francesco Contini IGSG-CNR https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8099-9728
Patrícia Branco University of Coimbra https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5425-0887

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1308

Keywords:

Disruption, normal, pathological, normalization, legal norms

Abstract

The eleven papers in this special issue analyze how different sources of disruption collide with normality, the consequences on individual, social and institutional life, and efforts to re-establish the old or to create a new normal. They arose from a series of online seminars in September and October 2020 investigating normality, disruption and normalization in the wake of the current environmental, technological, epidemiological and socio-economic shocks. Disruption is a window into the underlying fabric of social arrangements. It allows us to investigate the concept of normality and its implications, the tensions and conflicts between economic, social, legal and technological means used to re-establish normality. Technologies of normalization may paradoxically cause further disruptions. Human dignity is a landmark value in these inquiries. The introduction and the papers suggest possible measures to anticipate disruptions and consequent harms. They alert us to the risks to human dignity arising from disruption and from attempts to reimpose forms of normality.

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Author Biographies

Richard Mohr, Social Research Policy & Planning

Dr Richard Mohr is an urban and legal sociologist and a director of Social Research Policy and Planning Pty Ltd. He has worked as a community health coordinator, planning and evaluation consultant and academic in Law, Architecture and Sociology at the University of Wollongong, Sydney University, UNSW, and McGill University. Email address: rmohr@srpp.com.au

Francesco Contini, IGSG-CNR

Francesco Contini is a senior researcher at the National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Legal Informatics and Judicial Systems (www.igsg.cnr.it). He studies the institutional transformations of justice systems focusing on the intersections between the rule of law, technology and democratic legitimacy of the institutions. He collaborates with international organizations to promote judicial reforms in Europe, Africa, and Asia and is regularly called, as invited speaker, at the Italian School of Judges and the European Judicial Training Network. Some key publications: Judicial Evaluation with Richard Mohr (VDM, 2008), ICT and innovation in the public sector (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) and The Circulation of Agency in e-Justice (Springer 2014) both edited with Giovan Francesco Lanzara, and Handle with Care: assessing and designing methods for evaluation and development of the quality of justice (IRSIG, 2017). With Sharyn Roach Anleu and David Rottman he has been editor of the OSLS special issue Evaluating Judicial Performance. Email address: francesco.contini@cnr.it

Patrícia Branco, University of Coimbra

Patrícia Branco is a researcher, hired under the Scientific Employment Stimulus Program (CEECIND / 00126/2017). Centro de Estudos Sociais, Universidade de Coimbra. Contact details: Colégio de S. Jerónimo, Apartado 3087, 3000-995 Coimbra, Portugal. Email: patriciab@ces.uc.pt

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