| Abstract |
Questions relating to time are implicated in some of the most compelling contemporary political and social issues. Scholars from a range of disciplines have analysed, for example, the impact of new technologies on how people understand time; how our expectations of the 'life course' have changed with new family forms; and how clinical ideas of time influence decisions in the medical sphere. Similarly, reflecting on temporal concepts and their effects is very important when we think about law's potential in tackling pressing political and social concerns. Yet time remains relatively under-explored in scholarship on regulation and law. In these disciplines, research on time has, to date, been concentrated in only a few key areas, such as labour law (e.g., legal struggles over the working day and 'work-life balance') and environmental law (the question of what regulation can do to help mitigate climate change beyond our own lifetime). Featuring workshops, collaborative events with NGOs and health service providers, an international conference, and an edited book, this network will support a wider sustained conversation about how regulation and law shapes our experiences of time and how concepts of time influence law and regulation. The network will enable us to advance and deepen research in this area through the cross-fertilisation of ideas and research methods between law and other humanities scholars, and between academics and stakeholders in a range of fields. The broader public implications of research on regulation and time will be central to the network's activities. Public knowledge about the network will be supported through a website, social media, and via network organisers' appearances in the broadcast or print media. Through collaborative events co-organised with the Terrence Higgins Trust and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, as well as publications and media appearances, we will map how academic research on regulation and time is relevant to current legal and policy challenges. Working with an experienced legislative drafter from the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, and engaging with the Cabinet Office's Good Law project, we will initiate debate about how time is written into legislation and the implications this has for legal clarity. This aspect of the network will facilitate a productive dialogue between researchers, legislative drafters, policy makers, health service professionals, and wider publics, so that we can begin to develop new ideas for research projects and academic-stakeholder engagement. Whilst we hope that the initial phase of the network will be funded in the proposed form by the AHRC (the subject of the current application), during the life of the network we will solicit suggestions from participants and encourage future collaborative research, other funded projects, and a longer-lasting network. We will devote one session at the final conference to future planning for the network, exploring the potential of applying for funding from the AHRC (Follow-on Funding), Leverhulme Trust (e.g., Research Project or Programme grant if applicable) or COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). |
