The modern world has moved beyond the Information Age and entered a new era of industry, automation, and 'intelligence.' How might the law preserve human value in the wake of rapid societal transformation? Is the field even equipped to do so? Humans in Exile offers a unique, interdisciplinary approach to addressing the societal stress and existential threats caused by these rapid developments, bringing the reader to the essential point of what it is to be human. The book reveals the historical and theoretical ties between science, technology, and government and demonstrates how scientism and technological determinism have steered legal decision-making in the wrong direction. The book concludes by providing an array of examples of law in action to address cutting edge challenges, such as surveillance, AI, and toxic waste. Humans in Exile posits that privacy is not dead and humans remain valued and resilient under the law.

‘Jennifer Brobst's Humans in Exile is an intellectual tour de force that holds up a critical mirror to our collective selves at a fraught moment in which humanity itself is being circumscribed by technology, scientific determinism, and regulatory abandonment. Erudite, interdisciplinary, and thought-provoking, Humans in Exile should be required reading for anyone interested in pondering the possibilities for a more relational, caring, and responsibilized future.’

Mark Goodale - author of Reinventing Human Rights

‘In this classic work, Dr. Jennifer A. Brobst attempts to probe into our roots as humans to make us understand the need to retain humanity. In the carefully designed ten chapters, she holistically and coherently analyzes social aspects, the impact of science and technology, and the legal context. This book opens our minds and provides a different horizon to strengthen the human within us. While it is a fit for everyone’s bookshelves, it is a must-buy for those interested in humanities, philosophy, law, sociology, or interdisciplinary studies.’

Sandeepa Bhat B. - Professor of Law, The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences

‘Brilliantly conceived, lucidly thought, eloquently written, Jennifer Brobst’s Humans in Exile is creative legal philosophy and critically engaged social theory for the twenty-first century. Here, the twin imperatives of scientism and technological determinism are viewed as generating a ‘rudderless’ AI-driven future, with humanity itself put in question in both detail and definition. Writing with the insight of Hannah Arendt, the ethical wisdom of Erich Fromm, and the discerning logic of Philip K. Dick, Humans in Exile argues for urgent attention to the meaning of the ‘human’ – humanity as a ‘sentient, embodied, emotional, intelligent relational species’ – as counter-gradient in legal theory, social philosophy, and actual practice against the onrushing future of AI as a crime against ‘humanity’ in the making. Humans in Exile is, in effect, the very first sign in the contemporary century of the meaning of humanity itself being wagered against the increasingly sinister imperative of AI, surveillance culture, and all the rest – monitoring, coding, cataloguing, reducing the human to data slop.’

Arthur Kroker - author of Exits to the Posthuman Future and The Quantum Revolution: Art, Technology, Culture