Professor Hakan Hyden’s book, Sociology of Law as the Science of Norms, is groundbreaking work that places the critical study of norms and normativity as central to the scientific understanding of sophisticated modes of human behaviour in highly advanced digital and technological societies. As societal norms and human behaviours are becoming increasingly complex, largely due to the emergence of new cyber-technology, security and surveillance systems, bio-genetic identify formations, multiple social media interfaces, and next-generation cognitive platforms, Professor Hyden argues that an innovative science of norms, or “norm science,” must be established in order to offer a prescient scientific framework for understanding emerging aspects of new rules, policies, legal procedures, and regulatory governance as they connect to human behaviours, attitudes, and decision-making. In his words, “norm science” must constitute a “new scientific field … [for] legal and normative problems in the 21st century” (p. ix). In defining the tasks ahead, Professor Hyden notes that the analysis of norms and normativity must not only incorporate traditional notions of human behaviours and group interactions, but also attend to sets of social obligation, legal duties, as well as moral imperatives in order to more fully understand group actions and collective behaviours (Hyden and Svensson, Reference Hyden and Svensson2008). It is also extremely timely to note that the Chinese translation of Professor Hyden’s book will be published in late 2024 and certainly stimulates serious conversations about the emerging set of new scientific norms and societal standards developed in the highly technologically advanced society of China, as well as in other neighbouring regions and countries that have begun to see China as the idealized model for their future technological development.
The critical examination of these expanded norm concepts and societal standards will make a significant contribution to the scientific field of the sociology of law, just as the attitude concept of affective, cognitive, and behavioural attributes, for instance, contributed to revolutionary developments in the fields of psychology in the areas of human-computer interaction (HCI), brain-computer interfaces, cognitive neuroscience, neurogenomics, and other brain research and cognitive studies. Similarly, new conceptions of monetary rules, supply and demand relations, the market economy, financial modelling, as well as portfolio optimization using artificial intelligence (AI) technology had a significant impact on the establishment of the new fields of behavioural economics, economic science, and political economy. In addition, the concept of applying “political cognition” to the comprehension of how humans come to understand the political world, including the role of the state, government politics, and international organization, led to new questions and assumptions about human behaviours and decision-making in the fields of political science, government studies, political sociology, and policy studies.
In developing this new critical field of “norm science,” Professor Hyden notes the emergence of the post-industrial society in which we have seen new scientific revolutions, involving new sets of regulations and legal rules in such realms as digital technologies, genetic engineering, and quantum computing, thus resulting in the growing specialization and fragmentation of scientific professions that inevitably led to further new sets of social expectations and socio-legal obligations. These innovative developments and the resulting variation in normative expectations and obligations that developed across disciplinary fields led Professor Hyden to propose this holistic and groundbreaking approach—“the science of norms.” His work is in line with the tradition of such critical thinkers as Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and other European philosophers and scholars, whose theories postulated the law as an important element of the social fabric of advanced society, civilization, and the global order. Further, Professor Hyden’s work draws on voluminous examinations of cognitive-based normative sciences as developed and advanced in Europe and elsewhere as he conducts his own ingenious intellectual exploration of normative scholarship in the field of the sociology of law.
Professor Hyden’s work employs multifaceted methodologies, empirical analyses, and critical science approaches. In drawing on various methodologies used in legal anthropology, for example, which is devoted to examining the nature of legal rules in comparison with tribal or societal norms, he probes the utility of legal pluralism in relation to “a tendency to equate legal rules with societal norms” (p. 255), including formal state law, customary law, religious law, and informal dispute resolution rules and regulations. Professor Hyden’s research is also grounded in critical inductive, empirical methods, drawing on case-studies to examine legal practices and norms in specific cultural and social contexts. In this way, his work seeks to understand how legal norms are interpreted, applied, and contested by individuals and communities in real-world settings. Additionally, his empirical research takes into account the dynamics of legal change and reform, including how legal norms have been affected by specific social, economic, and political contexts emerging over time in response to cultural and environmental changes, technological shifts, as well as socio-legal transformations.
Professor Hyden’s research strategy further explores the tensions between normative and practical dimensions of norms, as induced by legal innovations and technological adaptation, and critically interrogates their impacts upon the formation and development of new legal norms by a multitude of active socio-legal agencies, such as legal professionals, political activists, governments, and private institutions, including transnational corporations. Because of his multifaceted applications and interdisciplinary narratives, Professor Hyden’s theory and research in the science of norms have significant applicability in China, particularly because of China’s recent advancement in the fields of AI, genomics, cyber-security, quantum computing, and other cutting-edge high-tech innovations. The issue of governance may also become part of an important scientific and political agenda in considerations of whether to adopt interdisciplinary perspectives, drawing upon such distinct fields as anthropology, political science, philosophy, economics, psychology, law, and other social science and behavioural disciplines, as well as such natural science fields as genetics and such discrete mathematics fields as algorithms, computer sciences, Internet studies, HCI, and other innovative fields, in order to analyze the complex and emerging relationship between law and society. Professor Hyden’s innovative approach to the sociology of law as the science of norms involves the adoption of these kinds of interdisciplinary perspectives. His approach is of great significance, as shifting sources of new systems of norms are being generated by advanced technologies, changing socioeconomic apparatuses, and leading to techno-legal adaptations in society. Professor Hyden’s work aims to bridge the gap separating the multiplicity of scientific disciplines in order to provide a holistic view and interdisciplinary understanding of norms and the critical roles they play in advanced society.
Professor Hyden’s book presents his approach to the sociology of law as the science of norms and is composed of seven distinct, yet closely intertwined, chapters. Chapter One serves to establish the sociology of law framework and to develop a science of norms as an independent and distinct scholarly field of scientific inquiry based on analytic, empirical approaches. In examining the “circle of motives” of tensions between individual and systemic factors affecting human behaviour, this chapter offers detailed historical discussions of various theories and disciplines developed in Europe that went through periods of rapid transformation. Viewing the effects of the “atomization” and “disassembly” of scientific fields “as a result of increased specialization, both on a micro and macro level” (p. 45), Professor Hyden emphasizes the necessity to “assemble” these atomized fields and to place sociology—especially the sociology of law—at the core of the scientific interrogation of society, focusing on the interaction between individuals and the state, its institutions, and its allies. He expands on his “assemblage” and “synergetic” approaches by incorporating the socioeconomic, political, and religious macro-driving forces at work, as both influencing and being influenced by varied experiences based on gender, race, ethnicity, and other socio-cognitive identities. Professor Hyden also explores the possibilities inherent in building his science of norms based on systems and conditions of society-nature relations. Chapter Two explores the two competing normative worlds of “lifeworld” and “systems” paradigms and their internal changes over time, as developed by Habermas and other critical thinkers. Further analysis uses the “S-Curve”—an indexical concept developed for studying economic fluctuations and social evolution from the so-called “handcraft” society to industrial and cyber-digital social systems. Chapter Three focuses on the analysis of norms and action systems, interrogating various forms of system-generated norms and knowledge in economics, game theory, and technology. Chapter Four shifts the analytic lens to focus on the role of law as a system of norms, exploring the “substratum of law” as set forth by Austrian jurist Karl Renne. In this approach, legal norms are shaped by socioeconomic relations embedded within economic and political structures as well as the material condition of society as manifested in class interests, power dynamics, and cultural values.
Chapter Five analyzes the evolution of norms and law from the market economy during the industrial age to the transitional society of the highly advanced digital-technology information era, as predicted by Manuel Castells and other critical scholars. Chapter Six analyzes theories of the development of law and legal change, and interrogates other dimensions of normative effects as seen in environmental law, including an analysis of the law as both mechanism and effective player in social change and societal transformation. In Chapter Seven, Professor Hyden explores the construction of a science of norms for the twenty-first century by addressing newly developed technological domains and jurisdictions, including genomics, algo norms, AI, and its evolving algorithm that, he contends, could soon present an imminent danger. He defines algo norms algorithms as a two-step flow of normativity, which functions both “as a technical design that addresses what to do and as a societal construct with the consequences for society,” arguing the necessity for developing a new innovative discipline of the sociology of algorithms (p. 273). Professor Hyden concludes with a strong argument for the necessity for further developing the science of norms in order to ensure that the new digital technology, including AI, would not move on to establish its own rules without substantial human input and meaningful controls on its governance and effective regulation.
Significant ramifications of the development of digital information technology in China, neighbouring regions, and beyond
Professor Hyden’s innovative scholarship on the science of norms is extremely prescient, given its applicability in the highly technologically advanced society of China, as well as in other countries that have begun to see China as the idealized model for their future development. Many economists have acknowledged that China has already become the largest digital and high-tech market, including mobile commerce (m-commerce) related to buying and selling goods and services through wireless devices such as smartphones and tablets. Many scientists have also recognized that China has surpassed the US and other industrialized Western societies in such key areas of scientific and technological innovation as AI, robotics, renewable green technology, quantum computing, and genomics and biotechnology (Ji, Reference Ji2001, Reference Ji2021; Gill, Reference Gill2023; Smith, Reference Smith2023; Guenot, Reference Guenot2024). China also leads the world in digital and e-commerce activities through their own giant conglomerate sectors and corporations, including Alibaba, JD.com, Pinduoduo, and Tencent, among others, all of which involve the transaction of material goods and commercial services over the Internet and cyberspace, having surpassed the likes of such US companies as Amazon, e-Bay, and other Silicon Valley tech firms.
Many scientists have also acknowledged that China began to shape a new generation of transnational data governance by supplying the digital infrastructure to construct China’s “Digital Silk Road (DSR)” in emerging markets across the globe. China’s DSR also received cross-regional collaboration in building the digital infrastructure to enhance the interoperability of digital ecosystems in multiple states from East Asia to Central and West Asia, and all the way to Europe. In light of this continuing profusion of China’s advanced technology, Professor Hyden’s proposal to construct the science of norms is particularly significant because China has positioned itself to export not only its innovative, highly adoptable technology, but also its cultural norms, business practices, economic infrastructures, and governance systems to the multiplicity of host countries far beyond its own national borders. China’s impact thus extends into the rest of Asia, Europe, and Africa, where China has already made significant inroads through many decades of significant investments in the area of high-tech infrastructure development, transfers, and adaptation (Erie and Steinz, Reference Erie and Steinz2021). Professor Hyden’s scholarship thus will have a significant impact on the understanding of new sets of global norms, legal rules, and system governance in coming years and decades, as China’s global reach continues to facilitate widespread infrastructure development, access to capital and technology, and economic growth by creating jobs, boosting exports, and attracting further investment.
Genomic socio-legal norms
China’s efforts to develop new norms are also observed in the significant advancement in genomics and biotechnology in areas of gene editing (e.g. CRISPR technology), synthetic biology, and medical applications. In the area of advanced stem cell research and development, China continues to create an innovative platform for discussions and debates related to ethical issues, patient safety, and legal regulations. The oversight of clinical trials involving stem cell therapies and related discussions has grown more intensified in China than in countries in the West. Stem cell research in the US, for instance, has been subjected to strict government guidelines on the use of embryonic stem cells. For example, genetic and genomic research has been subject to significant oversight by multiple government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration. In China, stem cell research is similarly regulated by the government, and many other governments have been concerned with such issues as the purpose of stem cell research, sources of stem cells, and the parties with which knowledge is shared, among others. Some of their concerns became reality in 1996 when the first successful cloning of a “non-human” animal was achieved by a team of scientists at the Roslin Institute in Scotland, UK, resulting in the birth of Dolly the sheep. Since cloning is one of the most significant projects that have involved legal intervention, in the form of regulations and restrictions, the Human Genome Organization was established in 1998 as an international organization charged with co-ordinating efforts in the field of human genetics.
Given the great necessity for creating legal rules in relation to bioengineering research and the human genome project, Professor Hyden argues that research on stem cells, in particular, offers “fundamental ethical questions” because “the most importance source of human stem cells is aborted fetuses” (p. 143). When a Chinese scientist claimed to have created the world’s first genetically edited twins using CRISPR-Cas9 technology, the Chinese government quickly launched an investigation into the scientist’s work (Wee, Reference Wee2019). In December 2019, the scientist was sentenced to three years in prison for illegal medical practice.
The advent of new technology dealing with questions of “life” and death led to new sets of legal rules and regulations, which clashed on numerous occasions with the intrinsic human desire to freely engage in inquiries and creative endeavours, thus raising new forms of moral and ethical questions concerning normative scientific standards to be adopted in a technologically advanced society. Professor Hyden’s proposal to create the science of norms is highly applicable to the vital ongoing discussions in China’s highly advanced technologically innovative society. The completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 and further development of the Human Genome Mapping made possible the work of genetic and genomic researchers in China, as well as their collaborative work with bio-tech firms, pharmaceutical corporations, international research institutes, and other industrial partners in the West and beyond. The science of norms has become increasingly important in understanding how scientific communities, in addition to governments and their regulatory agencies, must adhere to institutional expectations and newly emerged legal mandates. The science of norms approach also aids in gaining deeper insights into shared expectations, obligations, beliefs, and behaviours in response to new sets of social, political, and legal-technological changes in China and elsewhere.
Cyber-norms and the sociology of algorithms
Another critical area in which Professor Hyden’s proposal makes a significant contribution is the development of the sociology of algorithms as a pillar that is parallel to the formation of norm science for the sociology of law. Professor Hyden notes that algorithms have begun to mediate social norms and practices in communication, cultural production, decision-making, surveillance, and governance behaviour, and that it is thus imperative to understand how researchers have used algorithms to shape, design, and enforce a predesigned set of normative behaviours. With the integration of AI into the machine-learning algorithms, the development of the sociology of algorithms has become a crucial factor in helping social researchers, policy-makers, and technology developers to understand the social implications of algorithms in the formulation of government policies, ethical practices, and policy-making in highly advanced Chinese society. China’s technological advances in scientific fields cover a wide range, from machine learning and the varying applications of algorithmic models to more advanced “human” robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles (or drones), self-driving cars, surveillance sensors, and virtual realities. These innovations are posing previously unknown challenges to both government and private institutions. With the development of these new technologies and their practical applications, the normative consequences of these changes have become even more visible, thereby leading to increased empirical research and critical investigation of the complexity of human social behaviours and interactions in contemporary society. Further, advances in technology and scientific innovations, new computational tools, experimental design, and digital intervention studies all allow researchers to explore the mechanisms underlying normative behaviours and thus to contribute to the development of norm sciences in China as well as in other countries and regions around the globe.
Conclusions
For the last several decades, Professor Hyden’s contribution to the field of the sociology of law has been immeasurable. Since the beginning of the millennium, he has been recognized as one of the leading socio-legal scholars in this field. With his strong leadership and collaborative endeavours, a large research group has emerged that works to critically interrogate human choices and behaviours through introducing the common theme of norms as a scientific method of inquiry, and defining norms to fit into the context of the sociology of law. His leadership and collaborative work have thus far resulted in many doctoral theses, senior monographs, research reports, articles, and contributions to various anthologies. Professor Hyden’s scholarship clearly helped initiate a paradigmatic shift leading to sociology of law becoming a more inclusive global field, and this has encouraged scholars from other fields to build upon his pioneering contributions. His continued analysis and further development of the science of norms may also help in understanding any potentially negative outcomes that could emerge with the rapid development of new cutting-edge technologies.
In examining the multiplicity of legal and other norms developed in highly advanced technological society, Professor Hyden acknowledges the enormous challenges that society will be facing in the future, as the legal system must deal with a new assembly of different norms and rules, such as cyber and algo norms and other innovations created and advanced by AI, quantum computing, bioengineering, and cybernetically constructed virtual realities, many of which have yet to come to fruition. Given the S-Curve projection of the evolution of technology, including the effect of digitization and algorithms that gave rise to AI, Professor Hyden warns that digital technology and AI could tend to lead to a weakening of the state and government authority. This is especially true because “a unique feature of AI as a regulatory problem is its capacity for self-production … without human involvement” (pp. 291–2).
Professor Hyden further warns that the increasing sophistication in computer and digital technologies may also result in the movement of the regulatory power of politics and law away from government forces. As the political apparatus has become less and less effective, Professor Hyden foresees that technocrats, the market, and possibly AI itself may play a determining role in its governance. In his words, “[t]he market forces are the main allies of algo norms and AI” and the “misinformation, threats, fake news and manipulations have to be combated” (p. 292). In the face of these warnings, Professor Hyden’s highly significant scholarship helps us to further understand profound current challenges as well as those that lie ahead.
Sociology of Law as the Science of Norms is a groundbreaking achievement and a vital resource for socio-legal scholars, policy-makers, and academic scholars across all disciplines. Professor Hyden has drawn upon many distinct fields of scientific inquiry in the formation of the science of norms and this book should attract scholars, teachers, and students from many behavioural disciplines, including anthropology, political science, sociology, philosophy, economics, history, psychology, law, and other cognitive and applied fields. As this book focuses on the complex and intertwined relationship between AI and emerging revolutionary technologies in society, it should also attract considerable attention from scholars who are specialized in the field of discrete mathematics, including those engaged in the areas of algorithms, computer science, Internet studies, HCI, behavioural genetics, genetic engineering, and innovative fields of neurogenetic and cognitive research. Professor Hyden’s sustained scholarship and innovative analysis are evidenced in this masterpiece, which will serve as foundational work for socio-legal researchers, legal practitioners, and a wide range of critical scholars for many years to come.
