Tools of Meaning: Representation, Objects, and Agency in the Technologies of Law and Religion

From depictions of saints to on-line guidance for Muslims and computer filing of legal cases, old and new technologies continue to pose questions for practitioners, scholars, and believers. This collection brings together the work of social scientists, architects, lawyers, and semioticians to probe the role of technologies in law and religion. The technologies studied include architecture, art, digital technologies (ICT), documents and scriptures, disciplines, surveillance devices and regulatory signs, symbols and practices. Law and religion are studied together since they have always shared and benefited from each other's experience with technologies, from artistic representations of emperors, saints and judges, to mutual recognition of jurisdictions and certification.