I am a Research Scientist for law and culture at the University of Luxembourg and an Associated Member at the Centre Georg Simmel at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), where I am completing my habilitation under the supervision of Rainer Maria Kiesow.

My research delves into the dialectical dynamics between symbolic and imaginary foundations and technological progress, with a particular focus on blockchain technology. I explore the epistemological underpinnings of blockchain-based legal and societal initiatives, such as code-governed decentralized organizations, virtual property, and platforms for decentralized justice, and their impact on our understanding of law, governance, and subjectivity.

Translating Pierre Legendre’s work and completing a doctoral thesis on his oeuvre have allowed me to integrate my interdisciplinary background in law, legal philosophy, and German and French Studies into an approach that combines philosophy, legal, media, and cultural theory. Two research stays, at the Institut d’Études Avancées in Nantes (2018-2019) and at the Weizenbaum Institute in Berlin (2022), enabled me to deepen and refine this approach.

My interdisciplinary research has led to numerous scholarly publications and media appearances, including in Le Monde, Revue Esprit and on France Culture. I have also been invited to provide policy advice at the Foresight Center of the European Commission, the Federal Council for Sustainable Development in Belgium, and the Paris Bar Association.

Full CV>>

Research Interests

In my research, I am particularly guided by the following questions:
  • How does the individual become a subject? To what extent is it entangled in rigid norm structures and to what extent can it break free from them or influence them? What role do language, law and technology play in these dynamics?
  • How are legal and cultural binding paradigms changing due to increasing trans- and international networks, and not least due to decentralisation efforts?
  • What impact does digitisation have on social dynamics and the institutional structure of our society? How does the striving for more autonomous, virtually based and thus disembodied forms of life affect the foundations of our culture and concepts of subjectivity? Does this lead to a dissolution of social contexts or do new forms of community and new social ties emerge?
  • What are the ideological foundations and cultural and legal implications of blockchain technology? To what extent will it change the legal landscape? What does its quest for „decentralised justice“ and „self-sovereign identity“ mean for the traditional functioning and foundations of our legal and cultural system? What are the risks
  • What role does the body, materiality, nature play in all this?

Current research projects >>

Publications (selection)

Complete list of publications >>