Digital Commons Network^™

Australia's Constitution Works Because It Doesn't Define National Identity, Gregory C. Melleuish

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

When Australia’s Founding Fathers came together in the 1890s to draw up a constitution to enable the colonies to federate, what did they think they were doing? Looking at the debates and the Constitution itself, one thing is certain. They were not drawing up a document that defined what it means to be an Australian.

They were engaged in creating a document that would be acceptable to all parties and enshrined the political and legal principles which they had inherited from Great Britain. They looked to their British inheritance because they believed, quite correctly, that the (unwritten) British Constitution worked. …

'Identity' And Governance In Synthetic Biology: Norms And Counter Norms In The 'International Genetically Engineered Machine' (Igem) Competition, David W. Mercer

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

A number of commentaries preoccupied with the legal, social and ethical implications of synthetic biology have emphasised that an important element shaping options for its future governance will be the normative ethos that is adopted by the emerging field. One venue that has regularly been identified as central to the development of this normative ethos is the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition, an annual synthetic biology competition, which attracts thousands of students from across the world. The ideal values promoted by iGEM of collaboration, interdisciplinarity, sharing of results, and overt commitment to the consideration of social and ethical implications …