Law School

Photo of Dr S D Lulz

Dr S D Lulz

Lecturer

S.d.Lulz@exeter.ac.uk

Amory B104F

Overview

I am a Lecturer (Education and Research) at the Exeter Law School (Streatham Campus). I have been developing my teaching and research broadly at the intersection of law, technology, and the land.

For Office Hours, please go here to book an appointment.

Additional resources for students may be found here.

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Research

My core interest lies in the politics of knowledge production in Western(-ised) as well as Indigenous knowledge systems and its implications for justice or response-able living and dying. This interest translates into:

Law and Humanities: Indigenous Legal Philosophies, Law, Spirituality & Magic, Law and Anthropocenes, Critical Caste Studies, Post- and Decolonial Legal Studies, Legal Aesthetics and Materiality, Law's Spatial Turn, Uncertainty, Legal & Technological Time

Law and Technology: Digital Labour and Political Economy, Data Governance, Algorithmic Accountability and Algorithmic Justice, Copyright Law and Access to Knowledge, Protection of Traditional Knowledges, Environmental, Land, and Space Law

Research group links

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Supervision

SD welcomes PhD research proposals for critical research projects in legal theory or law and humanities, especially on themes of law, culture, knowledge/epistemic production, legal aesthetics, digital labour, magic/spirituality, land/ecology or technology.

SD is also able to supervise LLB and LLM dissertations on law, media, and technology themes as well as on theoretical approaches in land and environmental law.

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Publications

Copyright Notice: Any articles made available for download are for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the copyright holder.

| 2024 | 2023 | 2021 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2012 |

2024

2023

2021

  • Waseem Z, Lulz S, Bingel J, Augenstein I. (2021) Disembodied Machine Learning: On the Illusion of Objectivity in NLP. [PDF]
  • Lulz S, Riegner M. (2021) Freedom of expression and hate speech, Democratic Constitutionalism in India and the European Union: Comparing the Law of Democracy in Continental Polities, 191-222.

2018

  • Lulz S. (2018) The Classification of Digital Labour as a Constitutional Problem: Mapping the Collaborative Economy for a Social Europe. [PDF]

2017

  • Lulz S. (2017) Zero-Rating as the Demon and the Saviour: Rethinking Net Neutrality and the Freedom of Expression for the Global South, Indian Journal of Law and Technology, volume 13, no. 2. [PDF]

2016

  • Lulz S. (2016) The Defence of Public Interest as an Exception to Copyright: New Developments on the Indian Front, NLIU Journal of Intellectual Property Law.
  • Lulz S. (2016) Concentration of Media Ownership and the Imagination of Free Speech, Economic and political weekly. [PDF]

2015

  • Lulz S. (2015) Rethinking Law's Role in Development of the Internet.
  • Lulz S. (2015) Creating Authority of Law Over a New Technology: Reflections from Shreya Singhal.
  • Lulz S. (2015) Net Neutrality for a Web of Equals.
  • Lulz S, et al. (2015) Report on Consultation on Net Neutrality in the Indian Context: Reality v. Rhetoric.
  • Lulz S. (2015) The Role of Classification in Facilitating Identities for the Internet: The Case of VoIP Regulation.
  • Lulz S. (2015) Making a Classification Choice for the Internet: Between the Visible Car Parts and the Invisible Pizza Delivery.
  • Lulz S. (2015) Governing Speech on the Internet: From the Free Marketplace Policy to a Controlled ‘Public Sphere’.
  • Lulz S. (2015) Media Ownership and the Marketplace of Ideas, Economic and political weekly, volume 50, no. 22. [PDF]

2012

  • Lulz S. (2012) An Introduction to the Issues in Internet Governance.

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External impact and engagement

Selected Invited Talks: 

  • 2023. London School of Economics, 'A Proposal for Earthy Data: Decolonising Data Governance'
  • 2022.  The Digital Everyday, Design Beku, Bengaluru & Point of View, Mumbai, 'The Politics of Data Production: An Indigenous-Feminist Theory for the Material Exclusions of Algorithmic Practice'
  • 2022.  4th International Data Power Conference, University of Sheffield, ‘Conceptual Roundtable: Decolonisation, Law, and Data’
  • 2021. Centre for Internet Law and Policy, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, ‘Rethinking Law’s Data: Accounting for Invisibilised Labour in Big Data’s Supply Chain’
  • 2019. Free University Berlin, ‘Accounting for Predictive Computing: Data Control v. Labour Exploitation in the EU’
  • 2019. Integrative Research Institute Law and Society, Humboldt University of Berlin, ‘Critical Cartographical Methods for Developing Interdisciplinary Research’
  • 2016. National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore, ‘Zero-Rating as the Demon and the Saviour for Internet Access’
  • 2016. Sarai, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi, ‘Infrastructure as Content: Media Infrastructure Regulation and Legitimacy for Media Content’
  • 2015. York University, Toronto, ‘Globalisation and Inequality in India: Legal Hurdles to Inclusive Media’
  • 2015. Women’s Christian College, University of Madras, ‘Negotiating Net Neutrality Design between Media Diversity and Media Access’
  • 2014. University of Calcutta, ‘The Problem of Piracy: Perspectives from the Issue of Access to Knowledge’
  • 2014. Christ University, Bangalore, ‘Access to Internet and the Constitutional Law on Free Expression’
  • 2014. National Law University, New Delhi, ‘Media Infrastructure and Issues in Competition Law’
  • 2014. Jamia Millia Islamia Central University, New Delhi, ‘Media Diversity in India: A Comparative Jurisprudence of Newspapers and Television’
  • 2014. Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, ‘Media Ownership and the Imagination of Free Speech’
  • 2014. Venkatappa Art Gallery, Bangalore, ‘Illicit Bodies!: Living between Law and Art’ 

Selected Artistic Interventions:

  • 2022.  An online roleplaying game highlighting the violence of and connections between AI supply chains and AI epistemologies (development funded as part of a Mozilla Foundation fellowship project)
  • 2015. Collaborative Workshop with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage. Designed and conducted intellectual property and documentation training workshop for the preservation of intangible cultural heritage and traditional knowledges in southern India
  • 2015. The Free Speech Journal, a graphic pamphlet illustrating the legal history of the freedom of expression in modern India (collaboration with Alternative Law Forum and By Two Design, funded by Ford Foundation India)
  • 2014. Nirankusha: Fearless, Speak, a multi-venue exhibition and performance arts festival showcasing work by artists from across South Asia on issues of censorship, law, and power (collaborative curation and organisation with Alternative Law Forum, CAMP, and Maraa—Media and Arts Collective, supported by Goethe-Institut, Bangalore)

Selected Op-Eds:

  • 2018. Gendered Reality Gaps: How “Objective” Machine Learning Contributes to Intersectional Exploitation, GenderIT.org [link]
  • 2016. Re-imagining Zero Rating: How Should TRAI Juggle Internet Access and Net Neutrality?, The Wire [link]
  • 2016. Geospatial Bill: Another Attempt to Control the Free Flow of Information, The Wire [link]
  • 2016. Aadhar Bill: Why Classification Matters in Law Making, The Hoot [link]
  • 2016. Five Net Neutrality Myths Busted, The Hoot [link]
  • 2015. How Internet.org Presents an Opportunity to Rethink Freedom of Speech, Medianama [link]
  • 2015. Five Reasons Why Media Monopolies Flourish in India, Scroll.in [link]
  • 2014. Striving for Plurality of Media: The Promises and Shortcomings of TRAI’s Recommendations on Media Ownership, Kafila [link]

Selected Legislative and Policy Briefs:

  • 2015. Response to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Consultation Paper on Regulatory Framework for Over-the-top (OTT) Services, On behalf of Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore [link]
  • 2015. Countercomments submitted to the TRAI Consultation on Regulation of Over-the-Top Services (Internet Apps), On behalf of Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore [link]
  • 2014. IANA Transition: Background & Overview, (with Geetha Hariharan), On behalf of Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore [link]
  • 2014. The Future of IANA Transition, {co-authored with Geetha Hariharan}, together On behalf of Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore [link]
  • 2014. Response to Law Commission’s Consultation Paper on Media Laws (with Lawrence Liang, Namita Malhotra & Danish Sheikh), On behalf of Alternative Law Forum [link]
  • 2013. Response to The Rajya Sabha (Upper House, Parliament) on Petition Concerning Cyber Pornography (with Lawrence Liang & Namita Malhotra), On behalf of Alternative Law Forum [link]

Selected Press Mentions:

  • 2016. Bloomberg Law, 'Facebook Denial Just Start of India Net Neutrality War' [link]
  • 2015. The Hindu, 'Some Basic Questions' [link]
  • 2015. The Indian Express, 'Net Neutrality Debate Hots Up' [link]
  • 2015. The Week, '66A Dead, Long Live 66A!' [link]
  • 2014. The Hindu, 'A New Template for Media Regulation' [link]
  • 2014. Deccan Herald, 'Exploring Creative Spaces' [link]
  • 2014. The Telegraph, 'Points Pegged to Piracy' [link]

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Teaching

Modules taught

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Biography

S D Lulz (they/it) joined Exeter Law School as a Lecturer (Education & Research) at the start of November 2022. Prior to this, it defended its doctoral dissertation (summa cum laude) at the Faculty of Law, Humboldt University of Berlin (HU). At HU, it was also a member of the graduate school network Unity and Difference in the European Legal Area at the European Law School as well as associated with the Chair for Public and Comparative Law. SD completed its LLM in European and European Legal Studies from Europa-Kolleg, University of Hamburg and has worked as a legal research & policy consultant within the civil society space in India, engaging with governments, industry, and academia predominantly on digital rights, access to knowledge (A2K) and the regulatory politics of internet and media technologies. It has also served as a Visiting Lecturer at the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media, Bangalore and taught at HU Berlin and NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.

Currently, SD is working on a monograph that synthesises Indigenous theories of knowledge with critical theory to map and critique the construction of data as an object/subject of governance within the modern Western legal form. SD's research interests lie in exploring the entangled politics of law, technology, and anthropocenes—particularly in bringing decolonial Indigenous, anticaste and queerfeminist praxes into conversation with the expanding field of law and technology. In doing so, it seeks to engage with environmental law, property law (including intellectual property), information law and space law as well as initiate transdisciplinary discourses with historians, geographers, anthropologists, and artists. It is also interested in reimagining the presents and futures of legal education with likeminded politically invested and critically-oriented legal academics, practitioners, and students.

SHORT BIO

  • 11/2022–present: Lecturer(E&R), University of Exeter
  • 10/2017–03/2022: DAAD-GSSP Scholar and Doctoral Researcher, Humboldt University of Berlin. Doctoral Thesis titled: "Unsettling Data: Law's Representationalism and the Politics of Exclusion," summa cum laude
  • 10/2016–09/2017: L.L.M. in European and European Legal Studies, Europa-Kolleg, University of Hamburg, summa cum laude. Recipient of the German Academic Exchange Scholarship (DAAD)
  • 06/2014–09/2016: Legal Consultant, Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore & New Delhi
  • 08/2014–12/2015: Visiting Lecturer, Indian Institute for Journalism and New Media, Bangalore
  • 05/2015–11/2015: Sarai Fellow for Short-Term Research on Social and Digital Media, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi
  • 06/2013–11/2015: Legal Consultant, Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore
  • 01/2013–06/2013: Legal Consultant, Software Freedom Law Center, New Delhi
  • 12/2012–2/2013: Research Intern, National Judicial Academy, Bhopal
  • 07/2008–04/2013: B.A., L.L.B. (Hons.), National Law Institute University, Bhopal

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