I joined UNSW Law School in October 2012, having taught at the University of Bristol, UK for seven years as Professor of Socio-legal Studies. Prior to Bristol, I taught at the University of Oxford for six years in association with the Centre for Socio-legal Studies, and both St Hilda’s College (1999-2001) and Wadham College (2002-2005). A very long time ago, I taught at the University of Sydney Law School. I am currently Professor of Law at UNSW Law.
My research has long focused on transformations of the regulatory state in both national-comparative and transnational contexts, with a particular interest in the interaction between the technocratic interstices of regulation and collective commitments to democracy, conviviality and ecological sustainability. More recently, I have focused on new and diverse economies, mostly of the kind affiliated with solidarity and the creation of a commons, and the tensions between these and recent developments in sharing or platform economies. Empirically I have most recently explored energy, food, water and new kinds of lawyers.
Past projects include research on access to urban water services in comparative perspective (funded by the UK Economic and Social Sciences Research Council); two projects with Navroz Dubash of the Centre for Policy Studies in India, funded by the International Development Research Centre of Canada (on the rise of the regulatory state in the developing world and on sub-national and local dimensions of climate change policy in developing countries, particularly India and South Africa); and an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship on legal and regulatory support structures for social activists and social enterprises responding to climate change in Australia and the UK.
My ongoing work is on new legal models for social enterprise and emerging solidarity or commons-based economies, with a particular focus on platform cooperativism. I have also recently concluded two projects as a PLuS Alliance Fellow: one on urban agriculture and the other on bottom-up participatory approaches to implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Book Chapters
Morgan B; McDermont M; Innes M, 2020, 'Towards an Organic Model of Regulation’', in McDermont M; Cole T; Newman J; Piccini A (ed.), Imagining Regulation Differently: Co-creating for Engagement, Policy Press, Bristol
Morgan B; Kuch D, 2020, 'Diverse legalities: Pluralism and Instrumentalism', in Gibson K; Dombrowski K (ed.), Handbook of Diverse Economies, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK
Morgan B, 2019, 'Transcending the Corporation: Social Enterprise, Cooperatives and Commons-Based Governance', in Clarke T; O'Brien J; O'Kelley CRT (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Corporation, Oxford University Press, pp. 667 - 686, https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198737063.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780198737063-e-28
Morgan B, 2018, 'The Multi-Scalar Regulatory Challenge of the Sharing Economy from the Perspective of Platform Cooperativism and the Social and Solidarity Economy', in Davidson N; Finck M; Infranca J (ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Law of the Sharing Economy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781108255882
Morgan B; Kuch D, 2017, 'Sharing Subjects and Legality: Ambiguities in Moving Beyond Neoliberalism', in Higgins V; Larner W (ed.), Assembling Neoliberalism: Expertise, Practices, Subjects, Palgrave MacMillan, New York, pp. 219 - 242, http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58204-1
Morgan B; McNeill J; Blomfeld I, 2017, 'THE LEGAL ROOTS OF A SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENT ECONOMY: NEW KINDS OF LEGAL ENTITIES, NEW KINDS OF LAWYERS?', in Levy R; O'Brien M; Rice S; Ridge P; Thornton M (ed.), NEW DIRECTIONS FOR LAW IN AUSTRALIA: ESSAYS IN CONTEMPORARY LAW REFORM, ANU Press, Canberra, pp. 399 - 406, http://dx.doi.org/10.22459/NDLA.09.2017
Sterrett S; Morgan B, 2015, 'Regulation and Administration', in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences: Second Edition, pp. 160 - 165, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.86103-6
Morgan B, 2015, 'Upside Down and Inside Out: Regulators and Regulatory Processes in Contemporary Perspective', in Sarat A; Ewick P (ed.), The Handbook of Law and Society, John Wiley & Sons, pp. 150 - 167
Dubash N; Morgan B, 2013, 'The Embedded Regulatory State: Between Rules and Deals', in Dubash N; Morgan B (ed.), The Rise of the Regulatory State of the South Infrastructure and Development in Emerging Economies, Oxford University press, Oxford, pp. 279 - 296, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199677160.003.0017
Dubash N; Morgan B, 2013, 'The Rise of the Regulatory State of the South: The Infrastructure of Development', in Dubash N; Morgan B (ed.), The Rise of the Regulatory State of the South: Infrastructure and Development in Emerging Economies, OUP Oxford, pp. 1 - 26
McDermont M; Morgan B; Cowan D, 2012, 'Socio-legal Studies Module: the Bristol Experience', in Hunter C (ed.), Integrating Socio-legal Studies Into the Law Curriculum, Palgrave MacMillan, UK
Morgan BB, 2012, 'Rights and Regulation as a Framework for Exploring Reverse Legal Transfers: Hegemony and Counter-Hegemony in the Bolivian Water Sector', in Law and Society, pp. 82 - 119
Morgan BB, 2012, 'Rights and Regulation as a Framework for Exploring Reverse Legal Transfers: Hegemony and Counter-Hegemony in the Bolivian Water Sector', in Gillespie J; Nicholson P; Nicholson P (ed.), Law and Development and the Global Discourses of Legal Transfers, Cambridge University Press, UK, pp. 82 - 118, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139093576.006
Morgan B, 2012, 'The Limits of Transnational Transformations of the State: Comparative Regulatory Regimes in Water Service Delivery', in Shaffer GC (ed.), Transnational Legal Ordering and State Change, Cambridge University Press, pp. 180 - 211
Morgan B, 2009, 'The limits of transnational transformations of the state: Comparative regulatory regimes in the delivery of urban water services', in Transnational Legal Ordering and State Change, pp. 180 - 211, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139206662.007
Morgan BB, 2008, 'Consuming without Paying: Stealing or Campaigning? The Civic Implications of Civil Disobedience around Access to Water', in Soper K; Trentmann F (ed.), Citizenship and Consumption, Palgrave Macmillan
Morgan B, 2007, 'The Intersection of Rights and Regulation: New Directions in Sociolegal Scholarship', in Morgan B (ed.), , pp. 1 - 20
Journal articles
Morgan B; Thorpe A, 2018, 'Introduction: Law for a new economy: Enterprise, sharing, regulation', Journal of Law and Society, vol. 45, pp. 1 - 9, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jols.12075
Morgan B, 2018, 'Telling stories beautifully: Hybrid legal forms in the new economy', Journal of Law and Society, vol. 45, pp. 64 - 83, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jols.12079
Morgan B; Bai S; Bhaskar J, 2018, 'Competitive Neutrality and the Challenge of Social Enterprise', Australian Journal of Competition and Consumer Law, vol. 25, http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/unsworks_49847
Morgan B; Bai S; Bhaskar J, 2018, 'Competitive neutrality and the challenge of social enterprise', Competition and Consumer Law Journal, https://www.unsworks.unsw.edu.au/primo-explore/fulldisplay?vid=UNSWORKS&docid=unsworks_modsunsworks_52135&fromSitemap=1
Morgan B, 2018, 'Legal Models Beyond the Corporation in Australia: Plugging a Gap or Weaving a Tapestry?', Social Enterprise Journal, vol. 14, pp. 180 - 193, http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/SEJ-02-2017-0011
Morgan B, 2018, 'The sharing economy', Annual Review of Law and Social Science, vol. 14, pp. 351 - 366, http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-101317-031201
Morgan B; Maloney M, 2017, 'Building an ecologically healthy and socially just economic system: the New Economy Network of Australia', Australian Environment Review, pp. 131 - 134
Morgan B, 2017, 'Regulatory Transformations. Rethinking Economy - Society Interactions', LAW & SOCIETY REVIEW, vol. 51, pp. 451 - 453, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/lasr.12270
Morgan B, 2017, 'Lawyers, Legal Advice and Relationality in Sustainable Economy Initiatives', Oñati Socio-Legal Series, vol. 7, http://www.opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/869
Barraket J; Douglas H; Eversole R; Mason C; McNeill J; Morgan B, 2017, 'Classifying social enterprise models in Australia', Social Enterprise Journal, vol. 13, pp. 365 - 391, http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/SEJ-09-2017-0045
Chandrashekeran S; Morgan B; Coetzee K; Christoff P, 2017, 'Re-thinking the Green State beyond the Global North: A South African climate change case study', Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: WIREs Climate Change, vol. 8, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/wcc.473
Morgan B; Kuch DL, 2016, 'The Socio-Legal Implications of the New Politics of Climate Change', University of New South Wales Law Journal, vol. 39, pp. 1715 - 1740, http://www.unswlawjournal.unsw.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/39-4-1.pdf
Kuch D; Morgan B, 2015, 'Dissonant Justifications: an organisational perspective of support for Australian community energy', People, Place and Policy Online, vol. 9, pp. 177 - 189, http://dx.doi.org/10.3351/ppp.0009.0003.0002
Morgan B; Kuch D, 2015, 'Radical Transactionalism: Legal Consciousness, Diverse Economies, and the Sharing Economy', Journal of Law and Society, vol. 42, pp. 556 - 587, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2015.00725.x
Morgan B, 2015, 'Legal Imagination and the Sharing Economy', Stir, vol. 9
Morgan B; Kuch D, 2015, 'Dissonant Justifications: Community Energy Lessons from Pingala', People, Place and Policy Online, vol. 9, pp. 177 - 189, http://dx.doi.org/10.3351/ppp.0009.0003.000
Morgan B, 2014, 'Water Rights Between Social Activism and Social Enterprise', Journal of Human Rights and the Environment, vol. 5, pp. 25 - 48, http://dx.doi.org/10.4337/jhre.2014.01.0
Morgan B, 2014, 'Bringing Politics Back In: The Trajectory of the Regulatory State of the South', Revista del CLAD Reforma y Democracia, vol. 60, pp. n/a - n/a, http://old.clad.org/portal/publicaciones-del-clad/revista-clad-reforma-democracia/articulos/060-octubre-2014/bringing-politics-back-in-the-trajectory-of-the-regulatory-state-of-the-south
Morgan B, 2014, 'Bringing politics back in: The trajectory of the regulatory State of the South', Reforma y Democracia, vol. 60, pp. 5 - 26
Morgan B, 2014, 'Limiting Resources: Market-Led Reform and the Transformation of Public Goods', CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGY-A JOURNAL OF REVIEWS, vol. 43, pp. 213 - 215, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0094306114522415n
Morgan MB; Halliday S, 2013, 'I Fought the Law and the Law Won? Legal Consciousness and the Critical Imagination', Current Legal Problems, vol. 66, pp. 1 - 32, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/clp/cut002
Morgan B, 2012, 'Understanding the rise of the regulatory state of the South', Regulation and Governance, vol. 6, pp. 261 - 281, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-5991.2012.01146.x
Morgan BB, 2008, 'Building Bridges Between Regulatory and Citizen Space: Civil Society Contributions to Water Service Delivery Frameworks in Cross-National Perspective', Law, Social Justice & Global Development
Morgan B; Trentmann F, 2006, 'Introduction: The politics of necessity', Journal of Consumer Policy, vol. 29, pp. 345 - 353, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10603-006-9021-2
Morgan B, 2006, 'Turning off the tap: Urban water service delivery and the social construction of global administrative law', European Journal of International Law, vol. 17, pp. 215 - 246, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chi161
Morgan B, 2006, 'The North-South politics of necessity: Regulating for basic rights between national and international levels', Journal of Consumer Policy, vol. 29, pp. 465 - 487, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10603-006-9018-x
Morgan B, 2004, 'The regulatory face of the human right to water', Journal of Water Law, vol. 15, pp. 179 - 186
Morgan B, 2003, 'The Economization of Politics: Meta-Regulation as a Form of Nonjudicial Legality', Social & Legal Studies, vol. 12, pp. 489 - 523, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0964663903012004004
Morgan B, 1999, 'Oh, reason not the need: Rights and other imperfect alternatives for those without voice', Law and Social Inquiry, vol. 24, pp. 295 - 318, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-4469.1999.tb00800.x
Morgan B, 1999, 'Unleashing rights: Law, meaning and the animal rights movement.', LAW AND SOCIAL INQUIRY-JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN BAR FOUNDATION, vol. 24, pp. 295 - 318, http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000080585200014&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=891bb5ab6ba270e68a
Reports
Morgan B; McNeill J; Blomfeld I, 2016, Where are the Community Enterprise Lawyers? Towards an effective ecosystem of legal support for small-scale sustainable economy initiatives in Australia : A Discussion Paper, http://138.25.65.17/au/journals/UNSWLRS/2016/50.html
Morgan B; Rogers M; Martin F; Greig A; Donnelly R; McNeil J; Perry A; Bennett S, 2014, Legal Models Working Group Report, Social Innovation, Entreprise and Entrepreneurship Alliance (SIEE) (2014), SIEE
Morgan B; Kuch D; Ngo J, 2013, Submission to Crowd-Sourced Equity Financing Enquiry (2013), Corporations and Market Activity Committee, Australian Federal Government
Morgan B; Bird C; Alcock R; McDermont M, 2013, Maintaining Momentum in Bristol Community Energy, Project Report for Knowledge Exchange Grant with Bristol Energy Network, Bristol Energy Network
Edited Books
Morgan PB, 2013, The Intersection of Rights and Regulation New Directions in Sociolegal Scholarship, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Dubash N; Morgan B, (ed.), 2013, The Rise of the Regulatory State of the South: Infrastructure and Development in Emerging Economies, Oxford University Press
Books
Morgan B, 2011, Water on Tap Rights and Regulation in the Transnational Governance of Urban Water Services, Cambridge University Press, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511974823
Morgan B, 2009, Foreword, http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203863527
Morgan B; Yeung K, 2007, An Introduction to Law and Regulation Text and Materials, Cambridge University Press
Morgan B, 2003, Social Citizenship in the Shadow of Competition The Bureaucratic Politics of Regulatory Justification, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.