1 Behaviour on a Beer Mat: Law, Interdisciplinarity & Expertise NICKY PRIAULX & MARTIN WEINEL* Introduction In this paper we seek to offer an original theoretical platform for thinking about the nature of legal knowledge produced through ‘legal interdisciplinarity’. The context for our discussion is the emergence of a ‘behavioural boom’ in the field of law where researchers increasingly turn to fields like behavioural economics and allied disciplines as a means of encouraging shifts in legal and social governance architecture. Our contribution raises serious concerns about the capacity of legal researchers to meaningfully navigate non-legal domains and the value of such work in policy-making terms. While the considerations raised here are not restricted to legal knowledge as it emerges through the scholastic interdisciplinary paradigm this is the primary vehicle we use to operationalize our concerns.1 We articulate our concerns through a case study which illustrates both the promise and perils of legal interdisciplinarity by focusing upon the work of two American researchers, Samuel Bagenstos and Margo Schlanger, who engage psychological theory to encourage significant shifts in the civil law of damages. While the work is indicative * Nicky Priaulx (
[email protected]),Reader in Law, Cardiff Law School, Cardiff University; Martin Weinel (
[email protected]), Research Associate, IMGAME, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University). We are very grateful to Professor Geoffrey Samuel, Kent Law School, University of Kent, U.K. for his insightful and thought-provoking comments on an earlier version of this piece, as well as offering extraordinary scholarly support in the form of lively discussion, laughter and many, many hours of email exchange.