Oleg Vasilchenko M.A.

My research focuses on the relationship between technology, law, and power, with an emphasis on how technological innovations shape structures of authority and access to justice. I study the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) and mobile courts within the judiciary system of Sabah, Malaysia, analyzing how these developments influence judicial processes and broader questions of national identity, ethnicity, and statelessness. Drawing on an ethnographic approach, my work is informed by legal anthropology, the anthropology of technology, and the study of elites, critically examining how judicial institutions interact with both established hierarchies and marginalized communities. As part of the International Max Planck Research School, I contribute to discussions on law and technology across national and disciplinary boundaries. My teaching encourages students to engage critically with the intersections of technology, law, and society, with a particular interest in the contexts of Southeast and East Asia, and to analyze how structures of power are shaped and challenged.