The Constitution of Interests: Beyond the Politics of Rights 9780814723494

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The Constitution of Interest s

ADVANCE PRAIS E FO R TH E BOO K "T/ze Constitution of Interests addresse s importan t issue s withi n th e politic s o f law. Mor e specificall y i t i s concerne d t o focu s attentio n upo n th e pervasiv e institutional realit y o f lega l relation s upo n th e plethor a o f law s tha t consti tute th e politic s o f th e publi c sphere . Joh n Brigha m argue s persuasivel y tha t law shoul d b e understoo d b y referenc e t o th e divers e politica l communities , both radica l an d conservativ e whic h interpre t an d reproduc e it s r u l e / ' —Peter Goodrich , Universit y o f Londo n "A brillian t theor y o f law , rhetoric , an d movemen t politics . A n extremel y important b o o k / ' —Susan Burgess , University o f Wisconsin, Milwauke e "Socio-legal scholar s wit h a post-moder n sensibilit y hav e bee n developin g constitutive conception s o f th e la w an d o f lega l researc h fo r a t leas t th e las t decade. Joh n Brigham' s boo k move s th e constitutiv e enterpris e a significan t step forwar d an d ma y indee d hav e provide d i t wit h a foundin g document . Brigham demonstrate s tha t th e constitutiv e forc e o f th e la w i s bot h perva sive an d contingent . I n s o doing , h e breathe s ne w lif e int o E . P . Thompson' s seminal admonitio n t o abando n notion s o f th e la w a s exclusivel y a sit e o f domination (o r o f resistance ) an d t o thin k instea d o f la w a s a contingen t arena o f conflict. " —Stuart A . Scheingold, autho r o f The Politics of Rights

The Constitution of Interest s Beyond the Politics of Rights

John Brigha m

n

N E W YOR K UNIVERSIT Y New Yor k an d Londo n

NEW YOR K UNIVERSIT Y PRES S New Yor k an d Londo n ©1996 b y Ne w Yor k Universit y All right s reserve d Library o f Congres s Cataloging-in-Publicatio n Dat a Brigham, John , 1945 The constitutio n o f interests : beyon d th e politic s o f right s / John Brigham . p. cm . Includes bibliographica l reference s an d index . ISBN 0-8147-1285- 1 (alk . paper ) 1. Law—United States . 2 . Jurisprudence—Unite d States . 3. Law—Unite d States—Philosophy . 4 . La w an d politics . 5. Civi l rights—Unite d States . I . Title . KF384.B75 199 6 349.73—dc20 96-2530 1 [347.3] CI P New Yor k Universit y Pres s book s ar e printe d o n acid-fre e paper , and thei r bindin g material s ar e chose n fo r strengt h an d durability . Manufactured i n th e Unite d State s o f Americ a 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This boo k i s dedicate d t o Christine B . Harringto n Professor, studen t o f th e constitutive, activist , mother , and partner .

Contents

Preface chapter 1

chapter 2

Legal Forms : Toward a Constitutive Theory The Constitutiv e Dimensio n Beyond Symbolis m an d Pluralis m Laws and Interest s Discursive Practice s Rights to Profligacy ? Sex and AIDS, the Early Years Rights as Practic e Rights Movement s Gay Right s an d AID S

chapter 3

chapter 4

chapter 5

chapter 6

Law and Socia l Relation s Professions o f Realism : An Institutional Form Ideologies i n a Professio n The Realist Traditio n Contemporary Manifestation s Positivism a s the Academ y Remedial Law : The Ideology of Informalism Law Reform a s Form of Law The Pound Conference s Family Mediatio n Alternative s Difference an d th e Stat e Radical Lega l Consciousness : Sex and Rage Consciousness Risin g Radicalism a s Law's Form Dworkin—The Early Rag e Law, Class, and Consciousnes s The Constitutio n o f Interests: Rethinking Legalism Intellectuals an d Politic s Positivism's Hierarchie s Institutional Hegemon y Legal Politic s

Notes Bibliography Index vii

IX

1 2 6 16 20 29 30 35 38 48 51 53 56 61 71 77 81 89 94 98 103 104 106 112 120 129 130 137 141 148 155 197 219

Preface

T

he Constitution of Interests set s forth a theory o f law, rhetoric, an d movement politic s an d applie s i t to various instance s whe n Amer icans hav e organized i n th e shado w o f the law . The interests develope d in the followin g chapter s concer n ga y rights, realis m i n th e lega l acad emy, the remedia l respons e t o law calle d "informalism, " an d th e radica l feminist antipornograph y campaign . Eac h cas e illustrates th e constitu tive power of law. The events o n which I focus here , suc h a s the closin g of the ga y bath s i n Sa n Francisco an d th e earl y antipornograph y move ment, transpired roughly ten years ago. The debates about how to understand the m continu e t o occup y socia l scientist s u p t o th e presen t moment.

This boo k trie s to engage law and politic s at the ideologica l an d epis temological levels. The relationship betwee n the two, and their influenc e on publi c authority , ha s bee n on e o f my professiona l preoccupations . Law derives its power from positivis m bot h in jurisprudence an d i n philosophy. Ho w American s kno w wha t i s law an d wha t i s politics goe s a long way toward determinin g th e structur e o f authority i n this country . Law consists o f pronouncements fro m th e sovereign—suc h a s the pro tection fo r abortio n emanatin g fro m Roe v. Wade. La w is also what w e think abou t th e subject s covere d b y thos e pronouncements—fo r exam ple, that abortio n i s either a choice or that i t is murder. La w is formed i n the dynami c tensio n betwee n officia l pronouncement s an d thei r recep tion at least as much as it is formed i n legislatures and courts . Liberal lega l an d politica l theor y typicall y downplay s th e powe r o f the law to constitute socia l relations, including identity , movemen t pol itics, an d categorie s o f scholarship . A s Susan Burges s ha s said , "Whe n scholars bas e their stud y o f the la w o n libera l concept s an d categorie s such a s pluralism an d individua l interest , the y inevitabl y fai l t o see the way tha t la w create s an d maintain s hierarch y an d dominanc e i n soci ety."1 In addition, whe n politica l activists fai l t o note the powe r o f con ventional lega l forms , the y canno t understan d th e powe r o f la w t o shape their interests . ix

PREFACE

X

The constitutiv e approac h incorporate s th e tw o pole s a t whic h mos t legal theor y i s situated : th e formalist , whic h assume s tha t la w deter mines th e shap e o f socia l life , an d th e realist , whic h see s politic s an d interests drivin g society . The la w may b e what th e judge say s it is . The politics an d behavio r o f judges ar e certainly centra l feature s o f law. Bu t we can no more understand th e meaning o f judicial politic s without la w than asses s judicial behavio r withou t a bench . La w doe s no t nee d t o determine ever y aspec t o f life t o hav e a constitutive effect . La w consti tutes alon g wit h othe r socia l forces, lik e religion, family , an d entertain ment. The law we find in society we call constitutive. Hence, constitutiv e work i s a level o f analysis. B y breakin g ou t o f the dichotom y betwee n "legal" an d "political " o r betwee n "law " an d "socia l life, " w e hop e t o offer a new perspectiv e o n politics—on e tha t look s a t th e place s wher e law matters. In my work , th e la w take s a differen t for m fo r eac h o f th e group s examined. Ther e ar e multipl e form s fo r law , a plurality . Thes e form s depend o n perception , whic h i s manifested i n socia l life . A t th e sam e time, an d unlik e som e traditiona l pluralists , I recognize a centrifuga l influence i n th e form s produce d b y governin g institutions . B y begin ning wit h "rights " an d endin g wit h radicalis m o r "rage, " I have orga nized th e chapter s t o highligh t bot h th e mos t commo n conception s o f law and th e polar responses t o it. In this sense , the constitutio n o f inter ests take s u s beyon d a politics o f rights. Gay s in th e first instanc e an d radical feminists i n the second each see law as a powerful forc e in society . Law professors , wh o profes s version s o f lega l realism , an d reformers , who buil t a network o f "informal " institutions , manipulat e th e form s o f law more instrumentally . The example s i n thi s boo k sho w a mutually constitutiv e proces s b y which group s seekin g t o influence th e la w are themselves influence d b y the wa y the y understan d it . La w an d lega l forms constitut e socia l rela tions and political practice b y delineatin g possibl e movement action an d determining movemen t practice . For instance, gay s who sa w themselve s in terms of rights turned t o this form o f law in response to public healt h measures during the early years of the AID S epidemic. I demonstrate thi s constitutive dimensio n o f law through speeche s and writings o f activists in eac h movement , unde r th e premis e tha t intelligibl e communicatio n depends o n share d practices . Additionally , linguisti c activit y depend s on a context withi n whic h i t i s possible t o delineat e wh o i s engaging i n the activity an d wh o is not.

PREFACE

Each o f these movement s i s of interest o n it s own. Eac h ha s fascinat ing characters , interestin g dynamics , an d importan t consequence s fo r American la w and politics . Some , like th e campaig n fo r ga y right s an d radical feminism , ar e identit y an d lif e styl e movement s tha t ar e com monly see n a s "new. " The influence o n identit y tha t la w exerts whe n i t encourages gay s t o se e themselve s a s oppresse d minoritie s o r radica l feminists t o see themselves as outside mainstream societ y i s very impor tant t o understandin g th e constitutiv e consequence s o f la w fo r socia l relations. Law-schoo l realist s an d informalist s ofte n fai l t o recogniz e their ow n activitie s a s movements a t all . I argue tha t thi s i s because th e movement qualitie s hav e bee n hidde n withi n institutiona l an d profes sional practices , suc h a s old la w schoo l tie s or ba r associatio n economi c support, tha t ar e crucia l i n definin g socia l relation s fo r thes e move ments. Together, th e fou r area s I will examin e ar e instructive i n reveal ing ho w la w influence s socia l life . La w i s not a s prominent i n som e of these context s a s it is in, say , elections, wher e law s provide fo r PAC S o r set no limits o n privat e contribution s candidate s ca n mak e to their ow n campaigns, bu t interest s examine d ar e all important fo r wha t the y sho w about the influences o f law that g o unnoticed . This boo k move s gingerly aroun d th e notio n "empirical. " Excep t fo r the occasiona l slip , m y presentatio n o f movemen t politic s avoid s th e word a s wel l a s th e clai m tha t realit y i s somethin g tha t exist s i n a n untheorized "outer " space . Som e of my colleague s ar e stil l wedde d t o the notio n tha t th e worl d i s divide d betwee n fact s an d values . The y would pu t th e aspiratio n t o ri d th e countr y o f pornograph y o n on e side—as a value—and describ e constitutiona l protectio n fo r pornogra phers a s a fact. Ofte n the y kno w tha t thi s i s not actuall y so , or a t leas t that fashionable scholar s no longer se e things that way , but th e notion i s kept alive by language that speak s of empirical research and empiricism , critical or otherwise. 2 The problem o f this recalcitrant , lingerin g positivis m become s acut e when w e examin e politica l practices . Ordinaril y peopl e d o no t mak e a distinction betwee n th e worl d the y liv e in an d theorie s abou t it . I wil l try t o avoid tha t distinctio n a s well. I will no t spea k o f "empirica l find ings" o r o f "data " i n th e traditiona l way , becaus e th e distinctio n between fact s an d theory , betwee n th e "real " world an d th e idea s of the academy, doe s more har m tha n good . Indeed , m y whol e argumen t rest s on th e recognitio n tha t all ou r judgments—"Pornography i s violenc e against women, " "Lega l academics ten d t o b e realists"—are judgment s

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PREFACE

both o f fac t an d o f value ; th e "real " an d th e "ideal " ar e inextricabl y combined i n them . Of course, where m y argument i s not convincing , i t might b e for lac k of decen t evidenc e rathe r tha n confusio n abou t wha t th e evidenc e means. I hav e visite d th e sites , spoke n wit h participants , rea d wha t scholars an d journalists hav e said , an d ofte n participate d i n th e move ments discussed , bu t ther e wil l alway s b e other evidence . The distinc tion betwee n evidenc e an d theor y i s an aspec t o f moder n intellectua l life. Here , rathe r tha n attemptin g t o dominat e throug h virtuosit y i n either the world o f data or theory, m y effort ha s bee n to say some thing s that ar e true an d perhap s somewha t illuminating , whil e usin g whateve r sources and rhetorica l form s i t takes to accomplish tha t today . Althoug h I accept man y o f the constraint s conventionall y associate d wit h science , such a s th e nee d t o b e carefu l an d rigorous , th e nee d fo r validit y (a s against varietie s o f experience), an d th e pursui t o f truth, I do not thin k scientific researc h mus t b e plodding .

xii

I wrote thi s boo k fo r professiona l politica l scientist s an d student s o f law, som e o f who m migh t b e lega l academics . Havin g worke d i n thi s field fo r a while, I have som e sense o f the challeng e o f interdisciplinar y publishing. La w i s a literat e gian t whos e practitioner s d o no t rea d widely outside professional texts . My primary audienc e will not b e legal intellectuals bu t thos e wit h a broade r interes t i n th e field no w ofte n called "la w and society. " This includes socia l scientists, along wit h som e law schoo l teacher s an d philosophers . M y secondar y audienc e i s i n political scienc e and include s scholar s of movements an d o f law. It is my hope tha t a t leas t a substantial segmen t o f scholar s i n politica l scienc e and law—field s tha t overla p i n variou s way s wit h my own—wil l com e to tak e thi s wor k seriousl y i n th e wa y tha t reviewer s suc h a s Michae l Musheno, Susa n Burgess , Howard Gillman , an d Girardea u Span n have . The position I offer her e was initially presente d t o the Western Politi cal Science Meetings hel d a t Eugene , Oregon , i n 198 6 and comment s b y Stuart Scheingold , Ji m Foster, an d Susa n Leeso n helpe d refin e th e argu ment. Later , th e pape r wa s discusse d i n Paris , where Yves Dezalay an d Boa de Sousa Santo s added depth , particularl y wit h regar d t o the analy sis of socia l movements. That sam e year , th e Amhers t Semina r pu t o n a mini-conference, wher e comment s b y th e Semina r an d b y Dunca n Kennedy, Caro l Smart , an d Davi d Sugarma n helpe d furthe r focu s th e position. A related pape r entitle d "Right , Rag e and Remedy " wa s pub lished in 198 8 by Studies in American Political Development, an d the edi-

PREFACE

tor, Stephe n Skowronek , mad e ver y helpfu l refinements . I n the proces s of preparing thi s article , hi s editoria l colleagu e Kare n Orre n mad e per haps th e simples t an d mos t challengin g commen t o f al l whe n sh e described wha t I was doin g a s "makin g law th e independen t variable. " Since I don't thin k i n term s o f variable s ver y often , I was a t firs t per plexed b y he r remark , bu t whe n I learned wha t sh e meant, th e proposi tion provided a great dea l of pleasure. Some of the materials included her e have been presented o r publishe d elsewhere an d hav e benefite d fro m th e critica l contribution s o f scholar s in th e field s o f political scienc e an d la w an d society . The discussio n o f rights an d AID S wa s presente d o n th e pane l "Legalbodie s I " a t th e Annual Meetin g o f the La w and Societ y Associatio n i n Philadelphi a i n 1992. The discussion o f consciousness an d th e feminist antipornograph y movement wa s presented t o Christine Harrington' s semina r a t New York University i n th e summe r o f 198 9 and benefite d fro m th e contribution s of Na n Hunte r an d Sandr a Goodman . Version s o f thi s stud y hav e appeared i n th e Review of Politics, Polity an d th e Legal Studies Forum. My thank s t o editor s Davi d Papk e an d Denni s Willia m Mora n fo r th e intense collegial involvement tha t grea t editing ca n bring . Sally Merr y an d Christin e Harringto n kep t th e ide a o f lega l form s alive b y citin g "Right , Rag e an d Remedy." 3 I t i s on e thin g t o hav e a n idea, ge t i t int o print , an d hav e i t mee t wit h favorabl e comment , quit e another t o ge t a substantial bod y o f peopl e t o pa y attentio n t o it . I n a sense, this boo k i s about attention—peopl e respondin g t o my work an d people responding t o the socia l phenomenon w e call law. It is also about the consequence s o f peopl e understandin g th e rul e o f la w i n variou s ways. There reall y i s no suc h thin g a s "th e law. " Although man y o f my colleagues wan t t o believ e somethin g o f this sort , payin g li p servic e t o the diversit y o f legal forms , fe w ar e abl e consistentl y t o avoi d playin g along wit h th e idea . Th e lega l form s i n politic s abou t whic h th e titl e speaks ar e ideas in livin g o r socia l worlds. Ideas onl y matte r whe n peo ple pay attention . Thi s attention determine s th e operativ e clou t o f suc h otherwise seemingl y objectiv e consideration s a s validity an d som e obviously subjectiv e ones , like influence . Beyond al l o f thi s o r a s a foundation fo r it , I live a life tha t i s ver y heavily engage d wit h th e politic s o f law . For a social scientis t wit h a n eye on th e courts , doctrine , an d lega l practice , Amhers t offer s a grea t deal: students lik e Phyllis Rippey , Joyc e O'Connor , Rosali e Young, Ti m Carrier, Bil l Rose , an d Ala n Gaitenby ; colleague s lik e Austi n Sarat ,

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Kristin Bumiller , Sheldo n Goldman , an d Barbar a Yngvesson ; an d th e Amherst Seminar . M y discipline , eve r strivin g t o develo p a distinctiv e political scienc e o f law, ha s provide d m e with value d colleague s fro m many differen t venues , includin g Walte r Murphy , D . Marie Provine , Karen O'Connor , Marti n Shapiro , Lie f Carter , Michae l McCann , Howar d Gillman, Susa n Burgess , and Stuar t Scheingold . Thi s would al l b e suffi cient inspiratio n an d support , bu t Christin e Harringto n ha s give n m e yet more . Sh e introduced m e to th e problem s wit h disput e resolution ; she ha s bee n a n activ e lin k t o the communit y o f international scholar s whose insight s I have draw n from ; w e hav e coauthore d wor k o n ho w laws constitut e socia l relations ; an d togethe r w e ar e parents . Christin e has also shared he r resources and he r enthusias m fo r thi s work. I n grati tude fo r he r generosity , I dedicate The Constitution of Interests t o her .

xiv

Legal Form s

Toward a Constitutive Theor y

D

Chapter1

Men wante d nationa l independence largel y for economi c reasons , but the y sai d the y wanted i t becaus e thei r rights wer e invaded . Since th e pressure s they fough t agains t were firs t impose d b y law, i t wa s a natura l way t o expres s their resistance . —James Willar d Hurst , The Growth of American Law

istinctive legal forms have define d various interest s i n America n history. A constitutional confederac y bound th e Si x Nation s o f th e Iro quois. The compact draw n u p by the Pilgrims o n th e Mayflower wa s the basis for their short-live d communit y at Plymouth . Lega l routine s an d a special language establishe d th e form in whic h American s declare d thei r independence fro m Britain . The Civil War transforme d th e nature o f property an d consequentl y gav e ne w meaning t o citizenship fo r all Americans. In the early twentiet h century , conservatives cloake d thei r interest s as fundamenta l law . Th e respons e from Ne w Deal liberal s wa s to dis place the old text wit h mor e flexibl e forms o f authority . Mor e recently , rights claime d b y African American s to equal protectio n becam e the mantle under whic h man y disadvantage d groups organize d thei r interests . I n the Watergat e an d Iran-Contra scan dals, overzealous officials wer e checked by invigorate d constitutiona l limits . Agreements, proclamations , an d talk of right an d authority ar e the variegated source s of the terms of political discourse in the United States . Yet we easily overstate the part tha t l

LEGAL FORM S

2

legal phenomena 1 hav e played i n American history . Legion s of observer s have commented on the prominence of laws as the subject o f political controversy an d draw n attentio n t o the institution s o f legal authority tha t democratic peopl e employ . Alexi s d e Tocquevill e describe d America n legal doctrine and institutions in this light, and he depicted lawyers as the American aristocracy. 2 H e spawne d a n industr y o f commentator s wh o approached America n politics as essentially legal politics, and he is known for th e vie w that politica l issues in the United State s ultimately tur n int o legal issues. James Willard Hurs t wa s more cautious. He saw legal institu tions as accessible to Americans, and legal forms as tools by which Americans d o their business . H e presented th e authorit y o f law a s significan t only in terms of other, often mor e important, factors suc h as the social and the economic. 3 In his view, social questions d o not always become matters of law, bu t lega l phenomena ten d t o matter i n wha t becom e social ques tions. From Hurst, not d e Tocqueville, we take our guidance in describin g the role legal forms play in the constitution of political interests. The "compact " i s par t o f Pilgri m lor e fo r u s an d presumabl y th e process o f makin g i t reflecte d th e notio n o f covenan t s o central t o th e theological debates of the time. The Federalists not only turned t o a legal compact in order t o rectify flaws in the first confederation , th e Constitu tion an d it s creatio n hav e becom e the activit y b y whic h a generation i s known. 4 La w i s one basi s fo r assurin g freedo m fo r labo r afte r slavery . Old Englis h lega l way s figure d prominentl y i n th e pictur e Olive r Wen dell Holmes , Jr. , dre w i n The Common Law. Woodro w Wilso n under stood trust s i n term s o f the law s that migh t regulat e them , an d als o i n terms of the laws that mad e them. 5 Du e process rights incorporated int o the Constitutio n fro m 195 0 t o 197 0 mak e federa l crimina l procedur e more national . Analogou s form s ar e importan t i n ever y kin d o f socia l endeavor i n the United States . Because legal forms tend t o be depicted a s outside o f socia l an d politica l movements , I have trie d t o brin g the m inside, t o demonstrat e ho w the y "inform " th e language , purposes , an d strategies o f movemen t activity . Whe n activist s spea k t o on e another , they us e the language create d fo r the m b y th e lega l system, eve n whe n they ar e voicing oppositio n t o it. 6

The Constitutiv e Dimensio n We call practices operatin g o n way s of thinking an d acting—th e la w of the compact, of free or equal labor, or of due process rights— constitutive.

LEGAL FORM S

Legal practices i n this sens e are a part o f the culture , par t o f our nature : our basi c outloo k o n lif e i s stamped b y th e compact s draw n u p b y th e colonists; b y th e decisio n tha t al l laborers , blac k o r white , shoul d b e free; b y th e agreement s concernin g du e proces s fo r th e accuse d an d th e convicted an d th e prope r role s of the polic e an d th e judiciary. Th e con stitutive i s a level in the analysi s o f legal practices; it comes from constitute, meanin g t o form o r establish . Whe n w e sa y o f a former slav e afte r the Civi l War tha t law s constitut e hi s identit y w e d o no t mea n t o sa y that bein g fre e i s his whol e being , bu t rathe r tha t law s operat e a t th e level where hi s bein g i s determined, an d tha t the y operated , alon g wit h social positio n an d physica l characteristic s (suc h a s bein g black) , t o make hi m wha t wa s calle d a t th e tim e a "freedman. " A constitutiv e approach ha s been suggeste d fo r th e last fifteen year s as a way to see the reach o f law into social and politica l life. 7 This level for analyzin g lega l phenomena ha s an affinity wit h th e fun damental lega l documen t o f the Unite d States , the Constitution . W e us e a derivative of constitute i n referring t o the fundamental la w of the land . When laws operate at the foundational leve l of an activity, as the laws of marriage d o for husban d an d wif e or , perhaps , a s sodom y law s d o fo r homosexuality, lega l phenomena pla y a constitutive rathe r tha n simpl y an instrumental role . Law in this sens e need no t b e exclusive o r exhaus tive. To be legally constitute d a sodomite, on e who engage s in a n illega l sexual practice, may matter surprisingl y littl e in the conduct o f life mos t of the time . Bu t becaus e th e la w i s there a s a basi s fo r action , possibl y stimulating a mob o r shieldin g a police raid , th e socia l relation s o f th e homosexual ar e inevitably distinctive . Even a law that i s merely "o n th e books," such a s the la w o n sodom y i n Georgi a whe n Michae l Hardwic k was arrested, 8 ha s more than a n instrumenta l plac e i n th e affair s o f sex ual choice . The Georgi a la w delineate s som e same-se x relationship s a s illegal and thus plays a part in determining wha t those relationships are . All laws, in this sense, d o what th e Constitutio n does . Constitutive la w i s most ofte n contraste d wit h positiv e law , bu t the y are not opposites . We see legal phenomena fro m withi n a positive fram e when w e accep t a distinctio n betwee n fact s (o r th e world ) o n th e on e hand an d idea s (o r law) on th e other . Lega l phenomena ar e seen, i n thi s sense, a s operating fro m th e outsid e o f somethin g tha t exist s already . The traditiona l problemati c o f positiv e law , th e issu e o f whethe r law s can regulate moralit y o r instea d depen d fo r thei r efficac y upo n a mod icum o f morality tha t i s already i n place , stem s from th e ide a tha t lega l

3

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4

phenomena ac t o n societ y fro m th e outside . Thes e phenomen a ar e instrumental i n that w e use them. This preserves our socia l identity out side th e reac h o f law an d paradoxicall y leave s us fumbling a s we try t o figure i n wha t wa y la w matters. Positivis m i n socia l scienc e offer s som e support t o positiv e law . The distinctio n betwee n la w an d societ y ani mates ver y narro w inquir y int o the way s o f legal institutions. The posi tivist conceptio n i n jurisprudence an d i n socia l scienc e reinforce s th e distinction i n liberalism betwee n stat e and societ y and direct s our atten tion awa y from th e presenc e o f laws in everyda y life . The curren t popu larity o f a constitutive approac h i s more directl y connecte d t o Germa n social science than to the constitutional projec t o f the Founding Fathers. 9 Controversy surround s th e notio n tha t law s form par t o f our politica l life. Sometime s the controvers y arise s from sensitivit y abou t callin g th e prevailing vie w "instrumental/ ' an d sometime s i t arise s a s an objectio n to making too much of legal phenomena. Yet, by sayin g that law s constitute, w e do not clai m that law s either determin e o r fully encompas s pol itics, bu t rathe r tha t the y becom e par t o f politic s i n mor e tha n a n instrumental way . This approach call s attention to the way we talk abou t politics an d ho w w e conduct it s business . In the cas e of the Declaratio n of Independence, fo r instance , a group o f citizens announc e thei r oppo sition t o the sovereig n i n a refined an d distinctiv e politic s o f separatio n affirming thei r lega l practice s whil e denyin g th e presume d sourc e o f these practice s i n th e king . The lega l form use d i n th e Declaratio n doe s not captur e all the aspects of identity an d disconten t tha t adhere d i n th e politics o f the America n Revolution . I t does , however , distinguis h th e politics in this phase of the movement for independence fro m wha t cam e after, th e formation o f a new nation . In the prefac e t o this volume, I mentioned a confrontation i n contem porary socia l scienc e betwee n a constitutive perspectiv e an d traditiona l positive scienc e i n term s o f a shift i n th e wa y variable s ar e addressed . My understandin g i n addressing th e histor y o f this shif t i s that th e plu ralist tradition , lik e system s theor y an d th e stud y o f attitudes, ha s see n laws and lega l institutions a s the phenomen a t o b e influenced. I n inter est-group terms , la w i s to b e influenced , usuall y throug h th e stat e o r governing apparatus. 10 Som e have proposed tha t makin g la w the depen dent variabl e was new. 11 1 do not think tha t thi s move is new; moreover , the mor e important mov e is beyond variable s altogether , becaus e o f th e rigid fram e tha t the y impose . By focusing o n the law s that constitut e politics , w e mov e awa y fro m

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positivist lega l scienc e an d lega l phenomen a a s existing i n texts , codes , or the pronouncements o f governing elites . The constitutive perspectiv e aspires t o a less normative an d regime-dependen t approac h tha t woul d rigorously depic t th e rol e o f lega l phenomen a i n society . Whil e texts , codes, and othe r traditiona l lega l phenomena ar e important, 12 b y draw ing fro m socia l practices—th e wa y thing s ar e done—w e la y a founda tion fo r a more complet e understandin g o f the rol e o f legal phenomen a in politics . In a n earl y expressio n o f the constitutiv e position , Dougla s Hay discusse d th e meanin g o f judicial lenienc y i n th e fac e o f sever e codes, th e "Blac k Acts " of Renaissance England , a s an effectiv e wa y o f reinforcing th e authorit y o f the gentry. 13 The grac e o f the roya l judges gave the la w a power i n practic e tha t wa s not represente d b y th e codes . The absence o f the Declaratio n o f Independence fro m text s o n th e Con stitution als o indicate s a practic e o f distinguishin g tha t initia l brea k from th e body o f contemporary law . The birth o f the nation is associated with the Declaration , an d i t is there that w e know ourselve s as a people. But th e la w i s grounde d i n th e Constitution , an d i t i s constitutiona l practices that delineat e who we are legally. As form, law s come befor e a s well as after peopl e organize . Althoug h people obviousl y thin k an d ac t politicall y o n a lega l landscap e tha t already exists , the way contemporary socia l science depicts legal politics makes i t challengin g t o recogniz e thi s fact . W e se e legal practice s an d legal form s precedin g th e firs t women' s right s conventio n a t Senec a Falls, New York, in 1848 . Women who had bee n active abolitionists orga nized th e meeting. 14 The y brough t a framewor k o f right s wit h the m from th e struggl e ove r slavery , an d the y articulate d thi s framewor k i n the firs t sessions . Laws, in thi s sense , ar e embedde d withi n societ y an d form th e contour s o f American life . Lega l forms ar e salient i n most area s of American life , i n business , families , education , an d literature . Thes e forms operat e a s law's constitutiv e mechanis m an d ar e eviden t i f yo u know ho w t o loo k fo r them. 15 Here , w e wil l b e observin g thes e form s within movemen t politics . The prospect o f engaging i n a discussion abou t "wha t law is" tends t o fill all bu t th e mos t romanti c scholar s wit h dismay . Scholar s resis t an d are ofte n uninterested , a s i f suc h basi c question s ar e a n unnecessar y return t o matter s tha t hav e lon g bee n settled . Yet , this phenomenon — the disma y o f scholars—seem s t o b e socia l rather tha n intellectual . Th e question i s uninteresting becaus e i t seem s to b e settled; bu t i t seem s t o be settle d precisel y becaus e i t i s no t talke d abou t much , no t becaus e

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there i s nothing t o figure out . Politica l scholarshi p ask s what la w is an d seeks to reclaim political possibilitie s b y keepin g th e fundamental issue s alive. And suc h issue s certainl y exist . Feli x Frankfurte r mad e th e cas e not s o long ago : "It ough t t o b e a needless platitude t o say that ther e ar e many kind s o f 'law ' a s administered b y th e courts , bu t unfortunately , i t is not. Th e fac t tha t th e singl e ter m 'law ' shoul d cove r th e rul e agains t perpetuities a s well as the unconstitutionalit y o f ticket-scalping legisla tion is a prolific sourc e of confusion." 16 Frankfurte r begin s with the same disclaimer tha t I too felt oblige d t o make. We speak o f law with a "singl e term" i n spite of the plurality o f the phenomena : "th e law, " as a generalization, i s a settled usage . Bu t breakin g i t dow n i s essential. The variet y of stuff tha t w e call by the same term "law " contributes to our confusio n and requires that we keep the inquiry open . Here, research into the sym bolic order o f political struggl e joins concer n abou t differen t lega l form s with epistemologica l attention t o the nature of law in society .

Beyond Symbolis m an d Pluralis m

6

Positive legal philosophy fro m Jerem y Bentha m to H. L. A. Hart, a s well as conventional thinking , see s law as rules o r command s fro m th e sover eign. This perspective—whether backe d b y jack-booted stat e troopers or issuing fro m friendlier , albei t les s imposing, legislatures—i s a s commo n to ordinary peopl e a s it is to philosophers. Peopl e spea k o f police as law enforcement an d senator s a s lawmakers . Th e law s i n eac h sens e mea n rules fo r th e public , wh o are generally depicte d a s "down " ther e some where. Th e order s com e fro m institutiona l sources , characteristicall y "up" above . This is a positivist view . Here, legal science stipulates that i n order fo r jurisprudenc e t o b e scientifi c it s proposition s hav e t o b e divorced fro m norms . Th e stat e become s th e neutra l sit e o f legality , claiming a place o f objectivity, a vantage poin t "above " th e fray . Posi tivism treats the constitutions, statutes , and officia l governmen t holding s as law. Consequently, th e office s an d institution s o f the stat e determin e what i s legal. For example , th e Suprem e Cour t decisio n o n abortio n i n 1973, Roe v. Wade, become s th e la w o n abortio n i n th e Unite d States . Although th e decisio n wa s anything bu t final, a s laws and prosecutoria l decisions a t the stat e level attest, man y wh o find thi s decisio n appallin g direct their attention to the Court or to Congress to make a change. According t o thi s traditio n abou t wha t la w is , peopl e outsid e th e institutions an d office s o f the "lega l system " receiv e rather tha n gener -

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ate lega l authority . The y ma y o r ma y no t kno w th e rules . The y ma y advocate chang e an d appl y pressur e o n th e lawmaker s o r th e publi c i n general, bu t thei r advocac y i s not itsel f understoo d a s law . The "pro life" movement , fo r instance , advocate s a change in the Suprem e Court' s decision o n abortio n eithe r throug h a new decisio n o r a constitutiona l amendment. 17 I n thi s framewor k movemen t politics , eve n whe n i t ha s great significance , lik e whe n i t determine s th e tenur e o f a senato r o r threatens th e lif e o f a judge, remain s somethin g othe r tha n law . Politic s is set apart ; i t factor s int o lega l outcome s bu t doe s no t determin e wha t law is . Hence, whe n a bisho p propose s tha t "abortio n i s murder," w e understand hi m to be preaching, no t articulatin g a valid lega l claim . Legal phenomen a studie d i n isolatio n fro m societ y offe r limite d insight int o the socia l reality o f particular law s and th e rule o f law mor e generally. W e expect a gap betwee n court s an d society , an d eve n whe n an effec t betwee n th e tw o i s posited i t onl y confirm s th e usua l absenc e of suc h effects . I n eithe r case , the researc h i s painfully narrow . System s theory i s another illustratio n o f studie s tha t offe r limite d insight . I n hi s book o n th e federa l courts , Hard Judicial Choices, 18 politica l scientis t Phillip Coope r organize d th e materia l o n a system s theoretica l basis . This framewor k parallel s a familiar chronologica l arrangemen t o f cas e material. Beginnin g wit h th e trigge r phase , system s theor y move s on t o the "liabilit y phase, " th e "remed y phase, " an d "pos t decre e issues. " I n this type of analysis the jargon gets heavy. For instance, the "pos t decre e phase o f a remedial decre e cas e involves a parallel interactiv e relation ship between remedy implementation an d evaluatio n and remedy refine ment." 19 Here , lega l authorit y reside s i n th e "system " an d th e societ y provides th e ra w materia l an d generate s demands , th e hallmar k o f lib eral jurisprudence. Th e la w an d societ y perspective s fro m whic h mod ern scholar s describ e la w appea r a s normativ e "ideas " an d scientifi c "facts." Idea s are debatable , an d fact s ar e the weapon s o f policy debate . Yet, a systemati c bia s i n thi s vie w draw s attentio n awa y fro m th e processes b y which law s constitute political phenomena . Impact studie s reflec t thi s bias . Develope d i n th e earl y 1960s , th e behavioral perio d i n socia l science , impact studie s attemp t t o se e if laws in actio n reflec t th e lega l opinions announce d b y th e appellat e courts. 20 Indeed, thi s researc h coincide d wit h decision s tha t man y academic s applauded, lik e thos e tha t promote d integratio n an d nationalize d th e Bill o f Rights . Th e lat e 1960 s an d earl y 1970 s produce d a wealt h o f scholarship tha t als o reached outsid e the courtroom s an d looke d fo r la w

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8

in society . This wor k too k lega l opinion s announce d fro m o n hig h a s a starting point ; la w cam e from wher e positivis m sai d i t did , fro m appel late courts . A s impac t studie s flourished, the y influence d ho w w e understand courts . What court s say , w e learned, doe s not immediatel y or necessaril y hav e an y effect . Fo r law s to matter , "othe r court s o r . . . nonjudicial actors " must act. 21 Thus, we saw reception o f appellate cour t decisions a s political just a s scholars mad e th e court' s proces s o f decid ing case s politica l a generatio n before . Impac t analysi s flourished i n phrases suc h a s "th e Miranda decisio n impacte d th e police " o r "th e Bakke decisio n wil l impac t universities, " an d conception s i n thi s lan guage remain influentia l today . The narrowes t impac t studie s focuse d o n compliance , th e par t o f impact associate d wit h individua l decisions . Broade r studie s included , as the impac t o f decisions , suc h divers e phenomen a a s improvements i n police work , th e electio n o f segregationis t governor s followin g th e Brown v. Board of Education decisio n i n 1954 , and th e defendan t warn ing card s tha t followe d Ernest o Miranda' s successfu l appeal. 22 Institu tional changes , politica l outcomes , an d materia l artifact s suc h a s th e Miranda card s were all part o f the picture. Although the object o f study, law, was not ver y precisel y drawn , th e attentio n t o phenomen a outsid e courts wa s influential. W e are asking ne w question s becaus e the impac t scholars hav e gotte n u s use d t o talkin g abou t lega l phenomen a whil e doing researc h ou t in communities . The influenc e o f lega l materia l ha s no w bee n pursue d int o th e fur thest reache s o f society . La w i s represented o n television , i n th e prac tices o f cops , lawyers , an d judges. La w is central t o politica l cultur e i n Congress, in executive appointments, an d o f course in the judiciary. We hear la w i n ordinar y conversatio n an d find i t i n bot h th e dispute s an d the harmon y sometime s characteristi c o f dail y life. 23 Law s operating i n everyday lif e ar e recognize d i n standar d materials—th e case s befor e courts, th e strategie s o f lawyers , an d confrontation s wit h police . Th e anthropological treatmen t o f legal phenomena i n a community describe s the cultura l contex t i n whic h "court s an d system s o f forma l la w oper ate." 24 This researc h give s u s muc h mor e tha n law s that lea p fro m th e pages o f texts an d compe l obedience . I t show s u s ho w th e lif e o f law s differs fro m th e ideal of "governmen t o f law" determine d b y text s an d judicial orders . Bu t th e distinctio n betwee n la w an d societ y i s stil l there. This distinction extend s the positive perspective an d i t is hard t o shake.

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By defining law s as what th e sovereig n orders , positivism ha s limite d capacity t o explai n th e generativ e significanc e o f order s an d th e inter nalization o f public authority . Positive legal theory overlook s how socia l action depend s upo n a generalized meanin g o f law becaus e i t separate s society fro m governin g institutions . I n orde r t o account fo r law s as the y exist in the practices o f those who dea l with them , th e research perspec tive needs t o b e shifte d fro m la w and societ y t o on e that recognize s la w in society.25 Thus, rather tha n joining th e study o f law with th e study o f society—for example , b y studyin g wha t happen s befor e o r after a cour t makes a decision—th e appropriat e perspectiv e incorporate s law s i n social relations. (Se e chapter 5 , where I discuss th e women' s movemen t as a "rights" movement i n th e sens e that i t is constituted b y the pursui t of rights.) In th e developmen t o f a legal doctrine , suc h a s th e perspectiv e o n separation o f powers announced i n the cas e of Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chada, 26 th e constitutiona l ba r become s mor e eviden t as an aspect o f politics. We learn the names and natur e of lawyers whos e careers prope l the m int o struggl e ove r th e meanin g o f article s an d clauses i n th e Constitution . I n a similar vein , w e are learning abou t th e "unobtrusive mobilization " tha t presse s from withi n institutions. 27 This is par t o f wha t define s socia l movement s a s "new. " No t onl y ar e ne w social movements less rigidly clas s based than the older labor movement , but the y operat e t o restructure th e form s o f politics. These movement s are organized aroun d differen t form s o f law. They ar e not outside , imag ining law ; rather, the y ar e encompasse d b y law . And wit h thi s w e ar e back essentiall y t o wher e w e starte d from—tha t is , w e ar e describin g how a fairly stabl e system o f authority i s maintained . In this book , I propose tha t command s an d rule s structur e th e claim s of political movements, and tha t movemen t politica l activity depend s o n available law. This formulation goe s beyond th e idea that law s in societ y are merely th e result o f social forces. Lega l phenomena ar e a function o f social knowledge. The y ar e dependen t o n wha t group s kno w an d ho w they ac t upon tha t knowledge. Freedom of expression i s such a phenomenon that rule s made by governmen t quit e commonl y infus e an d infor m movement politic s b y influencin g th e though t o f participants , th e nature o f their positions , and identificatio n wit h th e movement. We will consider ho w that happene d i n the antipornography movement . The curren t conceptio n o f law as symbolic i s rooted i n th e lega l realism o f the 1930s . From Thurman Arnold' s The Symbols of Government 28

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to Kar l Llewellyn' s The Bramble Bush, 29 th e interpla y o f cultura l an d legal phenomen a becam e th e ne w framewor k fo r lega l studies . Muc h later, scholar s reactin g t o behavioris m i n th e socia l science s turne d t o hermeneutics, semiotics , an d ordinar y languag e philosoph y a s bases fo r inquiry int o th e symbol s o f law. 30 This perspectiv e o n th e rul e o f la w appears i n Josep h Gusfield' s "symboli c politics " studie s o f the temper ance movemen t an d i n Murra y Edelman' s symboli c use s o f politics. 31 More recently, lega l scholar s ar e movin g beyon d recognitio n tha t sym bols are important t o understanding ho w our life is made up of symboli c considerations.

10

In th e socia l sciences , scholar s bega n t o shif t thei r approac h i n th e mid-1970s. In political science , Stuar t Scheingold , Isaa c Balbus, and oth ers renewed attentio n t o the political role of laws by showin g ho w right s "condition perceptions , establis h rol e expectations, provid e standard s o f legitimacy, an d accoun t fo r th e institutiona l pattern s o f American poli tics." 32 B y focusing o n right s strategie s i n collectiv e action , thi s wor k showed la w a s a politica l resourc e an d elaborate d ho w law s relat e t o material life. 33 A s par t o f th e large r "sociologica l movemen t i n law," 34 social scientist s too k la w ou t o f th e hand s o f th e professionals—th e lawyers. They tried t o stand outsid e the profession an d observ e its activ ities from clos e at hand. Much of the work was done in the United States, but acces s was often impede d b y professiona l boundaries . A s interdisciplinary scholars , sociologist s of law often fee l margina l i n bot h sociolog y and law . Scholars in law schools lament their positio n relative to teacher s of contract s o r property , whil e sociologist s an d anthropologist s wh o focus o n la w seldo m dominat e thei r disciplines . Often , however , th e impact o f th e wor k belie s thi s claim . Th e curren t realis t cor e o f lega l scholarship an d th e importanc e o f lega l phenomen a t o scholarshi p i n fields such as history, sociology , and politica l science have made the sociological movement i n law more influential tha n i t claims to be . And fro m Roscoe Pound to Frank Sande r and Laura Nader—to nam e a few contem poraries—sociological scholarshi p has influenced th e practice of law. By pushing beyon d th e positiv e vie w o f law, we brin g int o questio n the distinctio n betwee n "th e judicial process, " including "th e styl e an d logic of appellate cour t decisions, " and th e act s of police, attorneys, an d courts. 35 The authorit y o f lega l process , especiall y a s it present s itsel f ritualistically, i s an aspec t o f "stat e law. " The "stuff " o f legislation an d appellate court decision s is an illusionary referent fo r law because it por trays a n orde r tha t i s "certain , consistent , an d powerful." 36 Rather , th e

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ritual an d dram a o f the lega l proces s lea d u s to the socia l reality o f law. The conceptua l lif e o f the communit y i s related t o the conceptua l para meters of case law, statutes, and th e treatise literature (th e "stuff " o f th e law schoo l curriculum) . To some, these "mandari n materials " represen t "an exceptionall y refine d an d concentrate d versio n o f legal conscious ness/' 3 7 I n thi s view , th e structure s familia r t o lawyer s stan d behin d many o f th e way s ordinar y peopl e thin k abou t th e world . Elit e lega l thinking ma y influenc e th e vernacular , an d element s o f forma l lega l rules may b e internalized b y laypeopl e t o b e applied i n context s remot e from official s an d courts. 38 In a n influentia l statemen t o f this position , Robert Gordo n argue s tha t "field-leve l studie s woul d revea l a lo t o f trickle-down effects— a lo t o f mandari n ideolog y reproduce d i n some what vulgarize d forms/ 739 Owe n Fiss discusses law in societ y i n terms of the "ric h an d generou s bod y o f decision s o n fre e speech " produce d b y the Suprem e Court , whic h h e describe s a s a "Free Speec h Tradition." 40 In this characterization, fre e speec h has become "part o f our general cul ture," an d Fis s is not th e onl y on e given t o "believ e th e decision s o f th e Court implante d tha t principl e i n ou r culture , nurture d it , an d gav e i t much of its present shape." 41 Ethnographic wor k o n suc h tradition s "i n society " b y anthropolo gists suc h a s Sally Engl e Merr y focuse s o n lega l ideolog y amon g "dis putants" wh o us e the courts . Merry finds tha t "[experience d plaintiff s come to se e rights a s an opportunity , a basis fo r action , rathe r tha n a guarantee o f protection." 42 I n politica l science , a newer impac t analysi s challenges th e assumption s o n whic h th e field wa s originall y con structed. W e get a n enhance d pictur e o f message s fro m th e court s b y calling attentio n t o their receptio n b y differen t audiences. 43 We kno w that group s reac t t o cour t decision s differently , especiall y i n controver sial cases. In Miller v. California,^ dealin g wit h mai l order pornography , the America n Civi l Libertie s Unio n (ACLU ) tende d t o withdraw , whil e publishing association s entere d wit h greate r enthusiasm . Newe r impac t analyses examin e actio n tha t goe s beyon d th e judicial order s tradition ally associate d wit h compliance . Fo r example , th e U.S . Senate i n 197 6 easily passe d th e Hyd e Amendmen t barrin g th e us e o f federa l monie s for abortion . Th e senator s appea r t o hav e anticipate d tha t th e Suprem e Court woul d strik e dow n th e provision . Whe n th e Cour t approve d th e congressional action , the situatio n changed . Initiall y inactiv e pro-choic e senators mounte d a more extende d confrontatio n tha t becam e th e first real battl e o f the moder n abortio n wars . The resul t wa s a three-mont h

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12

stalemate i n th e Senate . Similarly , th e ACLU' S involvement i n Skokie v. National Socialist Party i n th e lat e 1970 s led t o a costly cour t victory . Although the y wo n th e litigatio n guaranteein g th e Nazis' right t o marc h through a predominately Jewis h subur b o f Chicago, the organization los t sixty thousand members . This broke the organization's growth tren d an d caused th e ACL U to restrict it s activities and reevaluate its priorities. 45 We have learned t o look beyon d th e behaviora l question s t o the ideo logical impact of judicial decisions. We now understand th e importance of a decision's influence o n the substantive discourse of politics. These developments requir e a more complex vie w o f law, one that i s sensitive to th e channels o f political actio n o f which i t is a part. 46 Takin g accoun t o f th e nature and significance o f this research means allying ourselves with thos e who have jettisoned th e positive baggage of law defined simpl y as orders. Some contemporar y scholar s loo k a t la w tha t i s no t i n o r o n "th e books." This perspectiv e i s called legal pluralism. Eve n mor e obviousl y than th e movement ideologie s examine d here , lega l pluralism contain s a view o f law. And n o les s explicitl y tha n thes e movements , lega l plural ism sought t o break dow n th e dominatio n o f state law b y positin g othe r forms o f law in society . As exemplified b y the Journal of Legal Pluralism (and Unofficial Law) unde r th e editorshi p o f John Griffiths , an d a s evi dent i n Mar k Galanter' s "Justic e i n Man y Rooms " in th e journal's 198 1 issue, thi s perspectiv e o n law , lik e th e la w an d societ y movemen t o f which i t i s a part, see s law i n place s othe r tha n courts , a s well as in th e courts but outsid e the official gaz e of the judge. Pluralism, i n this formu lation, i s opposed t o centralism , o r the vie w tha t stat e law is at th e cen ter o f the univers e o f norms. According t o Griffiths, "[T]h e stat e ha s n o more empirica l clai m t o bein g th e cente r o f th e univers e o f lega l phe nomena tha n an y othe r elemen t o f that whol e syste m does." 47 Galante r points ou t tha t "court s resolv e onl y a small fractio n o f all dispute s tha t are brough t t o their attention." 48 The pluralist messag e is essentially th e same as the mor e familiar, i f less conceptually coherent , la w and societ y framework. On e might find evidenc e of contracting amon g businessma n or a n accountin g o f liabilities amon g th e elder s i n a tribe o r th e home makers in a neighborhood. On e might als o find many thing s that resem ble law occurring i n places such a s the corridor s o f the courthouses . The bes t o f this scholarshi p include s "Th e La w of the Oppressed " b y Boaventura d e Sousa Santos, 49 "Marxis m an d Lega l Pluralism" b y Pete r Fitzpatrick, 5 ° an d Laur a Nader' s ongoin g work. 51 Santo s foun d i n th e favellas, o r slums, of Rio de Janeiro an indigenous legal construction tha t

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he describe s as law. Fitzpatrick too k o n Marxism i n the interest o f plura l legal forms , whic h h e foun d i n post-colonia l environments . Nader , i n order to understand disputing , dre w heavily on anthropology an d devel oped a n entir e field that wa s sensitive t o the cultura l aspect s o f conflict . Summary article s o n th e contribution s o f th e movement , suc h a s th e analysis b y Merry , emphasiz e th e discover y o f law in formerl y unrecog nized o r unrecognizabl e places 52—or, a s a recent critiqu e pointe d ou t with som e concern, the paradox o f finding la w in nonlegal places. 53 The problem wit h lega l pluralism i s evident i n academic project s lik e a conferenc e i n 198 9 that brough t togethe r lega l pluralist s wit h advo cates fo r popula r justic e movements. 54 Th e conferenc e wa s a cal l t o Utopian reificatio n commo n i n th e libera l academ y unde r positivism , where attentio n i s drawn fro m th e stat e apparatu s i n a move that seem s to den y th e lega l authorit y underlyin g moder n statu s relations . Cer tainly ther e ar e form s o f la w outsid e th e stat e an d though t generate d independently o f law and th e state . Bu t pluralis m turn s awa y fro m th e effect o f the stat e o n aspect s o f socia l life: th e family , bargaining , healt h and wealth . Conversely , i t i s important t o recogniz e th e penetratio n o f state powe r int o movemen t practice . T o sho w ho w governmen t la w becomes par t o f the talk, aspirations , an d socia l life o f politics—that is , to tak e a constitutiv e perspective—i s t o challeng e th e positivis t ele ments within lega l pluralism . Social scientists hav e bee n fascinate d b y othe r manifestation s o f law' s "plurality."55 Where scholars explore themes of hegemony an d resistance , the wor k acknowledge s th e influenc e o f a sovereign lega l order. 56 On e such contemporary perspectiv e comes from Antoni o Gramsci, who distin guished betwee n th e "dominant " an d th e "subaltern." 57 Th e subaltern , also know n a s "th e other, " i s sai d t o tel l u s wh o w e are. 58 I n orde r t o describe the other a s a part o f the whole, we must plac e law in society . In an article focusing o n native claim s in the cultura l appropriatio n contro versy in Canada, Rosemary J. Coombe sees the characteristic feature o f the other as representation "tha t projects upon non-Western people s qualitie s and characteristic s tha t ar e mirro r opposite s o f th e qualitie s th e Wes t claims for itself." 59 A parallel is evident in the language of colonialism. We have become self-conscious abou t the formation o f national identities. Social scientists are now looking a t laws that enter into and determin e social relations . Thus , i n Americ a th e movemen t o f whit e European s across the continen t become s the poin t o f departure . La w must b e hel d accountable fo r wipin g ou t a nativ e cultur e an d creatin g a n Africa n

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slave class. 60 The earlies t nationa l legislatio n lai d th e groundwor k fo r expansion b y providin g fo r th e sal e of fee simple titles at public auctio n after survey s tha t provide d a more unifor m marketabl e commodit y ( a parcel o f land). Thus, a movement analysi s start s wit h la w becaus e la w draws attentio n t o the plac e o f rights, institutions , ideologies , an d con sciousness in political action . In the late 1970s , Sally Falk Moore, an anthropologist a t Harvard Uni versity, inquire d int o the natur e o f law and it s relation t o socia l change . Hers was a transitional conceptio n o f law a s a "semi-autonomous socia l field," an d sh e proposed thi s field as an appropriate subjec t o f study. To Moore '"the law' is a short term for a very complex aggregation of principles, norms , ideas , rules , practices , an d th e agencie s o f legislation , administration, adjudicatio n an d enforcement , backe d b y political powe r and legitimacy . . . . The comple x 'law / thu s condense d int o on e term, i s abstracted from th e social context in which it exists, and is spoken of as if it wer e a n entit y capabl e o f controllin g tha t context/' 61 Thi s present s problems that mus t b e grasped i n order to get beyond la w as symbol. As a research focu s i n th e sociolog y o f law, Moore's ide a i s "tha t th e small field observabl e t o a n anthropologis t b e chose n an d studie d i n terms of its semi-autonomy." This would amount to the fact that law "ca n generate rules and custom s and symbol s internally, bu t that it is also vulnerable to rules and decision s and othe r force s emanatin g fro m th e large r world b y which it is surrounded." Moor e notes that "a n emphasis on th e capacity o f the modern stat e to threaten t o use physical forc e shoul d no t distract u s from th e othe r agencie s and mode s of inducing compliance. " She goes on, i n a very helpfu l vein , t o sa y "tha t a n inspectio n o f semi autonomous socia l fields strongly suggest s that the various processes that make internall y generate d rule s effectiv e ar e ofte n als o the immediat e forces tha t dictat e th e mod e o f complianc e o r non-complianc e t o state made legal rules." 62 In sum , the point her e is that "th e semi-autonomou s social field i s define d an d it s boundarie s identifie d no t b y it s organiza tion . . . but b y a processual characteristic , th e fac t tha t i t ca n generat e rules and coerce or induce compliance to them." 63 There is no doubt tha t some norms develop in this way. But norms are also legislated b y govern ments, dictate d b y administrativ e an d judicial decisions , o r impose d i n other intentiona l way s b y privat e agencies . Thes e imping e o n semi autonomous socia l fields that already hav e rules and customs . The call for semi-autonom y i n law draws attention to aspects of law in society tha t anticipat e th e qualitie s t o b e taken u p here . For instance ,

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Moore describe s ho w la w leverages politica l outcomes : "wer e i t no t fo r the vas t amoun t o f pertinent labo r law , the unio n representativ e woul d never hav e come to have the powerfu l positio n h e occupies"; an d "wer e it not the legal right o f the contracto r t o collect promptly th e bill s owed him b y the jobber, hi s restraint i n no t pressin g fo r collectio n woul d no t be a favor." Thus , Moor e note s tha t "th e contrar y ca n als o b e persua sively argued: that 'i t is society that control s law and no t the reverse/" 64 Labor an d contrac t la w provid e th e foundatio n fo r exchang e practice s that barel y loo k legal ; however, la w i s always in th e backgroun d a s ter rain, whic h may b e its most significan t quality . Thus right an d la w giv e birth t o much more, as we shall see beginning i n the next chapter . Phillip Selznic k an d other s hav e argue d tha t sociolog y shoul d hav e a "ready affinit y fo r th e philosoph y o f natura l law " becaus e bot h ar e "anti-formalist i n spirit, " lookin g beyon d wha t i s give n t o wha t i s "latent an d inchoate, " an d bot h ar e "committe d t o th e stud y o f 'nature/" 6 5 Associatin g hi s positio n wit h th e wor k o f Euge n Ehrlich , who propose d i n The Fundamental Principles of the Sociology of Law 66 that la w i s no t t o b e foun d i n forma l institution s bu t i n th e "inne r order" o f society , Selznic k call s o n a "commitmen t t o naturalism " tha t he associates wit h philosophica l pragmatis m rathe r tha n a narrow posi tivism.67 Suc h analysi s separate s th e lega l statu s o f laws from thei r con tent. Thus , th e proble m o f th e segregatio n law s i n th e earl y twentieth-century America n Sout h a s immoral and as law woul d con cern the sociologist of law interested i n understanding mor e than simpl y the claim s fo r la w mad e fro m withi n th e institution s o f th e state . Fo r Selznick, natura l law , like sociology, i s a methodology, a way o f lookin g for law , " a guide to inquiry." 68 The concep t o f "form " ha s a tradition i n th e sociolog y o f la w tha t deserves specia l note . Ou t o f the Marxis t traditio n I draw th e concep t of legal forms a s correlated t o social and economi c forces i n society . Ha d Isaac Balbu s staye d i n th e sociolog y o f la w hi s significan t contributio n to the conceptio n o f legal form woul d n o doub t hav e becom e mor e evi dent. Nonetheless , hi s articl e "Commodit y For m an d Lega l Form : A n Essay o n th e 'Relativ e Autonomy ' o f Law" 69 provide s a foundation fo r this dimensio n o f the theor y o f lega l form . Balbus' s wor k ha d corollar ies o f a distinctl y Britis h cast 70 an d generate d som e interes t amon g American scholars. 71 In he r articl e "La w an d Capital, " Doreen McBarne t discusse s th e rol e of legal form i n maintainin g economi c enterprises. 72 McBarne t attempt s

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to invigorat e th e sociolog y o f law , whic h i n it s sophisticatio n ha d los t some of the vitality o f earlier, more instrumental conception s of the relation of law and capital . Where once the state was run b y the ruling clas s and "capitalist s wer e much i n evidence, " law cam e to b e more narrowl y defined, an d th e concentratio n o n institution s wa s often t o the exclu sion o f descriptio n o f economi c interests. 73 A s McBarne t point s out , bringing bac k th e activ e huma n elemen t require s "forgin g theoretica l links betwee n th e structure s o f la w an d capita l an d th e empiricall y observed huma n actio n whic h make s the m work." 74 He r attention , an d that o f som e o f he r colleague s a t th e Centr e fo r Socio-Lega l Studies , Oxford, i s draw n t o the armie s o f accountants , lawyers , an d othe r pro fessionals whos e job i t is to shape the laws to serve the immediate inter ests of very particula r capitalists. 75 Analysis o f legal form grounde d i n socia l relations suggest s affinities , corollaries, dichotomies , opposites , an d continu a a s the socia l reality o f law. Sometimes legal form i s less articulated tha n w e might expec t an d than those who count on the state for securit y might hope. This is generally true whe n w e look a t the propert y o r political right s o f the poo r o r movements of relatively margina l groups like gays and lesbians . At othe r times, penetration b y the state may b e far mor e significant tha n i s generally realized, expected, o r acknowledged. This is clearly the case with th e realist movement i n the law schools. The penetration o f law in social relations becomes especially eviden t whe n we compare social movements. In th e analysi s tha t follows , w e wil l se e tha t aspect s o f lega l form , such a s the belie f tha t la w i s powerful, ar e share d b y bot h ga y right s activists an d antipornograph y feminists , tw o movement s generall y a t the margin s and outsid e the institution s o f legal authority. O n the othe r hand, a belief i n th e powerlessnes s o f law i s shared b y lega l realist s i n law schools and the alternative disput e resolution movement , tw o movements tha t ar e heavily staffe d b y lawyers . On e of the paradoxe s i s thu s that th e lega l for m associate d wit h righ t suggest s lawyers , whil e thos e with th e mos t lega l education—la w teachers—declar e th e rhetori c o f rights to be naive. 76

Laws and Interest s The Nationa l Organizatio n fo r Women' s assaul t o n th e Suprem e Court , following th e pro-lif e movement' s assault , ha s dominate d th e publi c lif e of the Court . Thes e pressure s t o incorporat e th e politica l i n la w wer e

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preceded b y pressure s fro m libera l la w writers o f a decade before . Law s are obviously susceptibl e t o group pressure . We make political pressur e an elemen t o f th e lega l syste m b y embeddin g la w i n a conceptio n o f democratic processes . Pressure ha s becom e an acceptable par t o f Ameri can law . Court s an d legislature s ar e place s wher e peopl e brin g want s and needs. While Brown v. Board of Education epitomized libera l politic s in law , th e civi l right s movemen t demande d th e realit y o f la w an d pressed fo r publi c demand s fro m th e government . Movemen t politic s also brough t institutiona l change , suc h a s th e sociologica l "Brandei s Brief/' an d wit h i t Justic e Loui s Brandei s himself , wh o a s a Je w exemplified a more divers e an d inclusiv e Suprem e Court. 77 Grou p resis tance to civil rights, in the for m o f southern citizen s council s with thei r control ove r governmen t an d la w enforcement , als o place d la w a t th e center o f political controversy . This resistance was aimed at preserving a way o f lif e i n whic h la w oppresse d a people . I n thi s resistance , eve n when wrappe d i n legal form (th e southern sheriff , th e votin g lists) , politics took awa y the legal status o f the resistance . For the las t fifty years , politics ha s bee n i n the forefron t o f studies o f law. Th e wor k o f Clemen t Vose 78 brok e ne w an d importan t ground . Although initiall y Vos e chose to focus o n th e restrictiv e covenan t case s rather tha n Brown, thereb y revealin g th e kin d o f intellectual curiosit y that wa s driving hi s research, h e provided elegan t testimon y t o the sub tlety and powe r of a framework. I n his work th e National Association fo r the Advancemen t o f Colore d Peopl e (NAACP) , th e Nationa l Consumer' s League, an d th e ACL U becam e th e centra l actor s i n th e grou p struggl e about law. With the NAAC P th e lore of movement struggl e is rich and th e contests amon g institution s an d personalitie s ar e played ou t a s a specta cle that define s th e civi l rights struggle : disagreement s betwee n Charle s Hamilton Houston and W. E. B. Du Bois about the role of litigation, or th e elevation o f Thurgood Marshal l t o the Suprem e Court . Women' s move ment groups were modeled o n these progenitors, an d the y ha d grea t suc cess with case s like Roe v. Wade. Th e success , i n fact , wa s s o great tha t these groups were slow in organizing a t the grass roots. One of the mor e vivi d example s o f the centralit y o f interests i n a static o r positiv e conceptio n o f law i s in th e researc h o n "politica l trials, " much o f whic h wa s stimulate d b y th e movement s o f the 1960s. 79 Thi s research was done by "liberals " who were fascinated b y the treatment of radicals i n th e courts . Theodor e L . Becker , Kennet h M . Dolbeare , an d Harry P . Stumpf, amon g th e mos t engage d an d importan t publi c la w

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scholars of their generation , contribute d t o disciplinary scholarshi p an d to the politic s of the 1960s . They wer e drawn b y the aspirations o f radicals, bu t the y wer e concerne d abou t th e mean s employed , particularl y the violenc e tha t ofte n becam e th e subjec t o f trials. In th e trials , mean s often becam e the focus o f attention, shiftin g th e scholarl y gaze from poli tics to law. Generally, the trial showed th e state as relatively autonomou s with it s ow n rule s an d standard s fo r gettin g a t the truth . I n som e case s this was more successful tha n others . An obviou s failur e wa s the tria l of the Chicag o Seven, where one of the defendant s wa s bound an d gagged . While th e tria l o f Angela Davi s put th e radicalis m o f the blac k commu nity unde r th e microscop e o f libera l legalism , th e institutiona l auton omy o f th e la w wa s reaffirmed . I n man y respect s thes e treatment s o f political trials are good cas e studies in the difficult y o f seeing the consti tutive power of law. A closer look at one of these cases reveals the perva siveness of liberal law and the conceptions of interest that accompan y it .

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Stumpf an d journalist Carro l W. Cagle chronicled "Th e Tria l o f Reie s Lopez Tijerina " fo r th e volum e Political Trials, edite d b y Theodor e Becker i n 1971 . The editor' s disclaime r a t th e beginnin g o f the boo k i s important: "I n a sense, all trials are political." 80 The statement reads as if Becker take s this observatio n fo r granted , a s though h e i s saying, "La w is political, right ? Okay , let' s ge t o n wit h wha t matters . Let' s talk som e politics." This shift fro m th e inquiry int o the obvious to the obviousnes s of the inquir y i s a characteristic proble m fo r th e libera l framewor k a s it addresses, o r fail s t o address , th e politic s o f law . There i s a cuteness i n the book' s division s tha t play s wit h scholarl y distanc e fro m th e mater ial.81 All the trials in the "pure " political sense are foreign. The y includ e the Spiegel case, Indian trials, and on e linking Grea t Britain and Nigeria . Here "th e natur e o f the crim e i s clearly politica l an d th e impartialit y o f the judge . . . i s not calle d into seriou s question." 82 The chapte r b y Stump f an d Cagl e cover s th e lega l respons e t o a n event i n earl y Jun e 1967 , when arme d Hispani c lan d reformer s entere d the courthous e i n Tierra Amarilla , Ne w Mexico, and pushe d aroun d th e occupants, includin g a number o f government officials . Th e result wa s a shootout i n th e Ol d Wes t style . Their accoun t o f th e tria l provide s a n opportunity t o describ e th e constructio n o f la w a t a leve l tha t i s addressed infrequently , a t least i n American politica l science . The imag e of th e shootou t an d th e academy' s respons e t o i t sho w u s th e rol e o f social scienc e scholarshi p o n la w i n coolin g th e passion s o f the perio d and discreditin g th e movement claims .

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In thei r account , politic s i s presented wit h a rich arra y o f quotatio n marks. They are all over the place, even whe n n o one is speaking. Thes e quotes ar e used t o indicate ambiguit y an d puzzlement . Fro m the begin ning w e learn about "insurrectionists " an d hea r the detail s of the "cour thouse raid" tha t include d a n "arrest. " The subject o f the trial, Tijerina , is first describe d a s follows: "There , th e mercuria l Tijerina—eloquent , but wit h littl e forma l education , an d unverse d i n th e law—confronte d the ma n h e ha d sough t t o 'arrest/" 8 3 Late r i n th e story , Stump f an d Cagle provide a detailed accoun t o f the lega l issue underlying th e even t at the cente r o f the trial—title to land. Their account , i n part becaus e of its detail, is informative, sensitive , and characteristi c o f the liberal ideology i n law . Their sensitivity , however , i s humanistic rathe r tha n legal . The separatio n o f law from politic s preserve s th e innocenc e o f law, an d ultimately th e dominanc e o f convention . Thus, a conjunction o f activisms—th e activis m i n self-consciousl y political movements and the activism of the intellectuals, show s the con struction o f la w i n politica l science . A t thi s leve l o f cultura l creativit y we ca n see how th e construction s o f la w contai n politica l possibilities . In th e fac e o f concer n abou t objectivit y i n research , politica l pluralist s taught u s acceptabl e forms . Thoug h no t a s foreign, thes e followe d th e legalisms of amicus and cert very closely. One example of an institutiona l construction wit h politica l implication s i s Anthon y Lewis' s boo k Gideon's Trumpet M I n the guis e o f simply offerin g a more complete pic ture o f th e working s o f th e U.S . Supreme Court , th e New York Times reporter brough t a year o f training a t Harvar d La w Schoo l t o bea r i n a picture o f the institutio n tha t subtl y identifie s i t wit h biblica l symbol s of freedom an d vehicle s to challenge oppression. The power of the image has been s o great that mor e recent books , such a s Barbara Craig' s Chada: The Story of an Epic Constitutional Struggle, 85 pla y of f o f the imag e of a trip "al l the way to the Suprem e Court" whe n thi s image is certainly no t necessary an d barel y appropriat e t o the context . Research i n th e politic s o f law has now becom e more sophisticated. I t no longe r simpl y take s o n libera l interests . Conservative s befor e th e courts as well as on them have become part o f a continually illuminatin g story callin g attention t o the organized effort s b y conservatives to transform th e court s an d thei r decision s throug h th e Mountai n State s Lega l Foundation, th e Capita l Lega l Foundation, an d othe r Washingto n insti tutions give n prominenc e b y th e nationa l media . Thes e institution s affirm wha t th e Ne w Dea l firs t taught , tha t politica l movement s ca n

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change th e institution s o f la w themselves . The y sho w tha t politica l activity ca n transfor m th e processe s o f thought an d th e doctrina l rela tions on which case s are argued . When activist s tal k abou t strateg y an d whe n the y addres s eac h othe r in their movements , lega l forms ar e more integral to their politica l activ ity tha n interes t grou p pluralis m suggests . Som e movement discourse , like the feminis t antipornograph y campaign , i s a broadside agains t th e oppression i n laws . The alternative disput e resolutio n movemen t i n th e 1980s was built o n a general critiqu e o f the lega l process as encumbere d and unsatisfactory . And , whil e ga y activist s sough t fulfillmen t o f lega l promises the y foun d i n th e Declaratio n o f Independence , th e critica l legal studies movement i n law schools was denying th e authority o f law's texts. The ideas about la w held b y thes e activists ar e not boun d i n stan dard la w books , and the y ar e not alway s petitions fo r a redress o f griev ances. They includ e conventions , article s o f faith, an d view s abou t th e world tha t activist s tak e t o b e true . Idea s abou t la w giv e meanin g t o social relations, and a s law "i n action " they mus t b e understood a s significant part s o f the legal order. To attend t o this aspect o f law is to illuminate a part o f law's social reality. La w that form s socia l life i s real in th e most elementa l sense ; its reality i s evident i n life' s choices . More specifi cally, to look a t law in this form i s to see law informing socia l action i n a new way. Such ideas and the relations they creat e are law in society.

Discursive Practice s Laws sometimes infus e America n socia l life wit h element s tha t see m no t quite natural . Th e du e proces s guarante e tha t "th e crimina l goe s free i f the constabl e blunders " i s one. A sense that judges ar e suppose d t o b e different, wise r an d mor e deliberat e tha n othe r people , is another. Law s appear i n politica l language a s claims of right, lik e a right t o privacy (o r its derivative , th e righ t t o contro l one' s body , i n th e pro-choic e move ment), an d a s the objec t o f scorn, lik e the law s publisher Bo b Guccion e uses to protect Penthouse. In the chapter s tha t follow , I will concentrat e on four form s o f law in society. Characterized a s right, institutiona l real ism, th e ideolog y o f remedy, an d th e radica l consciousness , thes e form s capture a broa d rang e o f politica l actio n an d lega l signification . O f course, th e categorie s ar e no t exhaustive . Instead , the y revea l som e of the way s la w works i n politic s that hav e not bee n develope d ver y fully . Movement discourse— a stum p speech , a keynote address , o r a letter t o

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the editor—ma y dra w o n idea s abou t la w s o settled an d s o distinctiv e that the y defin e a movement's conventions . The categorie s o f legal for m explore d her e provid e som e ideologica l breadth sinc e they ar e linked t o differen t kind s o f movements, involv e different kind s o f politica l claims , an d privileg e variou s statement s about what law s can do. Both gay rights and the form o f legal consciousness evident i n the movement against pornography, fo r instance , play off the view that la w matters. In this view, laws offer protectio n fro m a society threatene d b y AID S an d creat e a n environmen t fo r pornographers . Positivism i s a legal form tha t depend s o n law school s and th e judiciary for it s impact. I t operate s fro m th e premis e o f a formalism tha t i s to b e avoided b y getting t o the "real/ ' Informalis m i s also a professional ideol ogy, but on e that speak s o f court incapacit y an d a litigious society . Sur prisingly, thi s lega l form i s the domai n o f lawyers an d th e movemen t i s heavily influence d b y lawyers . The lin k betwee n right s an d pornogra phers a s insurgent movemen t form s an d positivis m an d informalis m a s counterinsurgent form s i s not altogether obvious , although som e aspects of the relations are evident i n the chronicle s o f legal politics. This is one of the most intriguing thing s about the framework. Th e existence of ideological forms i n distinctiv e practice s an d th e constitutiv e dimensio n o f those practices for movemen t discours e wil l b e elaborated i n the follow ing chapter s i n term s o f debate s i n th e ga y medi a an d i n symposia , exchanges i n la w reviews (th e forum fo r th e lega l academy), conventio n speeches, withi n paraprofessiona l organizations , an d i n th e stree t lan guage and alternativ e pres s favored b y the antipornography movement . In th e followin g analysis , ideas , language , an d convention s tie d t o a legal form wil l b e calle d "practices/ ' Practice s ar e constituted b y an d i n turn constitut e differen t interpretiv e communities . Politica l languag e links lega l for m t o th e convention s o f thes e interpretiv e communities . Consequently, the conventions can be seen in talk about purposes, in th e style o f discussion , an d i n politica l strategies . The discours e appearin g in movemen t forum s suc h a s conferenc e proceeding s i s distinc t fro m academic o r journalistic commentar y o n it . These forum s establis h th e sociological dimension : people , b y participatin g i n them , constitut e a community. Academi c commentar y i s often comfortabl e wit h idea s out side of any time or place. The texts of journals o r even academic confer ence paper s i n fields suc h a s sociolog y o r politica l scienc e ar e seldo m grounded i n the communitie s that produc e them. Groundin g th e confer ences an d presentation s referre d t o her e i s a n importan t par t o f thi s

21

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book. To comment o n a conference, especiall y whe n no t participating, i s to observe as one might observ e a subculture. 86 The tradition o f European socia l research has raised som e of the prob lems inherent i n observin g subcultures : "How , i n th e final analysis , ar e we to make sens e of subcultural style ? On e of the mor e obviou s way s is to 'appreciate ' i t in orthodo x aestheti c terms/' 87 Whether on e is observ ing th e Hell' s Angels, th e Junio r League , o r professor s a t a conference , the cultura l rather tha n instrumenta l approac h ha s its advantages. There is more interest i n th e bond s tha t unit e tha n i n th e force s tha t prevail . Each of the group s has qualities that ar e attractive, lik e the creativit y o f the gay community an d th e humanism o f the mediators who driv e infor malism. Sometime s thos e ar e th e qualitie s tha t associat e th e movemen t with law , sometime s the y ar e not . Thi s boo k seek s t o establis h th e authority o f law b y focusing o n political discours e with attentio n t o th e words and logic it employs.

22

From a vantage poin t les s integrate d int o professiona l lega l scholar ship tha n som e w e hav e considered , Loui s Althusse r describe s ho w different part s o f th e "socia l formation " perpetuat e submissio n t o th e ruling ideology . La w appear s a s "dominatio n o f th e rulin g clas s 'i n words.'" This formulation an d relate d literatur e in the Marxist traditio n develop th e constitutiv e perspectiv e discusse d here . I n "Ideolog y an d the Ideologica l Stat e Apparatuses, " Althusse r emphasize s tha t author ity reside s i n th e acceptanc e o f words a s a matter o f practice i n a social setting. Thus , th e authorit y o f la w i s material. 88 Law' s authorit y call s people togethe r i n tim e an d plac e an d provide s th e focu s o f a socia l movement, i s another wa y t o describ e th e constitutiv e for m o f la w an d demonstrate it s consequences . The resultin g perspective , a s elaborate d i n thi s analysis , i s tha t o f constitutive law . Although thi s perspective ha s various source s and cur rents, a n importan t statemen t o f i t i s foun d i n a 197 9 articl e b y Kar l Klare. According to Klare, "The initial theoretical operation i s to free th e Marxist theor y o f law from . . . the notio n tha t la w is a mere instrumen t of class power." 89 Klare sees the project a s one that tries "t o conceive th e legal proces s as , at leas t i n part , a manner i n whic h clas s relationship s are create d an d articulated , tha t is , t o vie w law-makin g a s a for m o f praxis." 90 Although propose d som e time ago , this projec t i s onl y no w getting of f the ground. Klar e has also examined th e deradicalizatio n an d incorporation o f th e America n workin g clas s a s reveale d i n earl y Supreme Court Wagner Ac t decisions. 91

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A few classic s from th e rich traditio n o f British socia l research o n law and class , such a s Douglas Hay's "Property , Authorit y an d th e Crimina l Law/'92 sho w th e interpla y betwee n property , form s o f personal depen dence, an d crimina l law . Hay show s ho w la w displace d religio n a s th e dominant legitimizin g ideolog y in eighteenth-century England . Accord ing t o Hay , the crimina l statute s wer e infuse d wit h element s o f terror , majesty, justice, and mercy . The rhetoric of the deat h sentence , the ever present sanctio n o f the gallows , an d th e localize d an d persona l syste m by whic h th e rura l poo r an d occasionall y th e gentr y wer e convicted , often release d o n technicalities, o r pardoned, al l produced a chaotic system b y whic h respec t fo r propert y an d propert y owner s wa s effecte d through th e rule of law. The la w construct s throug h image s i n whic h peopl e ar e placed . Th e Elizabethan Poo r Law , sometimes take n b y moder n lawyer s to represen t the antithesi s o f welfar e entitlement , wa s i n fac t widel y understoo d a t the tim e as establishing welfar e a s a right. 93 Yet, law's existence i n gen eral depiction s o f societ y raise s the justifiable cautio n abou t seein g la w everywhere. I f we mak e thi s mov e to o cavalierl y an d withou t caution , certainly nothin g wil l be law—hence the attentio n her e to state law an d the ways in which i t expands system s of authority. Bu t in looking a t law in movement practic e som e of the distinctiv e feature s o f law see m to fal l by th e wayside . Thi s ma y b e th e pric e w e hav e t o pa y fo r seein g a n important trut h abou t law . Much o f its authority i s ideological. Beyond legal pluralism and lega l positivism w e find a complex realm of social lif e organize d aroun d concept s tha t ca n b e trace d t o a n origina l articulation fro m som e wing o r corrido r o f the authoritativ e publi c plat form w e cal l th e governmen t o r th e state . Findin g la w i n thi s real m requires transcending th e distinctio n betwee n publi c an d privat e s o central to traditional liberalism. As David Nelken puts it, "la w enters into the production an d reproductio n o f society/' 94 In modern systems , and char acteristically i n the libera l state , th e relatio n betwee n socia l movement s and la w needs to b e reexamined. Politica l movements , suc h a s feminism , alternative disput e resolution, an d other s discusse d below , ar e subject t o this "productio n an d reproduction. " On e of the mos t important moder n feminist critique s o f th e la w point s ou t tha t th e equalit y standard , whether th e standard o f "difference" o r of "sameness," characterizes me n as the standard. 95 I n stoppin g t o cal l attentio n t o la w beyon d dispute s over suc h things a s comparable wort h o r occupational qualification , thi s analysis has suggested how law at the constitutive level operates. 96

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Movements ar e constitute d i n lega l terms wher e participant s see th e world throug h concept s derive d fro m stat e institution s an d organiz e themselves accordin g t o these concepts . The concep t o f free expressio n in contemporar y America n politic s i s often derive d fro m tal k abou t th e First Amendment . Thus , organization s a s divers e a s Wome n Agains t Pornography, whe n it s adherent s addres s a conventional notio n o f fre e inquiry, an d the American Legion , when i t advocated legislatio n i n 198 9 to protect the American flag, are constituted, a t least in part, b y the First Amendment. Lega l form s ar e eviden t i n th e language , purposes , an d strategies of movement activit y a s "practices/' 97 When activist s speak t o one anothe r i n meetings , o n picke t lines , o r ove r th e phone , thei r lan guage contains consistent way s of understanding o r acting, that is , practices of, about , o r in opposition t o the legal system .

24

American feminist s wh o met at Seneca Falls in the middle of the nine teenth centur y t o star t th e women' s rights struggl e spok e o f a "sense of right" familia r fro m th e Declaratio n o f Independenc e an d abolitionis t struggles. They rallie d t o the cr y "Equalit y o f Rights." 98 Similarly, whe n activists articulat e politica l purpose s thei r discours e i s situated relativ e to law. Gay rights activists of the 1970 s addressed claim s to city council s for ne w ordinance s t o protec t the m fro m discrimination , an d i n th e 1980s they extended protectio n for AID S victims by establishing tha t th e disease canno t b e transmitte d b y "casua l contact." 99 Whe n activist s develop strategies , the y revea l a politically significan t vie w o f the lega l system. Th e strategie s followe d b y th e civi l right s movement , suc h a s marches an d sit-ins , wer e no t alway s legal , an d man y wer e explicitl y illegal; just a s they wer e orchestrate d t o chang e law s i n th e lon g run , they wer e affecte d b y law s that wer e i n practice . Equall y compelling , but harde r t o see , ar e th e "post-consequentialist" IO ° strategie s o f la w and economic s o r th e radica l consequentialis m o f critica l lega l studies . From Klare' s "Judicia l Deradicalizatio n o f the Wagne r Act " t o Willia m Forbath's Law and the Shaping of the American Labor Movement, critica l legal studie s ha s don e considerabl e wor k o n th e labo r movemen t i n th e tradition o f constitutiv e law. 101 In general , scholarshi p o n race relation s has availe d itsel f o f a constitutiv e perspectiv e mor e full y tha n mos t chronicles of our political life. Eugene Genovese's Roll, Jordan, Roll is an outstanding exampl e i n thi s regard , a s i s Mar k Tushnet' s movemen t analysis work o n the NAACP. 1 0 2 David Silverma n an d Bria n Torode' s discussio n o f th e constitutiv e character o f languag e an d symbols , appropriatel y title d The Material

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Word,103 propose s t o revers e th e assumptio n tha t speec h refer s t o a n external realit y i n exchang e fo r "attentio n t o speec h a s a reality i n it s own right/' 104 Thes e British author s develo p Althusser' s materialis t the ory o f ideology, t o whic h I will refe r throughou t thi s study . Silverma n and Torod e describ e practice s a s existing withi n ideologie s tha t relat e individuals t o one anothe r an d t o the condition s o f their existence . Fo r example, the y loo k a t th e ideolog y o f the Christia n religio n a s eviden t when w e address " a huma n individua l called , say , 'Peter/ " The y poin t out that the name is produced fro m withi n a n ideology since it is a biblical name and tha t i t i s granted b y a n ideologica l practice , baptism , an d they argue that these practices tell you that "Go d exists and tha t yo u ar e answerable to Him." While muc h o f society' s la w i s evident i n th e opinion s o f judges an d bills passe d b y legislatures , th e schola r wh o look s t o thes e source s i s looking fo r la w i n al l th e wron g place s toda y becaus e w e hav e bee n looking ther e fo r to o long . I t i s no w tim e t o recogniz e tha t th e socia l reality o f particular law s and th e statur e o f law generally ar e evident i n the share d practice s tha t w e find throughou t America n life , includin g movement activities. In movements, forms of law help defin e basi c socia l relations, suc h a s wh o i s in , wh o i s out , an d ho w w e kno w ther e i s a movement. Wha t I hope t o d o her e i s highlight th e operation s o f thi s constitutive dimensio n o f la w b y pointin g t o it s manifestation s i n th e formative languag e of various political movements . The chapter s tha t follo w cove r fou r contemporar y socia l movement s and depic t la w a s it constitute s movemen t practice . I n chapte r 2 I dis cuss right s b y focusin g o n th e ga y reactio n t o publi c hysteri a abou t AIDS, a situation i n whic h thi s for m o f la w characterize d a t leas t on e aspect o f a politica l controversy . Event s suc h a s th e closin g o f bath houses i n Sa n Francisco i n th e 1980 s manifest th e belie f i n right s a s a n important for m o f law. I begin her e becaus e right s hav e becom e a ver y familiar conceptio n o f law, particularl y a s the reac h o f federal la w ha s been extende d int o state s an d localitie s an d a s the Wester n conceptio n of law ha s bee n exporte d aroun d th e world . I n chapte r 3 I turn t o th e denial o f the reac h o f rights i n lega l realism . Critica l lega l studie s an d law and economics , movement s o n th e opposit e reache s o f the politica l spectrum, hav e bot h allie d themselve s t o realism, resultin g i n th e pre dominance o f realism in law schools. In chapte r 4 I discuss the influenc e of established lega l institutions i n th e informalis t o r alternativ e disput e resolution movement , a form tha t i s remedial i n tha t i t i s bot h base d i n

25

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reformist claim s and seek s remed y ove r right . I n chapte r 5 I examine a form tha t i n som e sens e is the opposit e o f rights—that is , the tendenc y in politica l movement s o n the right an d th e lef t t o attribute grea t powe r to law bu t t o find th e impac t o f law to b e highly negative . Today we see this kind o f rage in the militia movement. A decade ago rage at legal protection o f pornograph y wa s prominen t i n radica l feminis m an d th e antipornography movement , especiall y a t it s inceptio n (1978—1982) , when movemen t activist s sought to raise consciousness of legal complicity i n women's oppression . When compare d t o on e another , thes e movement s revea l som e curi ous aspect s o f law's consequenc e fo r politics . Ga y activists , amon g th e least powerfu l an d certainl y th e mos t threatene d o f the groups , wor k t o advance a right t o equal treatmen t i n th e interes t o f empowerment an d pride. Dispute resolution o r informalism woul d no t exist as an organize d interest withou t a conceptio n o f la w agains t whic h i t coul d posi t it s alternative form . Realis m in law schools is self-consciously attentiv e t o a reformulation o f law a s politics rathe r tha n promise . Thus, fro m profes sors at institutions lik e Harvard an d Yale we hear that i t is naive to make claims about lega l obligatio n whil e antipornograph y feminist s hol d la w responsible fo r th e constructio n o f sexuality i n America . 26

Each chapte r unfold s i n roughl y th e sam e fashion. First , I provide a theoretical backgroun d fo r the legal form at issue, which helps to systematize the compariso n betwee n forms . I n eac h case , the for m i s associate d with a body o f scholarship an d tie d t o issues in jurisprudence. Thi s dis cussion i s followed b y a description o f the historica l an d politica l back ground necessar y fo r understandin g th e specifi c case s used t o illustrat e the form. A t the heart of each chapter is discursive material revealing th e way activist s tal k abou t law . This i s the basi s fo r th e interpretatio n o f form a s a political practice in each movement. Finally, I compare the gen eral characteristic s o f legal for m acros s movement s wheneve r possible . This comparison i s amplified an d deepene d i n chapter 6 . The study o f legal form i n movement discours e build s a conception o f law from th e wa y peopl e tal k an d therefor e thin k abou t la w i n politics . What peopl e thin k o f as inequality o r discriminatio n i s really a frame work throug h whic h w e vie w event s suc h a s ho w peopl e ar e treated . Very ofte n th e perceptio n o f right an d wron g i s derive d a t leas t i n par t from lega l decision s an d operate s no t a s an orde r bu t a s a way o f think ing. From this perspective w e realize that rule s and command s permeat e the socia l consciousnes s an d structur e socia l action. Rathe r tha n simpl y

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existing as orders, as if law were like the instructions promulgate d b y a n imperious dril l sergeant , la w i s presented a s a part o f society , a part o f the wa y w e thin k an d act . Th e resul t i s a number o f counterintuitiv e findings abou t which form s attac h t o which sor t o f movements.

27

Rights t o Profligacy ?

Sex an d AIDS , th e Earl y Year s

R

Chapter2

Tradition i s th e custody o f that whic h is already ther e an d it s essence i s expressed i n the separatio n o f spiri t from substance . . . . [OJnly i n death , i n articulo mortis , ca n th e subject perceiv e th e secret o f law . —Peter Goodrich , Languages of Law

ights deman d a respons e fro m people i n authority . A s a n arti fact o f the law , they clai m a n obliga tion fro m governmen t generall y an d usually litigatio n processe s i n partic ular. Yet rights als o signa l a vulnera ble communit y turnin g t o law , ofte n simply i n th e hop e o f surviving . Americans, a t leas t thos e o f th e recent past , hav e heralde d rights . From Clarenc e Ear l Gideon , a small time croo k i n Florid a wh o claime d t o have a righ t t o a n attorney , t o con temporary AID S activists , right s hav e demanded that people respond.1 When George Whitmore, an author who died of AID S i n 1989 , was refuse d servic e at a Greenwich Villag e denta l clinic , he sue d fo r a violatio n o f hi s civi l rights. Th e clini c wa s fine d $47,00 0 by th e Ne w York Cit y Huma n Right s Commission, forcing i t to close (it was later opene d a s a nursin g hom e fo r AIDS patients) .

The ideolog y o f right, lon g par t o f the America n experience , provide s a warrant fo r movement s t o organiz e around takin g o r refusin g t o tak e a n action. The claim of right i s rooted i n the pas t an d it s for m reflect s th e adversarial structur e o f Anglo-Amer ican law. The result for politic s is that 29

RIGHTS T O PROFLIGACY ?

movements tha t organiz e aroun d right s engag e i n distinctiv e form s o f political action . Fro m Africa n American s befor e th e Civi l War t o gay s since Stonewall , thos e wh o attemp t t o mobiliz e a s activists t o expres s interest t o th e stat e ar e themselve s affecte d b y thes e forms. 2 Indeed , even th e conceptualizatio n o f a movement i n terms o f rights give s poli tics its form an d situate s it in public lif e in a distinctive manner . Struggles i n th e earl y year s o f the AID S epidemi c exemplif y th e rela tionship betwee n right s an d th e identit y o f a movement . I n th e lat e 1980s, as the struggl e agains t AID S move d beyon d th e closin g o f bath houses, th e strateg y shifte d an d th e mor e libera l conceptio n o f la w a s rights cease d t o b e i n th e vanguard . Th e positio n develope d i n thi s chapter i s that th e impac t o f AID S o n grou p identit y wa s mediated b y legal forms . Initially , right s appeare d a s a bulwar k agains t a societ y pressing o n gays already a t ris k fo r th e disease . Later , a s queer activist s took th e plac e o f lawyers, th e bourgeoi s for m o f right wen t th e wa y o f the presumption tha t comin g out wa s a matter o f individual choice. 3

Rights a s Practic e 30

Rights are a way of doing things . The orientation towar d rights , with it s litany o f institutional channel s an d deferenc e t o professional discourses , contributes t o politica l stabilit y i n th e Unite d States . Thus , th e sam e rights tha t see m to prope l u s forward als o hold u s back . Thi s i s becom ing evident wit h referenc e t o the civil rights legacy in the late twentiet h century, whe n th e nondiscriminatio n right s tha t helpe d Suprem e Cour t Justice Clarenc e Thomas, NB C ancho r Bryan t Gumbel , For d Foundatio n President Frankli n Thomas , an d Genera l Coli n Powel l ge t t o th e to p o f the socia l hea p als o keep mos t peopl e o f colo r a t the bottom. 4 I n invok ing th e state , rights requir e tha t a certain homag e b e paid. Right s excit e us, drawin g ou r attentio n t o th e fe w wh o ge t ahead , rathe r tha n th e many kept behind. 5 Rights may rely o n rules backe d b y threat s o r appeals t o some highe r authority, a s in th e Declaratio n o f Independence, wher e th e clai m tha t "All me n ar e create d equal " challenge d th e la w o n th e books . Right s again mak e suc h sweepin g claim s i n th e Senec a Fall s declaratio n o f women's rights . Simila r claim s definin g equalit y i n term s o f universa l tolerance fue l th e struggl e fo r racia l equalit y toda y a s they hav e sinc e slavery wa s accommodated i n th e U.S . Constitution. I n th e earl y 1980s , barely ten year s after th e Stonewall riot that launched moder n gay liber -

RIGHTS T O PROFLIGACY ?

ation, right s playe d a key rol l i n th e respons e o f the ga y communit y t o AIDS. Onl y a few year s into th e AID S epidemic , som e gay activist s mad e rights centra l t o thei r politica l strateg y whil e other s trie d t o introduc e the competing concern s o f public health . The claim of rights in the con troversy ove r th e bath s i s analogous t o the critica l discours e o n sexua l repression mor e generally. Lik e the polaritie s o f mourning an d rag e s o prominent sinc e th e onslaugh t o f AIDS , th e practic e o f rights contain s within itsel f bot h protectio n an d repression . Contemporar y scholarshi p in the socia l science s call s attention t o the constitutiv e qualitie s o f suc h debate-framing dichotomies . Accordin g t o Miche l Foucault , th e focu s on repressio n an d liberatio n i n th e histor y o f sexualit y limit s insight. 6 Eve Kosofsky Sedgwic k characterize s identit y debate s i n th e ga y com munity, whic h pi t socia l constructio n agains t biologica l essentialism , i n much th e sam e way. 7 We ough t t o b e abl e t o se e beyon d repressio n i n the relationship s amon g publi c healt h concerns , th e ga y community , and the law. Here, the terrain o f the rights claim , rather than its validity , is of primary interest . Rights fit into the instrumental pictur e of politics in the modern state . Groups, generall y thos e considere d "outside/ ' presen t claim s t o a government tha t may or may not respond. Thi s framework make s it difficul t to see law constitutin g movements . We find it hard t o fathom th e exten t to whic h Marti n Luthe r King , Jr. , an d th e civi l right s movemen t oper ated "inside " th e stat e (o r Attorne y Genera l Rober t Kenned y practice d "outside" it). Gay rights activists in the early years of the AID S epidemi c were als o see n a s outsider s appealin g t o th e constitutiv e norm s tha t legitimize authority , agains t th e practice s o f particula r governmen t officials. Thoug h conventional , thi s framewor k fail s t o captur e impor tant aspect s of politics and la w in America. San Francisco, with a powerful ga y community, close d its baths while other citie s like New York, Los Angeles, and Sa n Diego waited o r di d no t clos e them a t all. The proposi tion develope d her e i s tha t Sa n Francisco' s ga y communit y wa s mor e fully constitute d i n realm s beyon d rights . That is , in Sa n Francisco th e gay communit y wa s influential an d playe d a role in formulatin g healt h policy, whic h mad e the right s clai m les s monolithic, les s constitutive o f the entire community . Rights claims move to "trump" mere policy consideration b y claimin g to b e operating a t a higher level. 8 Rights claim s assert tha t th e stat e wil l eventually suppor t one' s position. In the case of AIDS , som e gay activist s appealed to legal rights in order to resist what they sa w as sexual repres-

31

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sion. Other s challenge d th e right s clai m in the interest s o f the healt h o f the community . Wher e government s denie d th e right s claim , a s in Sa n Francisco, th e failur e o f this for m o f activism ma y b e a sign o f commu nity strength , o f ga y penetratio n int o th e structur e o f power , rathe r than a sign o f weakness. 9 Although al l political struggle s manifes t som e relation t o law , thos e wh o claime d right s i n th e earl y day s o f the epi demic differe d fro m mor e political activists . The rights claim s seemed a t the tim e t o b e mor e characteristi c o f ga y activism . I n retrospect , thes e claims ma y actuall y hav e bee n a n expressio n o f a more legall y consti tuted segment , perhap s eve n a more politicall y immatur e par t o f th e community. Nevertheless, in the early struggles over AID S policy at least part o f the gay community wa s clearly constitute d i n relation to rights.

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Modern politica l an d lega l practic e distinguishe s individua l right s from th e right s o f a community. 10 Contemporar y scholar s asser t tha t th e Greeks appea r no t t o hav e employe d wha t w e cal l individua l rights. 11 Before th e bourgeoi s revolution s o f the lat e eighteent h century , peopl e turned t o ideas of justice and right conduct , wha t we now cal l "natural " law. Befor e "nature " becam e a modifier o f law, 12 nature o r Go d was th e law an d la w mad e thing s happen . La w in thi s sens e wa s no t a n officia l statement o f how peopl e shoul d act , bu t rathe r a description o f action . Earlier peopl e treate d "th e lega l precepts tha t governe d kings , counsel lors, and courts" 13 similarly, as descriptions . Before ther e wer e "rights " in the Western traditio n ther e wa s custom . The Romans administered thei r empir e through rule s formulated t o gov ern strangers , an d the y handle d politica l problem s tha t ha d bee n obscured b y th e homogeneit y o f the Gree k poli s through universa l val ues draw n fro m cultura l norms. 14 These universals amounte d t o a sort of "common law " for th e Roman Empire, which helpe d t o promote a workable citizenship. 15 Whe n collecte d i n codes , the y becam e a sourc e o f "higher law " i n th e Middl e Ages . Ther e the y coul d b e appeale d t o against th e "sinfulness " o f mankind an d coul d serv e a s a limitation o n rulers. While the Greek concep t o f justice "ente r [ed] into the more deliberate acts of human authority," the more modern higher la w checked an d limited authorit y "fro m without." 16 Bu t medieva l jurists lacke d a basi s for secula r authority t o recolonize individual consciousness . Law i s sai d t o hav e shifte d i n th e Middl e Age s t o a notion o f righ t action, whic h wa s characterize d a s the "righ t reason " o f learned men . The Inns o f Court i n medieva l Englan d provide d a n expertis e indepen dent o f popula r custom . Althoug h the y claime d publi c authority , th e

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Inns depende d o n separatio n an d professiona l mystery—th e "scienc e of bench an d bar"—whic h expande d wit h th e ris e of a marketplace ideol ogy o f individualism i n th e nineteent h century. I7 Th e expansion o f thi s form o f powe r transforme d th e professiona l mysterie s o f lawyer s an d judges int o a generic uni t o f political exchang e comparabl e t o mone y i n the economic sphere. In the United States , rights appear t o precede soci ety becaus e o f the "autonomou s individual " depicte d i n liberalism . Bu t society remain s th e sourc e fo r rights , an d individual s ar e expecte d t o satisfy thei r interest s an d desire s withi n stipulate d limits . Developin g from thi s basis , America n governmen t depend s o n practice s tha t dis solved natura l la w into the natura l right s o f "life , liberty , an d estate" — liberalism, i n th e "classi c Lockeia n sense." 18 Right s groun d socia l relations i n th e forma l autonom y o f individuals whil e basin g th e clai m in the community . Rights , understood a s practices/ 9 reflect th e way s w e know th e world . Right s depen d o n knowledg e an d coexis t alon g wit h other socia l practices , suc h a s hono r an d exchange . Th e practic e o f rights come s fro m specifi c right s t o hav e o r d o something , suc h a s receiving a social security benefit . Becaus e rights ar e more than matter s of opinion, 20 a grou p relie s o n the m whe n i t feel s threatened . Whe n right simpl y assert s a n individua l opinion , an d fail s t o dra w fro m th ec authority o f practice i t is likely to fail. 21 Rights may appea r selfis h an d ma y see m no t t o blen d ver y wel l wit h1 values suc h a s gratitud e o r loyalty . A s right s asser t entitlemen t an d1 appeal t o the governmen t fo r protection , the y functio n ver y differentl y from socia l attributes suc h a s generosity o r friendship . I n th e AID S epi demic, all sorts o f social relationships ar e tested relativ e t o rights estab lished i n law . In th e handboo k "Lega l Answer s abou t AIDS " pu t ou t b y Gay Men' s Healt h Crisi s i n 1989 , the issue s com e fro m famil y life : th e desire t o continu e t o liv e i n a n apartmen t afte r on e partne r dies ; th e desire t o visi t i n th e hospita l o r hav e childre n take n car e of . Th e responses, often i n terms of right an d it s analogues—contracts, probate , and property—see m strained , minimall y reassuring , an d ofte n cold . Although w e canno t isolat e rights fro m mor e communitaria n an d famil ial concepts, rights in their mos t familiar manifestation s ar e incongruou s with relationships like sisterhood o r feelings lik e love. 22 Relationships of this sor t affec t u s mor e deepl y tha n rights—an d w e don' t loo k t o gov ernments to enforce them . Wesley Hohfeld , a n America n la w professo r writin g i n th e earl y twentieth century , produced a catalogue of rights, and hi s description o f

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34

the practic e o f right s ha s becom e a gramma r fo r ho w t o us e them. 23 Somewhat modifie d b y Richar d Flathman, 24 Hohfeld' s analysi s intro duces th e varietie s o f right: powers , claims , immunities , an d liberties . Powers are available to peopl e b y virtu e o f specifi c authorit y o r provi sions i n law . Hohfeld's formulatio n require s n o specifi c grant s o f con sent, althoug h power s in a constitutional democrac y depen d o n popula r acquiescence. Th e governmen t ha s th e powe r t o prosecut e peopl e i t believes to hav e committe d crimes . Rights i n th e stric t sense , o r claims , are the expectation s betwee n individuals , o r betwee n individual s an d the government. Claims exist where a person or institution ha s a definit e duty t o a right holder . I n th e case of government officials , fo r instance , claims o f publi c responsibilit y exist . Similarly , welfar e recipient s an d the holder s o f entitlemen t provide d fo r b y statute s hav e claim s t o cer tain benefit s i f they mee t th e eligibilit y criteria . The rights convention ally associated with civi l liberties Hohfeld call s immunities and liberties . An immunity i s an exceptio n t o a power suc h a s the Fourth Amendmen t protection agains t unreasonabl e searche s an d seizures . Liberties ar e rights hel d agains t authoritie s tha t limi t interferenc e wit h a variety o f activities deeme d worth y o f specia l protection . Th e government' s dut y not to interfere wit h the exercise of free speec h comes, not from th e free dom to speak , bu t fro m th e righ t o r liberty no t t o b e interfered wit h i n the exercise of certain expression . In eac h o f these forms , right s exis t a s practices characteristi c o f th e American politica l experience . Clarenc e Gideon' s appea l i s featured i n books an d movies ; Marti n Luthe r King , Jr.'s contributio n t o civi l right s gets a national holiday; an d claim s that reac h the Suprem e Court receiv e much attention . Lik e elections , wher e w e struggl e ove r votes , ou r con tests ove r right s displa y ou r politics , an d a politics o f rights i s a key t o the America n experienc e tha t ca n b e brough t t o bea r i n politicall y significant ways . Bot h fla g burnin g an d crimina l du e proces s becam e central to the 198 8 presidential electio n campaig n betwee n Georg e Bush and Michael Dukakis. 25 At about the same time, minority scholar s bega n defending right s fro m th e contemporar y positio n i n la w school , whic h tended t o focus o n their lac k o f meaning. 26 Because they ar e social practices, rights i n general, an d particularl y th e claims , immunities, an d lib erties describe d here , ar e recognizabl e form s b y whic h interest s ar e asserted an d thu s law enters into politics. Modern libera l jurist s suc h a s Joh n Rawls , Ronal d Dworkin , an d Michael Walze r canno t b e separate d fro m communitaria n concern s a s

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readily a s the stereotypica l liberalis m w e legitimately associat e wit h th e prevailing conception s about right i n law. They are not, a s scholars suc h as Roberto Alejandro , Susa n Molle r Okin , an d Lind a C . McClain hav e pointed out , trappe d i n a n "atomisti c man " framework. 27 I n m y effort s here t o se e the socia l relations i n right s tha t constitut e movemen t prac tices, I d o no t wis h t o caricatur e right s a s without root s an d withou t community. Rather , I want t o sa y tha t a relationship buil t o n right s i s usually bonde d i n a different wa y fro m on e buil t o n famil y relation s o r love. Bu t th e battle s ragin g i n politica l theor y poin t ou t th e nee d t o develop th e characte r o f liberalism beyon d th e relativ e autonomy o f th e individual t o include assumption s abou t th e Tightnes s an d reac h o f law that i s essential to the hegemony o f liberalism. 28 In hi s respons e t o the minorit y critique s o f the critica l lega l studie s movement, 29 Ala n Freema n concede s a lesso n learne d fro m minorit y scholars, i n thi s cas e Patricia Williams , tha t "th e experienc e o f rights assertion ha s bee n o f bot h solidarit y an d freedom , o f empowermen t o f an interna l an d ver y persona l sort ; i t ha s bee n a process o f finding th e self," a n experienc e o f particular importanc e t o the "historicall y disem powered." 30 A t thei r heigh t i n th e lat e 1980s , these debate s wer e ove r the nature o f the practice o f rights. Although politic s drov e the debates , the socia l practic e o f rights—different fo r whit e mal e intellectuals tha n for women , Asian-American , Chicano , and African-America n intellectu als—determined th e place of the intellectual i n the politics .

Rights Movement s Today, it is hard t o understand th e power o f legal rights even while the y seem omnipresent . Sinc e a t leas t th e firs t year s o f the Ne w Deal , "lega l realism" i n la w school s an d "judicia l behaviorism " i n socia l scienc e departments asserte d a political vie w o f law 31 an d peopl e i n th e acad emy, surrounde d a s the y wer e b y th e artifact s o f law , tende d t o los e track o f distinctly lega l processes. The action wa s in politics and i n society, an d henc e th e la w di d no t see m a s significant . Conceptualizin g power i n Americ a a s distinctly political , however , i s stilted. B y appealing t o rights o r callin g attentio n t o possibl e transgressions , right s hav e empowered an d ofte n change d thos e who invoke them . Although Americ a wa s bor n ou t o f declaration s o f natura l right , i t took a century t o satisf y th e mos t basi c claim s o f huma n equalit y an d launch th e moder n perio d o f rights. Frederic k Douglas s refuse d t o vot e

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and participat e i n th e polit y delineate d b y th e Constitutio n becaus e i t accommodated slavery. 32 Willia m Lloy d Garriso n an d othe r norther n middle clas s reformers challenge d th e complicit y o f the stat e wit h th e evil of slavery. 33 The abolitionists may have been the firs t grou p to mak e a constitutiona l clai m i n th e moder n sense. 34 Late r i n th e nineteent h century, right s serve d industria l capita l with a vengeance an d women' s equality les s energetically . The Senec a Falls Convention, hel d i n 1848 , produced a Declaration o f Principles tha t demande d th e extensio n o f political right s t o women i n terms nearl y identica l t o those i n th e Declaratio n o f Independence. 35 To most wome n outsid e th e conventio n th e contro l o f property, guardian ship, divorce , and educatio n may well have been more pressing tha n th e vote, bu t i t wa s political right s o f this sor t tha t exemplifie d th e equit y claim and it s particular politica l form. 36 A s a result, thi s movemen t ha s been identifie d closel y wit h subsequen t politica l demand s mad e b y women. Amon g th e descendant s o f the Senec a Falls movement, firs t th e Bloomers an d muc h late r feminist s i n th e academ y becam e identifie d with equa l rights as articulated i n the original declaration .

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Struggles fo r equalit y b y othe r group s turne d int o lega l victories fo r women onl y sporadically . The Fourteenth Amendment , a major victor y for free labor, placed "male " in the Constitution for the first time, thereby demonstrating th e falsehoo d tha t th e generi c pronoun s o f the Constitu tion coul d easil y b e read t o include women . The Fifteent h Amendmen t could hav e included sex since it listed "race , color, or previous conditio n of servitude/ ' bu t i t di d not . Suffrag e fo r wome n di d no t develo p a s a right until the perception o f sexual equality wa s more advanced. A problematic relationship betwee n th e struggl e fo r equa l rights an d wome n i n the workforc e wh o identif y mor e completel y wit h workers ' struggle s exemplifies th e distinctiv e qualit y o f rights as a legal form . By mobilizin g masse s o f peopl e aroun d lega l rights , civi l libertie s shifted publi c consciousnes s towar d greate r appreciatio n o f la w a s a resource. Thos e wh o fough t fo r fre e labor , mos t notabl y i n th e Thir teenth, Fourteenth , an d Fifteent h Amendments , initiate d late r expan sion of constitutional right s an d liberties . The craftsmanshi p o f variou s legal scholars and Suprem e Cour t justices i n the lat e nineteenth centur y exemplified creativ e developmen t focuse d o n th e protectio n o f prop erty.37 Afte r Frankli n Roosevel t remad e th e Suprem e Cour t b y appoint ing thre e ne w justices, th e Cour t shifte d it s attention t o politica l rights . Groups suc h a s th e America n Civi l Libertie s Unio n an d th e Nationa l

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Association fo r th e Advancemen t o f Colore d People' s Lega l Defens e Fund facilitate d thi s shif t i n suc h importan t case s as Near v. Minnesota and Brown v. Board of Education J8 Th e result s transforme d th e Bil l of Rights fro m a document whos e applicatio n wa s limite d t o th e federa l government t o one that applie d t o all Americans. The publi c interes t la w movemen t reconceive d th e relationshi p between movement s an d law . Lawyer s mad e lega l chang e a basi s fo r mobilization. Stuar t Scheingold' s respons e t o thi s movemen t i n th e 1970s considere d right s strategie s a s part o f "th e myt h o f rights " an d described right s a s beliefs t o whic h on e coul d appeal. 39 H e located th e significance o f rights in political practice and identifie d lega l power tha t extended beyon d th e courtroo m b y politica l mobilizatio n base d o n appeals t o rights . Othe r natura l right s claim s surroun d us . Activist s from Easter n Europ e t o Chin a proclai m fealt y t o right s an d othe r arti facts o f Western "liberty " a s a substitute fo r socialism . Rights also char acterize les s celebrate d domesti c struggle s suc h a s th e contemporar y squatter movements . Here , th e clai m o f righ t t o particula r building s stands starkl y agains t th e mor e popula r effort s t o hous e th e homeless . Squatters fro m th e Lowe r Eas t Sid e of New York City to Amsterdam an d London confron t propert y b y th e ac t o f squatting , an d thei r clai m o f entitlement draw s from natura l la w rather tha n charity. 40 Rights movement s hav e becom e a type o f politica l action . I n man y cases movement s tha t ma y b e abou t identit y ar e cas t a s right s move ments becaus e it is so much mor e comprehensible politically . This seem s to b e true o f th e struggl e ove r abortio n rights , whic h ma y reall y b e a dispute ove r lifestyl e an d conception s o f the family. 41 On e suspects tha t rights movement s fit s o nicely wit h a pluralist visio n o f appea l t o th e state that eve n occasiona l exces s is not enoug h t o dete r publi c enthusi asm for demand s o f rights. In som e cases the assertio n o f rights, suc h a s those o f the elderl y an d peopl e wit h disabilities , hav e transforme d th e landscape i n th e form o f new entrance s t o building s an d hav e redefine d traditionally age-specifi c occupation s suc h a s airline stewar d o r profes sor. In th e case of people wit h disabilities , realizin g right s wa s possibl e by extendin g th e civi l rights tradition . I n the cas e of the elderly , politi cal influence seem s to have played a greater role . The conventiona l assumption s abou t right s movement s hav e pro voked question s an d give n meanin g t o "ne w socia l movements " tha t appear unconventional . Thes e ar e movements tha t d o not easil y situat e themselves o n th e spectru m fro m lef t t o right, a spectrum provide d b y

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movement orientatio n t o politicall y constitute d authority . Th e ne w movements fo r environmenta l sensitivity , fo r peac e an d disarmament , against nuclea r powe r an d weapons , a s well as the man y lifestyl e move ments concerne d wit h health , mysticism , an d consciousness , mobiliz e but eithe r d o not challeng e th e stat e or , i n som e less classically politica l sense, presen t a challeng e t o al l states . Thes e movement s challeng e boundaries se t b y traditiona l movemen t practic e tha t i s strongly associ ated wit h right s struggles. 42 Conversely , o r perhap s dialectically , thes e movements an d th e scholarshi p tha t take s accoun t o f the m hav e expanded ou r conceptio n o f th e large r impac t o f right s movement s themselves on their participants .

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A Latin a teache r i n Sa n Jose , California , i s quote d b y Blanc a Sil vestrini a s notin g tha t "yo u hav e t o confes s first , an d the n yo u ca n claim a right/' 43 Right s claims , particularly thos e associate d wit h socia l movements, requir e th e acceptanc e o f certai n identitie s o r relation s t o the state . Sometimes these are "required" upo n entranc e to the embrac e of the movement ; a t othe r time s the y ente r int o individua l conscious ness through th e shapin g tha t i s characteristic o f the movement . Right s do no t alway s constrai n th e participant s i n thi s way ; ofte n right s ar e used i n an instrumental sens e to mobilize. This is the picture we have of the early organizing o f the civi l rights movement, 44 and i t is reflected i n the observation s o f activist s abou t th e meanin g politica l struggl e ha s had fo r them. 45 Thi s sens e o f right s i s als o reveale d i n th e wor k o f Michael McCan n o n comparabl e worth. 46 Bu t ou r understandin g o f th e extent t o whic h movemen t politic s create s identity—th e wa y i n whic h it enters the consciousnes s an d become s indicative o f the socia l place of movement practitioners—i s stil l relativel y underdeveloped . Th e pic ture tha t need s t o b e filled i n i s outline d b y Kristi n Bumille r i n The Civil Rights Society, tha t is , the pictur e o f peopl e withi n law ; peopl e who hav e take n o n aspect s o f legalit y no t full y acknowledge d b y th e aspirational addresse s o f movement practice. 47 I n Bumiller' s frame , th e status o f victim reflect s i n practic e wha t Ala n Freema n describe s a s th e doctrinal stanc e o f civi l right s law , a stance tha t limit s th e aspiration s of participants. 48

Gay Right s an d AID S bring s t o everythin g i t touche s a sens e o f urgency . Right s hav e been touche d i n thi s way . This urgency wa s particularly eviden t i n th e

AIDS

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initial hysteria a s the diseas e emerged i n California i n 1983 . Public reaction mad e i t difficul t fo r cit y buse s t o mov e throug h Sa n Francisco' s Castro Distric t or , i n othe r part s o f th e country , fo r infecte d childre n like Rya n Whit e t o g o to school . Suc h urgenc y wa s du e i n par t t o th e blistering pac e wit h whic h th e diseas e ha s sprea d sinc e i t wa s firs t identified.49 After th e perio d covere d i n thi s study , urgenc y le d activist s t o adop t bold strategie s i n orde r t o demonstrat e th e failure s o f a governmen t operating unde r ordinar y practices. 50 Thus ACT-U P an d Quee r Natio n shut dow n institution s suc h a s the Foo d an d Dru g Administratio n i n Rockville, Maryland, an d Cosmopolitan magazine.51 This was a boldnes s grounded i n th e vulnerabilit y o f most affecte d group s an d th e failur e o f rights strategie s t o promise protection . I n th e earl y years , rights claim s were seen as protecting gay s against society . A movement's assertio n o f a right i s base d upo n th e existenc e o f a group. For gays, sexual preferenc e i s central t o bu t no t determinativ e o f identity. A s a n ancien t predisposition , homosexualit y i s a movemen t rooted in basi c social relations. In the West in the twentieth century , ga y men hav e create d a social structur e an d grou p identity . B y the 1960s , this grou p identit y wa s eviden t i n al l aspects o f society , language , cul ture, an d socia l relations. The existenc e o f a gay language, fo r instance , is described b y Bruc e Boon e in th e contex t o f a poetry review. 52 I n th e work o f bea t poe t Fran k O'Hara , Boon e finds evidenc e o f group praxi s characterized b y repressed violence , cynicism, and guilt, as well as links to the worl d o f the art s an d th e avant-garde. 53 The image Boon e identi fies is one of opposition incorporatin g an d cooptin g dominan t practices . In thi s languag e o f grou p identit y w e also find th e basi s o f th e right s content o f gay liberatio n struggles , a s well a s the right s orientatio n o f the gay community's initia l response to AIDS . Since th e 1960s , homosexual s hav e raise d claim s fo r protectio n against discriminatio n o n th e basi s of sexua l preference . Ga y liberation , with an affinity fo r th e guarantees o f the civi l rights movement, erupte d with a new militanc y followin g th e Stonewal l riot s o f June 1968. 54 The conventional pictur e o f gay lif e i n Americ a unti l th e 1950 s was on e i n which ga y me n an d lesbian s ha d littl e security . Afte r th e nationa l expansion o f rights t o expression , equality , an d du e proces s associate d with lega l liberalism i n the 1950 s and earl y 1960s , security fo r gay s an d lesbians becam e a realistic aspiration . Ne w demand s wer e brough t b y gay politicians suc h a s San Francisco's Harve y Milk , an d publi c interes t

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law groups such as the Lambda Legal Defense Fund. 55 Gay rights statute s were passe d i n man y America n citie s i n th e 1970 s an d 1980s . Bu t i n Miami, an d the n a littl e late r i n California , ther e wa s a backlash. 56 Although ordinance s against discriminatio n wer e being passe d a s late as 1989,57 they wer e also being repeale d wit h muc h fanfare . Beyond th e dominan t equa l protectio n clai m a t th e roo t o f th e ga y rights movement , ther e ha s als o bee n a rights lin k wit h privacy . Fo r years th e righ t t o privacy , whic h ha d emerge d fro m th e du e proces s changes i n th e 1960 s an d ha d give n wome n th e righ t t o abortion , promised t o offe r securit y t o ga y me n an d women . Unti l th e Suprem e Court decisio n i n Bowers v. Hardwick i n 1986 , however , ther e wa s more political action than significan t judicia l decisio n i n this area. 58 To gay activist s i n group s lik e th e Lambd a Lega l Defens e Fund , th e Bowers decisio n wa s disappointin g becaus e th e movemen t ha d supporte d Michael Hardwick' s attemp t t o appl y th e righ t o f constitutiona l pri vacy t o homosexua l relations . Havin g gon e al l the wa y t o the Suprem e Court an d los t magnifie d th e impac t o f th e decision. 59 Thi s wa s th e legal environmen t i n whic h closin g bathhouse s surface d a s a politica l issue. wa s first identifie d i n 1981 . B y 1983 , just enoug h ha d bee n learned about the disease to create a panic. In San Francisco, people began calling th e AID S Foundatio n wit h question s abou t share d toothbrushe s and ga y waiters , whil e cit y bu s driver s whos e route s brough t the m through ga y neighborhoods wer e reported i n the San Francisco Chronicle to b e wearin g surgica l masks. 60 While th e federa l governmen t resiste d addressing th e issue , ostensibl y becaus e ga y se x wa s illegal i n hal f th e states, a group calle d Ba y Area Physicians fo r Huma n Right s bega n pro ducing material s "t o eroticiz e saf e sex. " This ne w concep t o f sexualit y would eventuall y hav e profound consequence s for socia l practices. As the initial terror subside d an d th e magnitude of the crisis began t o present itself , right s issue s bega n t o surface . The y appeare d a s th e response to an asserted lin k betwee n morality and disease . Characteristically, some would juxtapose right s claim s in the contex t o f AID S agains t the interest s o f the community—right s versu s publi c health. 61 B y early 1984, public healt h official s i n Sa n Francisco wer e describin g ga y bath houses a s "se x establishments " wher e me n engage d i n "high-volume , high-frequency sex. " This was the contex t fo r a struggle ove r strategi c responses i n the ga y community , first i n Sa n Francisco an d late r i n Ne w York, Los Angeles, and Sa n Diego. 62 AIDS

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The Baths Evolving fro m histori c establishment s wher e me n ha d gon e for genera tions t o ge t a steam , a massage, an d th e fellowshi p o f othe r men , ga y baths becam e th e focu s o f th e earl y struggl e ove r AIDS . Bath s suc h a s those on the Lower East Side of New York were public facilities tha t pro moted physical hygiene—often i n response to the urging o f the "better " classes. The "better " classe s also had thei r ow n facilities, suc h a s the allmale Olympi c Clu b i n Sa n Francisco . I n a n unflatterin g portraya l tha t predates th e epidemi c b y fifteen years , Marti n Hoffma n describe s th e baths in detai l as institutions develope d b y a population restricte d fro m the traditiona l place s fo r sex. 63 The bath s o f that perio d wer e divide d into privat e rooms , initiall y changin g an d res t areas , an d th e publi c areas around a pool or steam bath . In the next decade , the gay liberatio n movement o f the 1970 s is reported t o have made the hundreds o f "bath houses an d se x clubs " a $ioo-million industr y acros s the Unite d State s and Canada. 64 Concern abou t sexua l practice s wa s a feature o f report s o n th e epi demic by Randy Shilts, the San Francisco Chronicle's AID S correspondent . In his book And the Band Played On, Shilt s quotes a 1980 interview in the New Yor k Cit y ga y magazin e Christopher Street, wher e Da n Willia m addresses the rise in erotic practices: sex has been institutionalized an d franchised. Twent y year s ago, there may have been a thousand men on any one night having sex in New York baths or parks. Now there are ten or twenty thousand—at th e baths, the back-room bars , bookstores , porn o theaters , th e Rambles , an d a wide range of other places as well. The plethora of opportunities poses a public health problem. 65 Drawing fro m ad s for th e bath s fro m th e 1980s , Shilts note s tha t th e Handball Express's motto was "find you r limits," while "the Glory Holes pledged t o b e 'th e mos t unusua l se x plac e in th e world' ; th e Jagua r se x club in the Castro hyped 'you r fantasy , you r pleasure' ; while the coedu cational Sutr o Baths had a 'Bisexual Boogie ' every weekend." 66 The YMCA' S indoo r pools , stea m baths , an d massag e facilitie s pro vided a model fo r th e ga y baths. 6"7 This particula r institutiona l lineag e seems to go back to the period befor e World War II, when the Navy con ducted a major investigatio n o f the Newport YMC A branch. 68 In th e lat e 1970s , Dr . Davi d Ostrow , a n exper t o n ga y diseases , described th e bath s a s " a horribl e breedin g ground. " Later , i n hi s boo k on the control of AIDS , he ranked the m the fourth mos t dangerous out of

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seven location s wher e ga y an d bisexua l me n me t fo r sexua l encoun ters. 69 Other studie s confirmed thi s observation : A Seattle study o f gay men suffering fro m shigellosis , for example , discovered that 6 9 percent culle d their sexua l partners from bathhouses . A Denver study found tha t an average bathhouse patron having his typical 2.7 sexual contacts a night risked a 33 percent chanc e of walking out of the tubs with syphilis or gonorrhea, becaus e about one in eight of those wandering the hallways had asymptomatic cases of these diseases. 70

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As epidemiologists fro m th e Center s fo r Diseas e Contro l (CDC ) entere d the effort , th e bath s cam e t o hea d th e lis t o f location s an d behavior s identified wit h th e sprea d o f AIDS . Shilt s summarize s th e positio n o f Mary Guina n from CD C in his typically vivi d fashion : "Thi s disease was being sprea d throug h se x b y peopl e depositin g thei r infecte d seme n i n sundry orifice s o f their partners . . . . Gays were just gettin g i t more fre quently becaus e the y wer e mor e activ e sexuall y an d the y ha d institu tions lik e bathhouse s tha t wer e virtua l Federa l Reserv e Bank s fo r massive semen deposition/' 71 By the mid-1980s , thes e bastion s o f nonconformit y wer e becomin g lightning rod s fo r a community concerne d abou t repression . Th e bath s became symbol s o f tolerance an d a barometer o f the ga y community' s vulnerability, an d they were also linked to political leadership in the gay community. Shilt s describe s bathhous e owner s a s influential i n majo r American cities , "b y virtu e o f thei r substantia l larges s t o th e always starved ga y politica l community." 72 Th e link betwee n th e economi c via bility o f the bath s and public healt h issue s around AID S was the subtex t of conversation s betwee n bathhous e owner s an d publi c healt h officials . Cleve Jones o f the Kapos i Sarcom a Educatio n an d Researc h Foundatio n is said t o have tentatively suggested , " I think it' s a sexually transmitte d disease that' s cause d b y a virus," an d h e mentione d th e bath s tangen tially, "Nobod y ha s advocate d closin g th e baths , bu t I think ther e nee d to be changes." 73 The "Crunch" A powerfu l connectio n exist s betwee n la w an d th e materia l condition s that affec t busines s o r corporat e bodie s a s well as bodies infecte d wit h AIDS. The Alice B. Toklas Gay and Lesbia n Democratic Clu b in San Francisco oppose d closur e o f th e baths , bu t som e ga y activist s describe d bathhouse owner s as capitalists cynicall y trying t o make themselves ou t as civi l libertarians. 74 Civi l liberties lawyer s defende d th e bath s i n th e

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abstract withou t defendin g th e actua l institution s o r the practice s the y facilitated.75 O n the other side , activists ranged from advocate s of voluntary closure , th e positio n hel d b y th e Harve y Mil k Lesbia n an d Ga y Democratic Clu b i n Sa n Francisc o i n 1983 , to thos e wh o believe d tha t mandatory closur e was inevitable. Shilts's boo k an d th e television movi e made from i t describ e growin g recognition, first in San Francisco and the n i n other communities , that th e baths had t o b e closed. This developmen t bega n wit h Selm a Dritz, 76 th e infectious diseas e specialis t fo r Sa n Francisco' s Departmen t o f Publi c Health. Shilts's treatment o f the issue, beginnin g wit h wor k he did for th e Chronicle, pit s public healt h agains t th e clai m of rights. About Dritz , h e writes, "Sh e had neve r bee n overly fond o f the institutions. It wasn't tha t she had any moral qualms.... But bathhouses were biological cesspools for infection. . . . 'Of course , from a n old-fashione d textboo k publi c healt h standpoint, yo u migh t g o in and clos e the places down. " Dritz adds, "O f course, some might argu e that ther e were civil liberties issues involved, " and Shilt s describes "he r voic e trailing of f in a way that suggeste d sh e did not think for one minute that civil liberties were the central issues involved here."77 Shilts describes the split over tactics in the context of activist con cern that "talkin g abou t the gay community's prodigious promiscuity wa s part o f a 'blame-the-victi m mentality.' " Th e Ga y Men' s Healt h Crisi s i n New York, which advocate d saf e sex education, wa s on record a t the tim e as seeing important civi l rights issues in bathhouse closure. 78 In Sa n Francisco durin g th e sprin g o f 1983 , activists sough t t o mov e beyond th e "saf e sex " campaign . A manifesto b y Bil l Kraus, a n ai d t o Congressman Phili p Burton , proposed , "W e believ e i t i s time t o spea k the simpl e truth . . . . Unsafe se x is—quit e literally—killin g us . . . . [Ujnsafe se x a t bathhouse s an d se x club s i s particularly dangerous." 79 With this , th e campaig n agains t th e bath s wa s launched publicly. 80 Th e baths issue was central to the struggle betwee n a sense of right withi n a t least par t o f th e ga y communit y an d th e regulatio n o f communit y health. The civil libertarians were led b y businessmen suc h as the owne r of the Sutr o Baths , who shoute d t o a public healt h officia l i n Sa n Fran cisco, "I f yo u tr y t o shu t the m down , I'l l hav e yo u i n cour t a da y late r with a temporary restrainin g order." 81 In earl y 198 3 the publi c healt h communit y stil l had doubt s abou t th e legality o f closin g th e baths . Drit z "aske d fo r a n opinio n o n th e legalit y of closure from th e cit y attorney' s office, " knowin g "tha t a closure orde r might b e difficul t t o ge t becaus e doctor s ha d no t ye t isolate d a n AID S

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virus." Mervy n Silverman , Dritz' s bos s as directo r o f publi c healt h fo r San Francisco , sai d i t woul d b e "illega l fo r m e to clos e dow n al l bath houses an d othe r suc h place s that ar e used fo r anonymou s an d multipl e sex contacts. " Dritz , however , "though t th e postin g o f sign s [abou t th e dangers o f AID S i n bathhouses ] wa s a cop-out," an d sh e held tha t whil e "[t]he U.S. Constitution migh t b e construed t o allow the right t o commi t suicide . . . [t]he Constitution di d no t gran t th e righ t t o take othe r peo ple wit h you." 82 Eve n afte r Sa n Francisco mayo r Diann e Feinstei n qui etly bega n t o advocat e closin g th e bath s i n 1982 , public healt h official s hesitated fo r tw o years. By Februar y 1984 , however , doctor s a t th e Sa n Francisc o Genera l Hospital announce d thei r suppor t fo r closin g th e bathhouses. 83 I n March, th e publi c healt h departmen t concurred , bu t th e cit y di d no t implement th e decisio n unti l tha t fall , leadin g conservativ e supervisor s like Wendy Nelde r t o lament th e slo w pac e a t whic h th e cit y wa s mov ing. 84 O n Octobe r 9 , Silverma n announce d tha t th e cit y woul d clos e fourteen bath s tha t "promot e an d profi t fro m th e sprea d o f AIDS. " H e went o n t o add a t a news conference , "Thes e 1 4 establishments ar e no t fostering ga y liberation. They ar e fostering diseas e and death/" 85 The reactio n fro m th e bathhous e owner s an d th e civi l libertaria n community linke d economic s wit h right s claims. 86 On e ga y busines s association calle d closur e "a n intrusio n o n privat e enterprise, " an d th e Bay Area Lawyer s fo r Individua l Freedo m expresse d concer n tha t gay s throughout th e countr y wer e i n dange r o f losing thei r rights. 87 Si x o f the bathhous e owner s defie d Silverman' s order an d sough t cour t injunc tions allowin g the m t o remain ope n unti l th e civi l rights suit s coul d b e heard. 88 Although report s at the time held that the bath s were becomin g less popular, 89 the y wer e a locus of struggle i n law. The bathhous e own ers formed th e Committee to Preserve Our Sexual and Civi l Liberties an d fought th e closin g i n Sa n Francisco's courts , whil e i t wa s reported tha t other citie s were unlikely to close their baths. 90 On October n , 1984 , the city sough t a temporary restrainin g orde r listin g th e fourteen bath s an d fifty-six defendants . Feinstein , i n supportin g th e order , sai d tha t th e defiant owner s wer e "puttin g th e profi t motiv e ahea d o f the healt h an d life o f those wh o patroniz e thei r establishments." 91 O n October 16 , th e baths were ordered to close temporarily b y Judge William Mullins of the San Francisc o Superio r Court , wh o foun d a "rea l publi c healt h menace." 92 Th e ba n wa s uphel d o n Octobe r 2 4 b y th e Stat e Cour t o f Appeals on a 2-1 vot e with J. Anthony Klin e dissenting .

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When Sa n Francisc o ordere d th e bath s closed , ther e wer e 71 4 AID S cases reported i n th e city . This wa s one third o f the tota l fo r Ne w York, where th e struggl e ove r closin g th e bath s di d no t full y emerg e unti l a year later . I n Octobe r 1985 , Governor Mari o Cuom o decline d t o recom mend closin g th e bath s i n th e state , offerin g ne w regulation s instead. 93 Two weeks later , th e New York Times reporte d favorabl y o n Sa n Fran cisco's effort, whic h ha d le d to court mandate d restriction s o n behavior s in th e bath s an d " a dramati c decline " i n sexuall y transmitte d disease s among homosexuals. 94 The mayoral electio n i n New York that fal l pitte d conservatives advocatin g closin g agains t liberal s Caro l Bellam y an d Edward Koc h wh o oppose d closing . A s the stat e healt h commissione r moved close r t o closin g th e baths , th e debat e i n Ne w Yor k sa w littl e advocacy fro m th e gay community i n favor o f closing th e baths . Other Cities In San Diego, J. Douglas Scott, president o f the Democratic Club, addressing the possibility o f closing the bath s in that city , argued fo r voluntar y measures. He figured i t would b e good publi c relation s for th e gay com munity an d migh t ste m th e threa t o f mor e extrem e actio n b y publi c authority. I n Scott' s words , "I f w e aren' t see n a s cooperatin g an d ar e seen a s little childre n sayin g 'no , don' t tak e thi s away, ' they'l l fee l per fectly justified i n whatever action s they take. They'll go further tha n th e baths." 95 Although th e public health communit y wa s beginning t o feel a need t o respon d t o th e epidemic , th e preemptiv e cal l fo r closur e wa s seen b y many as capitulation . Reacting to the call put fort h b y Scot t as the controvers y i n San Diego raged throug h th e winte r o f 1985-86 , ga y activist s develope d th e civi l libertarian positio n tha t wa s eviden t i n a number o f publications. Th e letters t o th e edito r o f th e Gayzette containe d call s fo r a n aggressiv e assertion o f the right s i n th e Constitution , includin g th e righ t t o prop erty, free association , and liberty. This call was emblematic of past strug gles. It claimed a new legal definition throug h th e clarification o f already recognized value s in the midst of a crisis. The assertion o f right cam e as a response t o the threa t no t onl y o f closure fo r th e baths , bu t o f genocid e fueled b y the fear i n the straight community . In this case, many in the gay community fel t threatene d b y publi c reactio n t o the sprea d o f AID S an d the resulting pressur e to clos e the bathhouses. 96 Bu t the AID S crisi s als o arrived durin g a political shift t o the righ t i n th e Unite d State s that pu t leverage o n th e cultur e t o disavo w a more libera l past . I n thi s context ,

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activists i n th e ga y communit y sa w voluntary closur e a s a "co-conspir acy . . . with the forces o f reaction/' I n one comment i n the Gayzette, th e issue surroundin g bathhous e closur e wa s whethe r gay s an d lesbian s would work in an illicit alliance with those who would wip e them out i n order to respond t o the immediate situation . Suc h an alliance, the write r says, woul d "ro b u s o f our fift h amendmen t constitutiona l righ t t o du e process i n th e protectio n o f ou r life , libert y an d property." 97 Her e th e claim o f righ t rejecte d th e publi c healt h strategy . I n thi s sense , th e writer wa s operating accordin g t o the sam e polarity recognize d b y con servatives, one that pitte d right s claim s against public healt h interests . The letter writer's assertion i s of a vested right, an d i t brings to bear a tradition o f honorin g tha t right . Althoug h th e earlie r ga y rights move ments relie d o n equa l protection rathe r tha n du e process, property , pri vacy, an d assembl y rights , th e deman d fro m la w i s fo r protection . However, th e write r als o argues tha t th e bath s perfor m a public healt h service: "Th e bath s i n th e 1960 s brought togethe r unde r on e roof thes e myriad form s o f sexuality i n a safe gay haven. . . . Close down th e bath s and ou r brother s ar e bac k o n th e street s a s outlaws." This threat , a s a n aside, represents th e potentia l fo r a sort o f germ warfare . A s part o f th e public healt h debate , however , i t escalate d th e threa t beyon d th e clai m of right . The languag e i n th e respons e i s fearful. I t lack s th e confidenc e i n a better futur e see n i n som e right s struggles—th e speeche s o f Marti n Luther King , Jr. , fo r example—althoug h i t share s a n apocalypti c threa t with suc h struggles : "Mos t o f the heterosexua l majorit y hate s us . . . . We are fatally delude d i f we think tha t b y punishin g ou r 'perverts ' an d 'tainted merchants ' we will be miraculously spared. " At this stag e in th e struggle, neithe r th e radica l disobedienc e o f ACT-U P no r th e culturall y evocative NAME S project ha d provided a voice for the community. It was a perio d o f growing terro r an d ver y rea l prospect s fo r th e kin d o f mas s violations o f rights tha t Californi a ha d tolerate d i n interrin g Japanes e Americans durin g th e World War II. The threat t o the bath s came only a year afte r th e voter s o f Californi a rejecte d a Lyndon LaRouche-spon sored initiativ e tha t woul d hav e require d al l person s wit h Huma n Immunodeficiency Viru s (HIV ) t o repor t thei r conditio n t o th e Stat e Department o f Health.^ 8 Back in Ne w York, i n Decembe r 198 5 the cit y obtaine d a court orde r to clos e the Ne w St . Marks Bath s o n th e basi s o f findings o f unsafe se x by cit y healt h inspectors . Two weeks earlier , th e cit y ha d close d a clu b

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frequented b y heterosexual s o n th e ground s tha t prostitutio n wa s tak ing place . The sequenc e wa s reporte d a s an effor t t o demonstrat e tha t the cit y wa s no t actin g agains t homosexual s i n closin g th e Ne w St . Marks Baths. " Som e report s describe d thi s bat h a s on e o f th e mor e responsible in providing saf e sex material, but a vivid portrayal of life in the bath s b y Phili p Weis s fo r th e New Republic describe d plent y o f unsafe activity. 100 I n th e Ne w Yor k Suprem e Cour t opinio n hande d down i n January 1986 , Judge Richard W . Wallach emphasize d th e rapi d spread o f the epidemic and its link to sexual practices such as anal inter course an d fellatio. 101 H e foun d th e closin g authorize d b y regulation s created b y the Stat e Public Health Counci l two months earlier . The claim s agains t closur e i n th e firs t year s o f the epidemi c denie d public healt h concern s an d invoke d traditiona l cultura l symbol s o f right. Althoug h lawyer s wer e involved , th e discours e o f the struggl e i s not deferentia l t o them. I t i s not mediate d b y professional s t o any grea t extent. The discourse, the practice, in this struggl e is about right. In th e end, th e right s clai m i s a stance, a political position . I n thi s sense , i t i s directed withi n a movement context , no t t o the outsid e an d th e uncon verted. Th e specia l significanc e o f righ t i n thi s movemen t contex t explains th e choic e o f this strateg y ove r others . The assertio n o f a legal right indicate s th e socia l relations the lega l form constitutes . Man y gay s in Sa n Francisco , Ne w York, an d Sa n Dieg o resisted th e publi c healt h moves o f the governmen t i n a n expressio n o f their solidarit y an d con cern abou t th e repressio n the y fel t sur e woul d follo w an y assertio n o f authority fro m th e state . The struggl e agains t AID S ha s no t onl y bee n fough t withi n th e lan guage o f socia l structure , i t ha s produce d ne w socia l structure s i n th e steps take n b y citie s suc h a s Sa n Francisc o t o provid e educatio n an d treatment i n respons e t o the disease . Paradoxically , however , th e asser tion o f wha t o n th e surfac e sound s forma l an d legalisti c i s more accu rately see n a s a n assertio n o f communit y identity . I n thi s case , th e rights clai m reflect s th e post-Stonewal l traditio n amon g gay s i n th e United State s of making identit y a central feature o f cultural politics. In the cas e o f th e baths , th e identificatio n appear s bot h natura l an d des perate, whic h i s in th e natur e o f the identit y politic s s o prevalent fol lowing th e civi l right s er a i n th e Unite d States . Here , however , resistance ma y hav e bee n romanticized. 102 Thoug h no t a s eviden t a form o f hegemoni c powe r a s silence , resistanc e i s nevertheles s a n expression o f state power .

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Law and Socia l Relation s

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Academic stud y o f right s teache s tha t right s ar e a politica l resourc e because the y contai n belief s abou t ho w thing s shoul d b e done . Stuar t Scheingold call s thi s belie f th e "myt h o f rights." 103 The significanc e o f rights i n thi s framewor k lie s les s i n th e politica l powe r behin d the m than i n thei r congruenc e wit h belief s abou t socia l justice o r righ t con duct. I n th e lat e 1960 s and earl y 1970s , the publi c interes t la w move ment, wit h it s mobilizatio n o f peopl e aroun d lega l rights , sough t appreciation o f law as a resource. I n th e conservativ e 1980 s the critica l legal studies movement' s critiqu e o f law turned awa y from rights. 104 But life wit h AID S teache s tha t right s d o matter, a t least to people subjec t t o the disease . Historically an d epistemologically , societ y i s the sourc e for th e mean ing an d significanc e o f rights. Right s appea r t o com e first becaus e o f a picture o f th e "autonomou s individual " associate d wit h libera l lega l practice in the United States . Despite this emphasis, rights involve inter actions an d canno t hav e any meanin g simpl y i n term s o f individuals. I n fact the y hav e produce d a situatio n cleverl y describe d b y Thoma s Haskell as the "curiou s persistenc e o f rights talk i n the 'Ag e of Interpre tation/" 105 I n a society (o r intersubjectiv e mora l order ) th e right s "la y claim to a kind o f knowledge that i s not merel y persona l an d subjective , but impersonal and objective." 106 For many, the reality is conventional, a form o f "moderat e historicism" ; fo r some , the historicis m i s more trou bling.107 In the academy, the historicism o f Friedrich Nietzsche and Mar tin Heidegge r thrive s whil e i n th e polity , particularl y aroun d la w an d social movements , th e languag e o f right seduces. Io8 The answe r t o wh y rights persist lie s in their socia l reality. Practice an d tal k abou t practic e matter. 109 This , o f course , result s i n recognition o f willful conduc t rathe r tha n a paradox i n th e persistenc e of rights. Haskell and other s predict "th e intensification o f rights talk a s more and mor e people shed their illusion s about objectivity an d com e to see i n th e ol d superstition s abou t natura l right s a usefu l devic e fo r manipulating th e gullible." 110 Beyon d th e challeng e o f historicism , th e natural right s challeng e t o conventionalis m attack s a n absenc e o f stan dards. On the other hand, "admittin g tha t rights talk has a fictive element loses its dismissive implications, and . . . even gains some potentially con structive ones." 111 The gay community i n the mid-1980s, like the women's community 15 0 years earlier, drew on a rights/law base in mobilizing a community respons e

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to a crisis . Righ t i n th e ga y communit y wa s somethin g t o mobiliz e around, somethin g t o "com e out " to . No w tha t th e politica l struggl e against AID S ha s mature d wit h ACT-UP , th e politic s o f "outing, " an d Queer Nation , thes e earlie r move s in a mobilization aroun d right s see m immature, a s naive a s the sentimen t tha t dismisse d th e first manifesta tions o f the disease . Group s continu e t o reconstitut e themselve s wit h reference t o their environment . Th e initial response to AID S owe d muc h to the perio d o f rights consciousnes s followin g th e Stonewal l rio t an d the emergenc e o f the Sa n Francisco ga y communit y i n the 1970s . Subsequent development s too k som e o f their meanin g fro m th e transforma tion o f socia l relations brough t o n b y th e epidemi c itself , includin g th e aftermath o f the struggle to keep the bath s open . As the struggl e matured , righ t seeme d t o b e subsumed i n large r cul tural constructions . A s Lucinda Furlon g pointe d ou t i n "AID S Media/ ' her introductio n t o the sho w a t th e Whitney Museu m i n th e winte r o f 1989, "I t i s precisely becaus e cultura l biase s ar e inscribe d i n languag e that AID S activist s hav e conteste d th e terminolog y use d t o describ e th e disease an d hav e substitute d th e phras e 'peopl e wit h AIDS ' fo r 'AID S victims/" 112 I n hi s boo k Policing Desire: Pornography, AIDS, and the Media,113 Simo n Watney call s attention t o the "crisi s o f representation " associated wit h th e epidemic. Work suc h a s that o f Furlong an d Watne y deconstructs, i n wha t seem s t o b e a n oppositio n t o rights . And , wit h regard t o politica l activit y generally , right s claim s have not necessaril y predominated. A t the level of culture, the appeal to rights reinforced th e very victi m statu s in the gay community tha t late r activism woul d wor k to brea k down. 114 Lik e the polaritie s o f mournin g an d rag e that com e together an d fly apart , th e practic e o f right contain s withi n itsel f bot h protection an d repression." 5 T o paraphrase Foucault , w e ough t t o sa y that th e relationshi p betwee n publi c healt h concern s an d th e ga y com munity i s no t characterize d b y repression , whic h woul d "ris k fallin g into a steril e paradox. " Th e questio n i s not , "Wa s closin g th e bath s repressive?" bu t rather , "Wh y d o we say , with s o much passio n an d s o much resentment, tha t w e are repressed?"" 6 AIDS activis m ha s appeare d t o dra w o n bond s betwee n ga y me n an d lesbians. This is a strange alliance given th e misogyn y i n som e gay liter ature. I n th e importan t movemen t groups , suc h a s th e Lambd a Lega l Defense Fund , ga y an d lesbia n lawyer s presen t a united front . I n ACT UP, th e allianc e of homosexual me n and wome n look s quite striking . Yet the allianc e ma y no t b e as formidable a s public discussio n make s it ou t

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to be . Ther e ma y b e a synthesi s o f grou p interests , bu t ther e i s littl e doubt tha t thi s alliance affirms law' s authority a s a terrain fo r strugglin g over th e constructio n o f gay identity . O f course, i n man y instances , th e two culture s ar e profoundly divergent . The lesbian community , particu larly muc h o f the radica l lesbia n community , i s generally anti-men , an d the ga y community , particularl y th e mor e libertin e elements , i s anti women in much the sam e respect. This is not alway s evident o n the sur face, wher e right s a s ordinary discours e forge superficia l links , bu t i n the literatur e an d lif e o f th e communitie s on e see s evidenc e tha t th e alliances and the commo n enemy , which ar e synthesized i n rights terms, mask dee p divisions . Rights provid e u s wit h a paradigm fro m whic h t o conside r th e pres ence of legal form i n political discourse . Here, law is not legal in the positive sense—tha t is , it is not a command o f the sovereign . Drawin g a s it did from th e civil rights and the women's rights movements, which wer e themselves grounded i n the Declaratio n o f Independence, th e resistanc e to closin g th e bath s wa s a movement abou t rights . Here , the practic e o f rights mad e sense for a group unde r siege , particularly whe n tha t grou p had flourished unde r a more tolerant lega l climate and aspire d t o libera tion unde r a banner o f tolerance an d equality . A s bot h th e climat e an d the materia l environmen t degenerated , a right s strateg y expresse d a longing fo r community . Some gay me n livin g throug h th e star t o f a mysterious epidemi c tha t was singlin g the m ou t an d killin g the m relentlessl y reache d fo r a tradition i n la w that ha d empowere d homosexual s sinc e the Stonewal l riots . These year s roughl y coincide d wit h a grand expansio n o f civi l right s and liberties . In claim s of rights, protector s o f the bath s too k a stand a s "incumbents" of a tradition hopin g t o evoke some of the features o f that tradition, an d perhap s eve n "thos e dar k letter s tha t ar e la w fo r us, " as Peter Goodric h ha s described it. 117 This inquir y ha s examine d th e clai m o f right i n a besieged commu nity wit h a history o f reliance on rights. The prominence o f this form o f law in the earl y year s of the AID S epidemi c i s part o f the proble m o f th e persistence o f this clai m i n a n ag e of interpretation. Thu s w e return t o Goodrich's descriptio n o f traditio n i n Englis h La w a s "th e custod y o f that whic h is already there . . . expressed i n the separation o f spirit fro m substance."" 8 Asserte d i n th e fac e o f AIDS , la w i s indeed a n authorit y that carrie s the specte r o f death .

Professions o f Realis m An Institutiona l For m

I Chapter3

When w e came , the y were lik e a priesthoo d that ha d los t thei r fait h and kep t thei r jobs. They stoo d i n tediou s embarrassment befor e cold altars . Bu t w e turned awa y fro m thos e altars an d foun d th e mind's opportunit y i n the heart' s revenge . —Roberto M . Unger, The Critical Legal Studies Movement

n th e late sprin g o f 1990 , Derric k Bell—a professo r a t Harvard Law School, th e distinguished autho r o f "The Civi l Right s Chronicles/ ' And We Are Not Saved, an d Faces at the Bottom of the Well, an d former dea n of th e Universit y o f Orego n La w School—announced tha t h e woul d turn dow n hi s salary i n protest ove r Harvard's failur e t o hir e a blac k woman i n a tenured positio n a t the law school . Bell' s salary, considerabl e in compariso n t o mos t Americans , and th e prestige o f his position mad e his sacrific e significant . Bu t the publicity occasione d b y thi s even t wa s also a consequence o f the tactica l pig in the law school poke . Direc t actio n is not the traditional stuf f o f the lega l academy. Dunca n Kennedy , a leade r of th e critica l lega l studie s (CLS) movement, responding to Bell's protest, said suc h tactic s wer e "no t hi s style." 1 Althoug h thre e year s earlie r Bell had a "sit-in" in his own office to protest personne l action s take n b y Harvard's president Dere k Bok against faculty associate d with the CLS movement, suc h publi c displa y i s clearl y not law school style. 2 Bell's earlie r protes t too k plac e the sam e yea r tha t Rober t Bork , a n 51

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appellate judge identifie d wit h th e economi c mode l o f law , wa s nomi nated t o the Suprem e Court. 3 The nominatio n wa s questioned b y a Bar Association committe e o n whic h Harvar d wa s well represented. A t th e hearings, Laurenc e Trib e an d othe r Harvar d professor s playe d a majo r role. The publicit y aroun d Bork' s nomination struggl e wa s widely see n by th e ba r t o b e unfortunate. I t was , however, nothin g compare d t o th e unfortunate development s surroundin g th e subsequen t nominatio n o f Judge Clarenc e Thomas to the Suprem e Court . Durin g th e Thomas hear ings the usuall y unsee n relation s in the legal academy cam e prominentl y to th e fore . Unlik e successfull y manage d nominations , lik e thos e o f judges Ruth Bade r Ginsbur g an d Steve n Breye r to the Court , la w school s were evident i n the prosecution an d defens e o f Clarence Thomas. We saw Yale against Yale being judged b y Yale, Harvard, Syracuse , and others . Events o n th e lega l lef t an d righ t tha t mak e i t t o th e publi c stag e merely sugges t the nature of politics in and aroun d th e legal academy. In the las t quarte r o f the twentiet h century , th e professionall y constitute d halls of academe have occasionally bee n rent b y political struggle. These struggles, however , hav e generally bee n behin d th e scenes . This i s tru e in large part becaus e the most dynami c politica l movements in law—CL S on th e lef t an d la w an d economic s o n th e right—ar e roote d i n a jurisprudential ideolog y first propose d i n th e 1930s . A s intellectua l movements the y bur y thei r politic s i n th e cloistere d lif e o f th e lega l academy. Lega l realism set s th e epistemologica l parameter s an d deter mines th e rhetorica l construction s fo r wagin g thes e lega l struggles . I t also diverts attention . Bot h politica l movement s adop t th e realis t frame work a s they se t themselves against traditional dogma . This chapter i s about ho w realism, as a theory o f law, operates in con junction wit h la w school s t o maintai n th e law . Realism i n la w school s has become a perpetual insurgenc y tha t keep s alive the foil o f formalis m in constitutin g contemporar y struggles . Throug h realism , whic h wa s once offere d t o expos e th e interest s behin d law , th e ideologie s o f la w mask the politics at law schools and resist academic inquiry. B y restating the obvious—tha t la w is about interests—an d goin g n o further, th e rol e of the lega l profession an d th e lega l academy i n la w i s ignored. Politic s formed i n realist terms dra w attention awa y from professiona l communi ties whil e maintainin g th e powe r o f those communitie s b y mean s o f a professional shyness . Politic s i n th e lega l academ y invoke s ol d for malisms that shiel d th e conflict s an d dra w attentio n awa y from th e hier archies that constitut e lega l power. The authority behin d moder n la w is

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found onl y partl y i n th e publi c institution s o f the judiciary; th e lega l academy als o plays a major rol e in constructin g th e authorit y o f law b y determining wha t the public thinks law is. Politics i n th e lega l academy , specificall y th e struggle s betwee n la w professors, thoug h sometime s disruptive , ten d t o affirm th e authorit y o f the institutions in which they take place. Thus, struggles at Harvard La w School ove r tenur e ar e important becaus e th e la w schoo l i s important . Disagreements a t Yale Law Schoo l ove r Clarenc e Thomas' s nominatio n tended t o affir m th e centralit y o f Yale in the nationa l lega l arena. I n th e first sectio n of this chapter, I focus o n elements of constituted practic e i n a professional community. 4 In the following section s I consider th e tradi tion o f realism i n la w school s wit h attentio n t o the wa y jurisprudentia l ideologies hav e bee n use d t o maintain professiona l power , includin g th e place o f oppositiona l politic s i n maintainin g th e contemporar y lega l establishment. 5 I conclud e b y examinin g th e socia l function s o f posi tivism, i n its epistemological an d lega l sense. Positivism is the law in law school, bu t th e hegemon y o f thi s ideolog y ha s bee n challenge d i n th e debate ove r th e racia l and ethni c makeu p o f law faculties an d th e racia l and gender challenge s to the nature of legal scholarship.

Ideologies i n a Professio n An enduring fac t o f professional lif e describe d i n the academic languag e of our tim e b y Yves Dezalay, a French sociologis t o f law, is that scholar ship o n la w maintain s a "silenc e o n th e rol e o f th e lega l profession." 6 While tru e silence s ar e rare thes e days , given al l the attentio n t o differ ent voices , th e institutiona l an d professiona l relation s themselve s hav e been hear d relativel y little . Th e extraordinar y consequenc e o f thi s silence is the absenc e o f "th e subject " i n th e discourse s o f law. The ide a that judges, lawyers, and lega l academics are silent o r self-effacing i s not intuitively obvious . Yet, at least in matters relating t o where their powe r comes from—the institutions , language , an d convention s o f the profes sion—the ba r i s shy. This is evident i n it s sensitivit y t o advertising , i n its cautio n abou t openin g u p it s processes, an d i n th e desir e of law pro fessors t o b e see n a s academics an d no t a s lawyers. In thi s chapte r I tr y to overcom e tha t shynes s b y linkin g th e professiona l community—th e bar and the professors—to th e authorit y an d meanin g o f law. The authorit y examine d her e i s i n th e academy . O f cours e peopl e think tha t th e lega l academy ha s somethin g t o d o with th e authorit y o f

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law, bu t attentio n i s deflecte d fro m th e rol e playe d b y th e professiona l life o f the la w in the academy i n delineatin g contemporar y lega l author ity. In on e respect, th e la w schools , like the ba r associations , ar e seen a s mere servant s t o the bench . Whil e w e focus o n th e Rehnquist s an d th e Borks, th e Warren s an d th e Burgers , th e me n an d wome n wh o decid e who wil l practice befor e th e court s i n Californi a an d Massachusett s an d the professor s wh o determin e th e curriculu m futur e practitioner s wil l study disclai m jurisprudential responsibilit y wit h a democratic demu r and a cavalier shrug . Identifying lawyer s a s the subjec t call s attentio n t o a powerful fra ternity an d t o the bond s o f professionals i n term s o f particular institu tions an d specifi c communities . B y charting th e commo n way s lawyer s understand thing s w e ca n presen t a n aspec t o f professional powe r a s a form o f la w tha t i s taugh t t o th e communit y mor e widely . Thi s la w exists behin d th e la w o f court s an d legislature s i n commo n way s o f thinking an d speaking . Th e natur e o f linguistic practic e a s socia l phe nomenon ha s seldo m bee n describe d wit h greate r flai r tha n i n Pete r Goodrich's The Languages of Law. "I n institutional terms, " he says, "th e profession als o stand s betwee n justice , 'lad y an d quee n o f al l mora l virtues/ an d barbarism. " Withou t th e lawyers , h e continues , "justic e would hav e n o tongue." 7 Th e practice s eviden t i n lega l languag e ar e institutional practice s upo n whic h th e socia l lif e o f law is built . Justic e without it s distinct language , withou t th e practice s carrie d b y it , i s not legal. The practice s tha t delineat e th e lega l community—th e imposin g edifices, th e archaic language, the fat books—ar e like the rules for polit e dining, suc h a s the arrangemen t o f the fork s a t a dinner party . Lik e th e rules fo r dinin g ( a popula r wa y o f portrayin g th e characteristic s o f class),8 the practic e o f acknowledging law' s forms, whethe r th e hierar chy of law schools or the discourse s on the Constitution, affirm s a "community." Law' s practices , lik e othe r socia l practices , ar e mediatin g devices i n that th e participant s "ar e not simpl y speakin g a s individual s to on e another " bu t ar e engagin g a s members o f a group. 9 I n th e lega l profession, a s with medicine or political science, such practices establis h authority. Knowin g whe n t o use a free-speech argumen t o r where to file a petitio n i s as crucia l t o wieldin g th e authorit y o f law a s the conven tions o f dinin g ar e to maintaining clas s relations. 10 Along wit h relation s such a s ol d schoo l tie s o r th e arrangement s fo r partnershi p i n a firm, fundamental jurisprudentia l practice s are practices o f the profession .

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Realism a s jurisprudential practic e determine s th e wa y tort s o r con tracts i s taught o r whethe r a particular doctrin e o f equal protectio n i s authoritative. I t i s the basi s fo r excludin g som e form s o f scholarship , such as when tha t scholarshi p is said to be insufficiently "developed " o r lacking i n " a respectabl e basis/ ' a s feminism wa s describe d t o the lat e Mary Joe Frug b y the head o f the Contracts Section of the Association of American La w Schools in 1988. n These principles o f jurisprudence for m the domai n o f legal philosophy an d it s institutional life . Al l have impli cations fo r contro l o f th e classroom , wit h it s acces s t o benc h an d bar , and thu s the y ar e th e subjec t o f heate d discussio n i n th e club s an d cloakrooms o f legal power . Th e jurisprudential ideologie s contro l th e basic assumption s beneat h th e surfac e controversie s o f an y give n moment.12 They sa y who is part o f the group . The stor y o f th e lega l professio n i n la w i s lik e th e stor y Rolan d Barthes tell s of the Eiffe l Towe r an d th e way s som e Parisians hav e deal t with it s dominatio n o f the landscape. 13 Gu y d e Maupassant, a great fo e of the Eiffe l Tower , dine d contentedl y i n th e towe r restauran t althoug h he i s said no t t o hav e care d fo r th e food . Th e restauran t was , however , according t o Barthe s the onl y plac e Maupassan t di d no t hav e to look a t the tower . I n man y respect s th e towe r i s like th e lega l profession , an d legal scholar s hav e bee n muc h lik e Maupassant . Althoug h th e towe r dominates the landscape, it can be avoided b y those on the inside. In th e legal academy, th e powe r o f the professio n an d eve n o f law more gener ally is often denied . Realis m is at the hear t o f the denial . Much a s lunc h in th e Eiffe l Towe r allowed it s critic s in th e earl y par t o f this centur y t o turn awa y fro m th e monstrou s presenc e loomin g ove r th e city , bein g realistic i n th e academy , quit e paradoxically , allow s th e lega l profes sional to draw insight from th e mythology o f the ideal. As law professor s and lawyer s poin t t o th e forma l an d mechanical , th e stuff y an d th e archaic i n law , they dra w attentio n t o behavior s an d awa y fro m institu tional power . Legal history is , of course , ful l o f storie s abou t th e professiona l pro jects o f lawyers. 14 Th e late-nineteenth-centur y lawye r ha s bee n th e focus o f attention fo r Rober t Gordon , who has established th e role of the elite bar in New York City as "architects o f ideas and institutions," 15 creators of law schools, the American La w Institute "restatements, " and th e uniform codes . This wor k i s of great interes t t o the lega l community , a s evidenced b y th e receptio n Gordon' s wor k ha s received. I n hi s Holme s Lectures on the subject a t Harvard Law School in the mid-1980s, Gordo n

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drew attentio n t o the effort s o f lawyers a century ag o to establish a high ground fo r thei r practice. 16 According t o this version of a "Civic-Repub lican" ideal , these lawyer s use d thei r ne w positio n t o hel p th e corpora tions extract themselve s from th e stricture s o f "classica l legal science." 17 The resul t wa s that corporat e lawyer s emerge d a t th e vanguar d o f th e progressive legal reform movement s o f the early twentieth century .

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Legal scholars stil l contest th e natur e an d significanc e o f realism as the y continue t o discove r it . Thus , lon g afte r th e influenc e o f simila r move ments towar d "realism " i n th e Unite d States , suc h a s those i n ar t an d philosophy,18 ha s declined , contemporar y academi c lawyer s cal l up th e bad ol d formalis m tha t i s the hallmar k o f the realis t insight . Thus , th e scene fo r a contemporary academi c battl e i s set b y Philli p E . Areeda, a professor a t Harvard La w School, whe n h e observes, "Twent y year s ago our missio n wa s t o teac h la w i n th e gran d manner." 19 I n a New York Times Magazine articl e o n th e struggle s betwee n lef t an d righ t i n th e legal academy, Areeda is posed behin d a stack o f ancient la w books, an d his comment s abou t metho d an d th e "gran d manner " ar e brough t t o bear throug h allusion s t o Socrates , th e settle d natur e o f law, and well worn cultura l artifact s o f forma l lega l authorit y popularize d i n The Paper Chase. 20 Th e discussio n i n thi s chapte r draw s o n contemporar y disputes over legal form tha t maintai n it s institutional authority . Although lega l historie s writte n b y lawyer s ar e no t abov e suspicio n that the y migh t tend—lik e corporat e histories—t o avoi d offense , the y do sho w th e importanc e o f realism t o legal formations grounde d i n th e academy. Fro m suc h tale s w e learn th e name s and dates , the geograph y and th e ethnography o f the professional movement s in law. One influen tial histor y o f la w schoolin g i n th e Unite d State s actuall y begin s wit h "Once Upo n a Time." 21 I n thi s treatment , lega l educatio n emerge s i n something lik e th e moder n "la w school " for m b y 1850 . Thi s recen t "Once Upon a Time" is in the nature of modern academic ideology abou t the profession. Earl y American lega l education, stil l grounded largel y i n the practic e o f apprenticeships, ha d b y th e nation' s founding, produce d some schools aroun d distinguishe d practitioner s suc h a s Tapping Reev e of the Litchfiel d Schoo l in Connecticut . Chair s in la w at th e universitie s had bee n establishe d a s early a s that fo r Georg e Wythe a t William an d Mary i n 1779 . But it wa s not unti l th e 1820 s that th e universitie s bega n

PROFESSIONS O F REALIS M

to integrat e anythin g eve n remotel y lik e professiona l lega l educatio n into their curricula . Fo r th e nex t thirt y year s this emergin g aristocrac y had t o defend itsel f fro m th e populis m o f the Jacksonia n period . Yet, b y the 1850 s an institutional foundatio n existe d fo r la w in universities . The growth o f law as a profession i n the universities followed . Rober t Stevens trace s thi s t o a poin t whe n "th e marke t explodes/ ' a s h e described th e rapi d expansio n o f the professio n aroun d th e tur n o f th e century.22 Legal education i n the universities would hav e much the sam e qualities a s liberal education . It s missio n woul d b e to train gentleman , although la w woul d plac e a bi t mor e emphasi s o n th e practica l dimen sions of what i t meant to b e a gentleman. Steven s describe d th e scen e a t New York University i n th e 1860s : "There ar e thousands o f young me n in the United State s who are in possession, o r will come into possession , of larg e estates . . . . [N]early al l ar e anxiou s t o avai l themselve s o f th e advantages conferre d b y admissio n t o som e on e o f the learne d profes sions."23 It is necessary t o rethink th e universit y i n orde r t o understan d its natur e i n th e nineteent h centur y compare d t o presen t institutions . The creatio n o f professional school s change d th e natur e o f the univer sity. Isolation an d specializatio n le d t o separat e communitie s tha t dre w from th e authority o f the university an d linke d i t to practice . By th e earl y twentiet h century , th e lega l professio n ha d firmly planted itsel f in the universities. 24 As a learned profession i n the moder n sense, academi c practic e supplante d clas s an d othe r institutiona l rela tions a s the foundatio n fo r lega l authority . On e of the mor e interestin g developments pointe d ou t b y Steven s i s that th e la w schoo l took o n a n extraordinary homogeneit y "i n th e caus e o f institutionalizatio n an d interchangeability."25 Rathe r tha n representin g th e man y facet s o f lega l practice in differen t institutions , al l institutions aspire d t o look as much alike a s possible , give n hug e difference s i n stature , influence , an d wealth. A s law school s becam e affiliate d wit h universities , th e lengt h o f the program , th e curriculum , th e teachin g style , an d ultimatel y th e intellectual climat e becam e standardized . Toda y th e standardizatio n o f form an d rhetori c present s considerabl e unit y i n th e fac e o f divers e regional identifications . Legal realis m ha d it s foundatio n i n th e elit e la w schools , an d th e nature o f th e movemen t expresse s itsel f i n th e abstrac t thinkin g an d materialist methodolog y characteristi c o f those places by the early twen tieth century . Th e institutiona l change s tha t brough t la w unde r th e umbrella o f th e academy , th e ban e o f law student s an d libera l facult y

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who wan t mor e practica l teaching , enhance d protectio n o f th e lega l monopoly. Thes e change s als o led inevitabl y t o a realist foundatio n fo r law that wa s more consistent wit h th e dominan t scientifi c orientatio n o f the academ y tha n wer e the clas s or theologica l underpinning s o f earlie r legal formations. Th e push o f scientifi c method , eviden t throughou t th e academy i n th e post-Civi l Wa r years , further transforme d th e ideolog y of law. The work o f Christopher Columbu s Langdell , th e us e of his case method a t Harvard , an d th e creatio n o f the moder n universit y b y Har vard's president Charle s Eliot provide the generally acknowledge d foun dation for the modern legal academy. Harvard stoo d nearly alone until at least the beginnin g o f World Wa r I, providing la w in the form o f gradu ate education. 26 Out o f this academi c culture , realis m i s a manifestation o f the socia l research concern s tha t dominate d th e academ y afte r Worl d Wa r I . Dea n Roscoe Poun d o f th e Harvar d La w Schoo l i s a majo r figure here , an d although h e ha s recentl y bee n linke d mor e closel y t o progressivism , Pound's method (lik e Justice Holmes's aphorisms) is part of the tradition . Realism i n th e 1930 s portray s itsel f agains t a backdrop , no t o f th e Langdellian avant-garde , bu t o f formalism. 27 It s terrain i s a romantic i f not altogethe r accurat e pictur e o f Englis h lega l education. 28 Thi s propensity t o place th e informe d presen t agains t th e darkes t pas t i s a n ongoing proposition. Jerome Frank and Karl Llewellyn, two early propo nents, captur e thes e an d othe r current s o f th e realis t tradition . Llewellyn's The Bramble Bush 29 an d Frank' s Law and the Modern Mind 30 elaborate th e realis t project . Thes e volume s tel l u s little o f the influenc e of the movement , bu t the y presen t idea s that ar e stil l current , a s if the y had just bee n minted . This movement also stemmed fro m fascinatio n wit h the social science s on the part o f Dean Pound at Harvard an d Llewelly n at Columbia. Socia l scientists hav e embraced realis m an d hav e generally supporte d th e pic ture provide d b y movement' s participants , on e tha t depict s realis m a s critique an d realist s a s dissident s wh o "brok e fro m th e sociologica l school and mounte d a fresh assaul t o n the stil l highly orthodo x declara tory theory." 31 Realis m i s conventionall y compare d t o theorie s draw n from material s lik e Blackstone' s Commentaries an d associate d wit h "Holmes's dictum " tha t th e la w i s made u p o f "prophecie s o f what th e courts will d o in fact." Jus t a s with realis m in law schools , however, th e political scienc e variant ha s becom e an ideology b y whic h w e know th e institutions o f the law. In discussin g th e existenc e o f neutral principles ,

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many hav e noted th e obviou s currenc y o f the vie w tha t la w i s a characteristically politica l process rather tha n on e determined b y neutral prin ciples. Bu t realism i s no longe r critical . Indeed , "th e perspectiv e seem s to hav e demonstrate d it s authority/' 32 I n a nice characterizatio n o f th e puzzling persistenc e of realism, Harry Stump f note s that w e are inclined to "rea d mos t o f critical legal thought wit h a big yawn , concludin g tha t law professors , o r a t leas t a vocal minorit y o f them, hav e finall y joine d the club." 33 It seem s that perhap s th e realis m o f the earl y figures wa s more inter ested i n revealing th e source s of law than th e retro-realism w e see in law schools today. The early realist s carve d ou t a place b y establishin g link s with philosophica l movements, on the one hand, an d refor m movement s in politics , o n th e other . Realis m wa s a n aspec t o f th e socia l scientifi c advance i n th e academy , reflectin g i n on e communit y th e muc h large r characteristic o f the Western an d particularl y America n experienc e o f a world tha t mus t b e know n throug h scienc e i f i t i s t o b e "really " known. 34 Althoug h speakin g t o epistemology, realis m als o had a refor m aspect tha t linke d ideolog y an d socia l relations mor e explicitly. Realis m in the 1930 s was part o f the progressive effort t o control governing insti tutions wit h professiona l elites . With it s analogue s i n th e urba n strug gles b y th e middl e clas s t o tak e contro l o f th e cit y fro m politica l machines, realism in law school operated withi n the institutions to wres t control from establishe d elite s and lin k th e academy to emerging admin istrative structures , particularl y a t the federal level. 35 Thus, a striking characteristi c o f thi s movement , an d a central ele ment o f its legal formation, i s that i t links institutional an d epistemolog ical considerations . "Holmes' s dictum " i s institutional. Whe n h e call s attention t o th e judge, th e realis t suggest s tha t h e i s undercutting th e role o f the law . The epistemologica l consequenc e o f the exhortatio n i s clear. Holmes tells us ho w w e ar e to kno w th e law , and i t will no t b e i n books (excep t a s guides t o wha t th e judges wil l do) . The realisti c per spective associate d wit h Frank , especiall y i n Courts on Trial, 36 approaches la w fro m th e perspectiv e o f wha t "really " occurs . Fran k makes a n epistemologica l clai m abou t wha t determine s th e outcome s i n cases before th e bench. These poles are blended togethe r in the jurisprudential practice of the law schools as well as injudicial practic e and pop ular commentary . Th e consequenc e i n practic e i s that th e school s ar e supported b y a cynicism tha t leave s institutional arrangemen t unexam ined an d intact. 37

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Scholars have woven realism into jurisprudence an d eve n spoke n of it as a project fo r th e lega l profession, 38 bu t onl y rarel y d o they not e th e impact o f realism o n th e maintenanc e o f legal power, includin g th e wa y social scienc e researc h o n la w i s channeled . Laur a Kalma n ha s argue d that "[a] t leas t sinc e the 1930s , the vie w tha t th e establishmen t i s naiv e and trappe d i n a formal orientatio n t o rule s ha s grow n progressivel y more influentia l unti l i t becam e th e framewor k o f th e lega l establish ment/' 39 An d Gar y Peller is among a number o f scholars who have note d that th e mos t interestin g thin g abou t realis m i s how thi s perspectiv e i s continually advance d a s a vanguard project. 40 Christin e Harringto n an d I said nearl y th e sam e thing i n a n article som e time ago: "With it s widespread acceptanc e fo r nearl y 3 0 years, there ha s bee n remarkabl y littl e change in legal thinking beyon d th e initial insights of Realism." We conclude tha t "[s]ocio-lega l scholars , particularl y i n America , hav e under stood la w throug h a version o f realism fo r som e time/' T o us, a centra l paradox abou t realism is its propensity t o be reinvented. We saw realism operating fro m "a n essentiall y anti-la w rhetori c . . . while servin g a s a rationale fo r la w refor m movement s an d a s the basi s o f a modern lega l orthodoxy."41 Th e capacity fo r realis m t o maintain itsel f seem s to deriv e from th e ideological role the orthodox y play s in th e curriculu m a t insti tutions suc h as Harvard an d Yale law schools. Harrington an d I point ou t tha t "Realis m a s legal authority promote s the vie w tha t la w is indeterminate bu t leave s intact socia l arrangement s and institution s determine d b y law." 42 We note that "[t]h e new empha sis on the plurality o f law is preoccupied wit h diversit y an d difference, " and tha t a political orientatio n linke d t o realis m "assert s a desire t o b e free fro m th e authorit y o f the privilege d voice s i t attribute s t o officia l law."43 Yet the impac t o f realism ha s bee n just th e opposite . Contempo rary America n jurisprudence place s th e judge a t th e cente r o f the la w and emphasize s th e importanc e o f th e contex t i n whic h la w i s prac ticed.44 This gives the appellate court s immense power. We now assume , as a trut h abou t th e lega l process , tha t th e judge , no t th e law , i s th e authority. 45 Th e result o f realism i s that judges hav e becom e the defini tive source of the fundamental la w in the United States . The sociologica l consequence i s a jurisprudence i n the la w school s that i s closely linke d to appellate courts. 46 In the cas e of law schools , realism i s not just a jurisprudence, i t i s an episteme, a wa y o f knowing . Th e fac t tha t la w i s no w locate d i n la w schools at research universities, where science is supreme, reinforces thi s

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way o f knowing. 47 Thus , a lawye r know s th e la w a s idea l an d th e nuances o f th e momen t a s reality . H e stil l ma y expec t th e citize n t o respect th e authorit y o f courts, bu t hi s sens e o f the rea l leads hi m t o b e far les s reverent t o th e form s o f law a s applied t o himself . Thes e idea s about la w are part o f the institutional practice . They ar e law that consti tutes. Lega l power i n Americ a wit h it s institutiona l hierarchie s i s rein forced b y th e fac t o f a shared wa y o f proceeding , th e mos t importan t part o f which i s agreement o n the importance o f what i s real. The centrality o f realism to the intellectual lif e of the legal academy i s evident i n the work don e b y ideologists o f the profession, suc h as Bruce Ackerman, whos e Reconstructing American Law draw s o n realis t princi ples. His call on the profession t o take control of its intellectual environ ment make s th e lesson s o f realism th e necessar y antidot e fo r th e ill s of the present. This is done with considerabl e skill , in a way that i s indica tive o f professional attentio n t o th e strain s o f intellectua l lif e tha t th e lawyer mus t respect . Ackerma n compare s th e methodolog y o f moder n social scientists to the old method o f the "commo n lawyer." The compar ison i s weighte d i n favo r o f socia l scienc e du e t o th e imperativ e t o respond t o new way s o f proceeding. I n th e end , Ackerma n take s o n th e role o f practical philosophe r an d become s th e profession' s therapist . I n this role , h e warn s th e professio n b y elaboratio n fro m th e realis t tradi tion. This look at realism through th e aspiration s o f a second-generatio n legal economis t an d Yal e Law Schoo l facult y membe r i s an appropriat e transition to the current manifestations o f realism in the CL S and law and economics movements .

Contemporary Manifestation s In American law schools in the last quarter o f the twentieth century , th e major academi c traditions dra w from a foundation heavil y influenced b y legal realism. Critics, who meet under th e banne r o f critical legal studie s and cal l themselves "crits " and thei r movemen t CLS , clai m that th e tru e legacy o f lega l realis m i s progressive , tha t is , o n th e politica l lef t (a s opposed t o allied wit h th e progressiv e movement) . Conservative s i n th e law and economic s movemen t als o rely o n realis t insight s abou t th e la w balancing interest s throug h th e opinion s o f judges, althoug h the y sa y less about thei r realis t heritage . Bot h movement s hav e som e links t o th e social science s i n general , an d i n th e cas e o f CL S an d lega l economist s such a s Robert Ellickso n an d Lewi s Kornhauser, ther e ar e specifi c link s

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to the law and societ y movement , th e inheritors of the sociologica l tradi tion originall y linke d t o realism under th e title "sociolog y o f law/' 48 Critical Legal Studies CLS is a post-i96os la w schoo l movemen t tha t bega n a t Yale and i s no w situated a t school s suc h a s Harvard an d Stanford , wit h outpost s a t th e University o f Miami, Northeastern , an d Cardozo . At Harvar d it s propo nents number a half doze n and a t Stanfor d a few less . Around th e coun try i t ma y hav e a coupl e o f hundre d adherents . It s influenc e o n la w students an d i n th e intellectua l communit y fostere d b y th e lega l acad emy is far greate r than it is in the profession generall y o r in the courts. It has als o received a great dea l o f attention i n th e prin t media : The New Republic calle d i t "radicalis m fo r yuppies" ; Boston Globe Magazine reported o n the "Feu d a t H.L.S." ; the Journal of Higher Education spok e of "Crits " versus th e Lega l Academy; an d th e New Yorker called i t "th e new lef t playe d ou t i n law. " Its distinctiv e presenc e ha s bee n fel t i n dis putes ove r tenur e a t la w school s an d i n th e decoru m associate d wit h these augus t institutions . Th e movement' s ke y theoretica l positio n i s old-fashioned lega l realism wit h a sixties twist tha t emphasize s th e rol e of law in maintaining th e dominan t relation s of power. 62

The manifest o o f th e movement , perhap s it s hig h point , wa s a dra ]matic presentatio n b y Robert o Unge r a t th e CL S meeting hel d i n Cam bridge, Massachusetts , i n Novembe r 1981. 49 Unge r i s a n enigmati c figure wh o has injected a level of mystery (an d mysticism ) into a profession marked , b y it s ow n admission , wit h a cynical godlessness . Unger , from Brazil , wa s trained a s a Jesuit an d ha s a priestly person a tha t add s considerably t o his intensity. (Th e priestly elemen t i n la w schoo l move ments ha s ofte n bee n commente d upon . W e heard i t earl y i n th e realis t era from Olive r Wendell Holmes , Jr., i n describin g Dea n Langdell 50 an d more recentl y i n postmoder n wor k b y Pete r Goodric h abou t ho w la w speaks o f itself. 51) Unge r gav e this particula r speec h t o a packed hall , with student s an d facult y nearl y hangin g fro m th e rafters . Dresse d i n black an d standin g alon e o n th e floor, withou t a lectern an d withou t notes, h e spok e fo r nearl y tw o hours . The unusua l lengt h o f thi s after dinner speec h t o a n audienc e o f five hundre d produce d a certai n amount o f discomfort , ye t fe w departed . Th e cor e o f th e speec h wa s built o n th e realis t tradition , fro m whic h Unge r dre w familia r link s t o a legacy of critique and concer n wit h activism within the legal profession . The natur e o f hi s critiqu e wa s twofold: "th e critiqu e o f formalism an d

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objectivity/' 52 Bu t in addition t o critique, Unge r hel d ou t the promise of action; CL S was on the mov e and th e territory t o be invaded wa s the la w school. Action ha s bee n th e mos t dramati c aspec t o f the CL S movement . From sit-ins to law review articles that are as engaged as one might imag ine given th e forum , th e movemen t ha s bee n characterize d b y a rathe r purified activism . Th e activism extend s t o the critiqu e s o that th e char acteristic for m o f intellectua l engagemen t fo r a time wa s "trashing, " a scholarly bashin g o f the existin g nicetie s o f legal thought. Th e juxtaposition o f though t an d actio n i s a classic aspec t o f the positivis m a t th e root of legal realism in the United States . Unger's speec h conclude d wit h th e declaratio n tha t provide s th e epi graph t o this chapter . Fe w of us got the ide a whe n w e first hear d it , bu t more tha n a few wer e intrigued . Year s later it s realis t root s surfaced , breaking throug h th e mysticism . Th e ke y elemen t o f realism, whethe r modern o r o f th e olde r fashion , i s tha t som e othe r mus t b e standing , thinking, o r speakin g i n a way tha t i s patently naive . The priesthood o f law professor s Unge r spok e o f ha s the sam e place i n th e moder n varia tion of realism as those Holmes and Frank characterize d a s naive enoug h to believe the truth wa s in the word s of the law. Unger, however , build s on th e los s o f fait h an d see s i n thes e modern s a vacuous institutiona l attachment. Th e "col d altar " o f Kingsfield' s lecter n provide s CL S wit h the opportunity fo r revenge . Unger's purpose , i n hi s speec h an d throug h hi s influenc e o n Ameri can law , wa s to creat e a stir. H e offered fait h i n a mystical, relativize d world. Th e CL S movement a t th e tim e wa s reeling fro m it s first brushe s with th e academic ol d guard. I t had bee n expelle d fro m Yal e but ha d se t down root s at Harvard . I n thi s environmen t durin g th e lat e 1970s , fait h in the CL S project coexiste d wit h a critique of positivism in the academy . In the years that followed, th e next generation seeme d to replace Unger' s Latin America n mysticis m wit h Anglo-America n summe r camps , roc k concerts, an d lampoonesqu e version s o f legal scholarship . Thes e main tained a community o f left-liberal scholar s i n th e fac e o f reaction fro m the outsid e an d o f feminism an d diversit y within . Give n th e natur e o f the academy, this was also a period o f tremendous scholarl y production . CLS dre w fro m critica l theory , a n intellectua l movemen t grounde d i n German scholarshi p o f the 1930s , and th e "fanc y Frenc h philosophers " of post-structuralism , CL S ha s fro m it s inceptio n le d th e inquir y int o "the dominatio n o f the ruling clas s in words." 53 The words studie d hav e been la w words , ofte n th e word s an d languag e o f elite legal thinking o r

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mandarin lega l consciousness, a particularly importan t for m o f ideology. The lin k betwee n critica l theor y an d realis m i s elusive . Kenned y ha s described Mar x a s a "formalist " an d calle d attentio n t o the insight s o f "realism." Followin g Marx , Kenned y draw s ou t a relationship betwee n the commodit y mod e o f productio n an d "it s constitutiv e lega l con sciousness." Early CL S scholarship sa w law as more than epiphenomeno n and speculate d tha t it s constitutiv e dimension s woul d becom e appar ent. 54 Thi s wa s the contex t i n whic h th e movemen t absorbe d realism . The foundations i n the 1960 s meant the discussions prior to the embrac e of realis m concerne d ideolog y an d th e la w tha t constitutes . Wit h th e realist tone, ideology took on a distinctive indeterminate qualit y and th e interest i n constitutiv e la w dropped out . Three texts provid e a wealth o f material for examination : The Politics of Law, edite d b y Davi d Kairy s (1982) ; the "Critica l Lega l Studies Sym posium" i n the Stanford Law Review (1984) ; and Mar k Kelman' s A Guide to Critical Legal Studies (1987). 55 Although the y onl y begi n to reflect th e range o f legal scholarshi p tha t ha s bee n associate d wit h th e movement , these work s represent CL S at th e stag e bein g considere d here . Kelman i s a critical scholar who directed a great deal of his attention t o the law and economics movement , an d hi s boo k reflect s tha t interest. 56 Th e boo k also reflects som e of the demographi c biase s of the movement, especiall y its malenes s an d it s situatio n i n th e la w schools. 57 Th e Stanford Law Review symposiu m i s an expressio n o f maturity an d institutiona l posi tion: th e CL S movement i s able to comman d a n entir e volume , ove r si x hundred pages , i n th e la w revie w o f on e o f th e nation' s riches t la w schools. The volume incorporates a somewhat greate r rang e of contribu tors, fro m adherent s t o la w an d economic s suc h a s Lewis Kornhause r from Ne w Yor k Universit y La w Schoo l t o colleague s fro m th e ol d lef t such as the late Ed Sparer of the University o f Pennsylvania La w School. The stunnin g fact—give n tha t i t wa s publishe d i n th e mi d 1980s—i s that al l eighteen contributor s ar e male, and al l are drawn fro m th e acad emy o f professiona l law. 58 Th e Kairy s volum e wa s mor e diverse , an d some of its female contributor s becam e influential feminis t lega l scholar s a few year s later . Not lon g afte r Unger' s speec h an d i n response to an increasingl y dra matic CL S presence , som e o f the mor e retrograd e member s o f the lega l profession ros e i n defens e o f the ol d order , givin g lif e t o th e requisit e realist foil. The result was a heated exchange in 1984-8 5 between Rober t Gordon, a professor a t Stanfor d La w School , an d Pau l Carrington , dea n

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of th e la w schoo l a t Duk e University . Thi s exchang e i s importan t because unlik e som e left movements , CL S depend s o n it s plac e i n elit e institutions. I t speak s fro m academi c position s i n th e imperia l cit y an d the lega l consciousnes s i t studie s i s the mandari n consciousnes s o f th e legal academy and the elite bench and bar . The "trash" as CLS methodology depended o n its unsettling effec t i n a professional environmen t hel d together b y manipulatio n o f the traditio n o f legal discourse . The para dox is the centralit y o f realism to that tradition . The Carrington-inspire d exchang e play s a centra l rol e i n Sanfor d LeVinson's stud y o f belie f surroundin g th e Constitution . Levinson' s analysis o f this exchang e provide s a fine basi s for evaluatin g th e func tions o f realis m an d it s rol e i n maintainin g th e authorit y o f lawyers . Levinson's boo k Constitutional Faith 59 begin s wit h a quote fro m Davi d Mamet, whose collection Writing in Restaurants include s a discussion of those deepe r commitment s tha t occasionall y mak e ordinar y practice s transcendental. Mame t writes, "I f you take the belief out of Law, all you have is litigation." 60 L e Vinson examine s Feli x Frankfurter' s suppor t fo r swearing allegianc e t o the Unite d States . Where Frankfurter' s analysi s veers in th e directio n o f flag waving, Levinso n suggest s tha t patriotis m has bee n sullie d b y "it s joinder wit h America n involvemen t i n Viet nam." Levinson say s he is not interested i n patriotism, a t least not "ordi nary patriotism " o r lov e o f country , bu t rathe r i n ideal s tha t h e call s "constitutional faith"—tha t is , wholehearted attachmen t t o the Consti tution a s the cente r o f one' s (an d ultimatel y th e nation's ) politica l life . This includes "wha t i t mean s t o b e an American, " tha t is , "wha t bond s us (o r coul d bon d us ) int o a coheren t politica l community , especiall y after th e triumph o f a distinctly (post)modernis t sens e of the contingen cies o f ou r ow n cultur e an d th e fragilit y o f an y communit y member ships."61 Levinson's titl e is meant t o cal l to mind Barbar a Jordan' s "fait h in th e Constitution, " a s expressed durin g th e Watergat e investigation , and Richar d Nixon' s "breac h o f faith," i n a chronicle o f the sam e perio d by Theodore White. Of course, i n th e constitutiona l settin g th e conceptio n o f the found ing documen t i s central, an d difference s betwee n Thoma s Jefferso n an d James Madison loo m large. Jefferson's ide a wa s that "[w] e might a s well require a man to wear stil l the coa t which fitte d hi m when a boy, as civilized societ y t o remai n a s under th e regime n o f their barbarou s ances tors." 62 Madiso n fel t tha t "frequen t appeal s woul d i n grea t measur e deprive th e governmen t o f tha t veneration , whic h tim e bestow s o n

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everything, an d withou t whic h perhap s th e wises t an d frees t govern ments woul d no t posses s the requisit e stability/' 63 I n th e contexto f th e law schools , belie f i n la w mor e generall y serve s a s a measure o f wha t Levinson call s a "faith community/' 64 H e compares CL S professors i n th e law school s t o atheist s teachin g i n divinit y schools , reflectin g th e dis may expresse d b y Carrington . Thes e "Lega l Nihilists " ar e th e one s o f "little faith." Accordin g to Levinson, Carrington' s position i s that to be a professor o f law one also must hav e "som e minimal belie f i n th e ide a o f law and th e institutions tha t enforc e it." 65 The debate over CL S is instructive wit h regard to the role of realism i n the legal academy. It is not that everyone believes in an autonomous law, though a t some level the possibility o f a government unde r la w is important, a s whe n Levinso n writes , "Carringto n canno t b e dismisse d a s a naive cheerleade r fo r law . H e confesse s t o hi s ow n dar k night s o f th e soul, i n whic h th e 'drea d i n disbelie f make s it s appearance." 66 I t i s rather tha t th e engin e o f realism, lik e the devi l within , i s the sourc e o f refinement, th e disciplinin g mechanism , an d th e temptation , s o tha t those wh o ca n stan d th e hea t advanc e t o th e hea d o f th e profession , while the choirboys are left behind . The debate takes place on matters of truth, a s would b e expected i n a faith community , an d th e ability to liv e with partia l truth ha s long bee n a hallmark o f the avant-garde, th e new , the modern . The natur e o f th e CL S movement mus t b e see n i n term s o f styl e an d pragmatics. Earlie r radica l lef t la w movement s hav e bee n base d i n th e practices o f radical professionals , suc h a s those i n th e Lawyer s Guild , who worke d i n th e center s o f poverty an d othe r site s of resistance, CL S is different—an d mor e lik e the la w an d economic s movemen t tha n th e Lawyers Guild—becaus e it s bas e ha s bee n i n th e la w schools . Instru mentally, th e significanc e o f th e la w schoo l bas e i s that Harvar d pro duces abou t one-thir d o f th e la w teacher s i n th e countr y an d Yal e another one-fifth , s o that a movement institutionall y situate d i n thes e institutions an d abl e to influenc e ho w the y thin k wil l b e influential i n law. This i s why tenur e an d appointmen t struggle s hav e helpe d defin e the movement , an d i t i s the wa y i n whic h th e insight s o f realism hav e been centra l to the movement. Thus, although CL S claims to be a radical movement,67 I consider it s primary lega l form, realism , to be well withi n the dominan t channel s o f legal power. The CL S position i s that th e lega l arena ha s alway s bee n a context throug h whic h th e dominan t classe s have sough t t o justify thei r plac e i n th e socia l order , CL S has criticize d

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the view of law as an unmediated instrumen t o f class power. Rather tha n articulating an d foreshadowin g th e lega l form s o f th e future , CL S ha s developed th e method o f "trashing." This method, alon g with th e movement's identificatio n wit h politica l activit y suc h a s the organizatio n o f rent strike s an d it s suppor t fo r racia l an d gende r diversit y i n th e la w schools, forms th e basi s for it s claim to b e a radical movement . Law and Economics Realism is also at the heart of the most significant conservativ e movemen t in th e lega l academy, th e la w an d economic s movement . La w professor s across th e countr y hav e bee n shiftin g t o thi s movement , whic h ha s increasingly define d th e conventiona l languag e o f the academy . I n littl e over two decades, it has become de rigueur to maximize utilities, look fo r efficiencies, an d discoun t externalities. There are lawyers and lower cour t judges ready to be appointed t o the Supreme Court with this perspective . Law and economic s wa s par t o f the ideolog y prominentl y displaye d b y Robert Bor k at his confirmation hearing s (thoug h i t was not hi s only dis tinctive feature) . The former dea n o f Yale Law School, Guido Calabresi, is one o f it s originators , bu t movement' s cente r i s i n Chicago , wher e i t draws o n the relentles s advocac y o f Richard Epstein, 68 an d th e continu ing influenc e o f Judg e Richar d Posner. 69 Whil e th e CL S movemen t immersed itsel f i n it s "fanc y Frenc h philosophers " an d warde d of f th e pragmatic orientatio n o f clinica l practice , th e la w an d economic s move ment becam e a source of rigorous policy analysis for conservatives . As its nam e indicates , th e movemen t approache s la w fro m th e per spective o f economics. Two of the things i t takes from thi s approach ar e individualistic actor s and a marketplace. The actors in this model are not the sam e as people w e run int o o n an y give n day . They ar e profit maximizes i n th e hypothetica l extreme . They see k t o maximize thei r inter ests every momen t an d i n everythin g the y do . The economist s cal l thi s behavior rationa l an d giv e i t a n inevitabl e qualit y b y holdin g tha t it s context i s a market . Thes e profi t maximizer s mee t t o freely exchange goods and services in markets where the buye r an d selle r d o not kno w o r care t o kno w on e anothe r an d n o on e ca n b e mad e bette r of f withou t someone els e bein g mad e wors e off . Efficiency i s the nam e give n t o th e situation i n whic h th e interest s o f al l ar e take n int o account , an d thi s defines th e optimum situatio n fo r society' s well-being . Because this approac h mor e closely resemble s economics when i t first began a s a science o f societ y tha n i t doe s th e economic s o f th e recen t

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past, i t i s calle d neoclassical It s practitioner s bega n b y applyin g eco nomic theory t o the area s of regulation wit h Calabresi' s stud y o f air pol lution 70 an d th e wor k o n antitrus t b y Posne r an d others. 71 Wit h ever-expanding claims , the metho d wa s applied t o contracts , torts , an d property right s b y Richar d Epstei n an d Bernar d Siega n an d t o crim e b y Kate Stith. 72 The economist eschew s the romance of traditional discours e and talk s o f th e "suppl y an d demand " fo r crim e an d th e penalt y a s a "price" to engage in crime . The movemen t bega n wit h R . H . Coase' s article , "Th e Proble m o f Social Cost," 73 whic h containe d a bold applicatio n an d a theorem tha t stated: "i n th e absenc e o f transactio n costs , th e efficienc y o f resourc e allocation i s independent o f the placemen t o f liability" (or , conversely , the initial assignment o f rights). Coase applied th e theorem to a situation in whic h runnin g a train besid e a farmer's field wil l destro y som e of th e farmer's crop s (impos e a "negativ e externality") . Th e economis t a s lawyer is interested i n the socially efficient outcome , that combinatio n o f train trip s an d damage d crop s that i s best fo r society . H e proposes tha t the mos t efficien t outcom e wil l result regardles s o f which part y ha s th e initial right i f the right i s traded a t the most efficien t price . Kornhauser characterize d la w and economic s a s a perspective i n lega l academic writin g wher e ever y articl e display s on e o r mor e o f four dis tinct claims : i.Economic theory provides a good theory for predicting how people will behave under rules of law. 2.The law ought to be efficient. 3.The (common) law is in fact efficient . 4.The common law tends to select efficient rules , although not every rule will, at any given time, be efficient. 74 These claim s provid e tha t rule s o f la w b e treated lik e price s an d lega l actors like rational individuals, that the best law is efficient, an d that th e common la w is generally efficient . The realis t presenc e i s eviden t throughou t th e la w an d economic s movement. Lik e othe r manifestation s o f realism , th e languag e o f eco nomics i s offere d a s a mean s o f cuttin g throug h cultura l categories . These categorie s ar e often dismisse d a s externalities i n th e languag e o f the economist . Realis m i n th e la w an d economic s movemen t differ s i n political orientation fro m CL S as the left i n politics differ s fro m th e right . These position s becom e point s o n a realism spectrum . Jus t a s left an d

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right i n ordinar y politic s ofte n shar e institution s (lik e Congress) , lef t and righ t i n la w shar e i n maintainin g th e institutiona l statu s quo . La w and economic s emphasize s th e impedimen t o f traditional right s analysi s to rational decisio n making . A t th e sam e time i t offer s th e promis e tha t economic analysi s wil l revea l solution s consisten t wit h th e traditiona l equities worked ou t through th e commo n law. CLS and la w an d economic s tal k t o eac h othe r i n scholarl y journals . From 197 5 to 1980 , a series of CL S articles critical of the law and econom ics position appeare d i n leadin g la w journals an d anthologies . The pri mary contributor s wer e Mar k Kelman , To m Heller , an d Dunca n Kennedy.75 As Kornhauser describe s the nature of the CL S critique, it proposes a different understandin g o f how la w functions i n societ y tha t i s difficult t o discern becaus e CL S does not shar e a common methodology t o the exten t tha t proponent s o f law and economic s do. 76 But generally th e CLS position i s that la w and economic s passe s itself of f a s value-neutra l scientific analysi s an d tha t i t i s internall y inconsisten t becaus e i t demands a form o f motivation—rational action—tha t i s rarely practiced . Where CL S promote d a sort o f "retro " realis m usin g th e traditiona l language o f politics, 77 la w an d economic s introduce d economi c termi nology an d theoretica l frameworks . Th e authorit y o f the lega l academ y for what judges do and how law is analyzed i s established a s these movements travel on a parallel track. The key element in the politics is wealth maximization fo r la w and economic s and equalizatio n o f wealth fo r CLS . Realism a s a form o f law i n thes e academi c movement s i s evident i n th e relationship betwee n what is traditionally viewe d a s law and the view of law offere d b y th e movement . Th e clai m o f a fresh , bu t ofte n a ver y familiar, poin t o f vie w i s characteristi c o f lega l realis m an d eviden t i n law schoo l movement s o n th e righ t an d th e left. 78 Th e currenc y o f thi s claim to be offering somethin g new against a backdrop of traditional for malism indicate s a reliance i n bot h instance s o n a realist perspective . With realism a sense of discovery links the present to a familiar an d gen erally acceptable tradition . One thing CL S seem s to lack an d th e conservativ e movemen t t o hav e developed t o a high degre e is a rigorous method. Th e significance o f th e law and economic s movement ha s been not just i n the substantive impli cations o f its findings , bu t als o in th e seductio n o f its neoclassical doc trines t o lawyer s an d judges. The attractivenes s o f thi s dogm a reache s beyond th e lega l academ y an d i s bu t anothe r wa y i n whic h activitie s within th e la w sho w th e influence s o f the outside . Fo r some , the meth -

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ods o f la w an d economics , sometime s calle d "publi c choice, " hav e resulted i n the substitution o f efficiency fo r justice as the basi s for law . Many chea p shots are taken at CLS . Most are on matters of style. However, the incapacity o f CLS to provide tools and visio n for socialis t strate gies to match the challeng e o f law and economic s has affected growt h o f the movement. While law and economic s is transforming th e way Amer ican law is taught, practiced , an d decided , th e left ha s failed t o respond . Movements o n th e lef t i n la w hav e relie d o n compassion , utopianism , and networkin g t o effec t change . Where th e righ t ha s supplanted , th e left ha s critiqued . No t onl y i s it s growt h fa r les s dramatic , bu t CL S appears to be stagnating withou t dogmatics , without a program. Some o f th e root s o f a progra m ar e there . Crit s ar e attentiv e t o th e transformative potentia l o f the vas t arra y o f understandings abou t justice, democracy , equality , an d libert y tha t legitimiz e the state . Social science is appealed to , wit h som e trepidation, a s a potential methodology , and importan t critica l scholar s suc h a s Richard Abe l o f UCL A an d Davi d Trubek o f the Universit y o f Wisconsin ar e active i n the la w and societ y movement.79 Ther e i s more to the limite d growt h o f CLS , however , tha n its failur e t o develo p a coherent method . Fo r on e thing , th e America n legal academy i s a conservative place . It is certainly no t th e most conser vative place in America, relative to most corporations o r military installa tions. But the legal academy is conservative enough in style and nature to favor conservativ e movement s an d subsum e progressive , critica l move ments whether o r not they hav e highly develope d methodologies . These two movement s expres s th e politica l significanc e o f realism. To the exten t tha t th e tradition s depen d o n distinctiv e characterization s built aroun d thi s orientation , th e socia l relations (explici t wit h CL S an d implicit wit h la w an d economics ) determin e th e politic s i n th e lega l academy. The movements hav e a great dea l in common . A s Ken Emerson pointed ou t i n hi s New York Times Magazine article , bot h side s enlis t similar imagery , wit h th e conservative s seekin g t o "hel p th e wheel s o f commerce turn" an d th e crit s pointing ou t tha t "greasin g th e wheel s of the system " i s mostly what lawyer s do. 8° A crucial difference , especiall y as a basis for organization , i s the exten t t o which thes e tw o movement s have produced coheren t socia l theories and practica l political guideline s to g o beyond th e realis t insight . I n thi s regard , la w and economic s ha s been muc h more successful . CLS failed t o maintain it s statur e i n th e academ y fo r a number o f rea sons, no t th e leas t o f which wer e conservativ e administration s i n Wash-

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ington an d a n increasingly conservativ e federa l judiciary. Th e abilit y o f law and economic s scholar s t o further distrac t attentio n fro m th e socia l relations constitute d b y law , a s wel l a s their abilit y t o creat e a super structure consistin g o f forms that guide thought whil e denying th e position fro m whic h the y direct , represen t perhap s th e fulles t expressio n o f the contemporar y realis t lega l project. I t i s with thi s dimensio n o f real ism that I conclude this analysis.

Positivism a s the Academ y This inquir y int o th e academi c manifestation s o f lega l realis m raise s a number o f questions. On e is the perennia l issu e o f the positivis m a t th e heart o f th e realis t enterprise . Th e realis t ideolog y bear s compariso n with a framework o n which it depends heavily—common sense . Realism has becom e th e commo n sens e o f th e lega l academ y an d a n increasin g number o f othe r place s i n th e culture . I t i s fully embedde d i n politica l science an d throug h tha t disciplin e influence s th e conception s o f citi zenship an d publi c affairs . Realis m is increasingly a prominent aspec t of the politics of trial and appellat e courts . As common sense , neither real ist scholarshi p no r th e critiqu e o f formalism i s its bigges t contribution . Realism i s responsible fo r displacin g th e pla y o f powe r awa y fro m th e bar and la w schools. One o f th e feature s o f lega l realis m i s th e paralle l betwee n institu tional an d th e epistemologica l claims . Realists sa y tha t th e la w i s wha t the judges sa y it is and that behavio r o r what th e judge want s to d o refl ects the reality o f the legal processes, that i t is law. This double-barrele d quality o f realism i s a key t o its significanc e i n th e academy . A s a relatively ne w institution , th e lega l academ y ha s establishe d a n intimat e relationship wit h th e discours e o f judges b y makin g thei r word s an d actions central . Amon g th e losers , t o som e extent , ar e texts , whic h n o longer hav e a central plac e i n th e syste m o f authorit y behin d law . In a realist framewor k i t i s naiv e t o plac e text s abov e people . Instead , i n American la w today , th e professiona l triumvirat e o f practicin g attor neys, law professors, an d judges become s the relevant community. 81 This jurisprudence radiate s from th e law schools into other part s of the legal academy, suc h a s academic la w programs outsid e th e professiona l schools an d a t th e researc h institut e establishe d b y th e America n Ba r Association, th e Ba r Foundation. A study b y Austi n Sara t an d Willia m Felstiner, discussin g th e practica l significanc e o f la w i n th e lawyer' s

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office, show s the reach o f the realist framework t o mask the power o f th e profession.82 Th e author s tape d interview s o f 11 5 lawyer-client confer ences i n Californi a an d Massachusett s i n th e earl y 1980s . The y wer e interested i n the power relation s betwee n th e lawyer an d th e client a s an aspect o f legal power an d outline d wha t the y calle d "mode s o f discours e about law, " namely , formalism , equity , an d realism . Findin g tha t th e lawyers were critical of the law, the authors posi t a realist mod e as dominant an d sugges t that becaus e this mode is critical, it may be responsibl e for som e of the popula r dissatisfactio n wit h th e law . One wonders, how ever, how the cynicism of the lawyer gets translated int o legal power . In an earlier article using the same data, the authors explicitly addres s the questio n o f power. 83 The y conclud e tha t lawyer s construc t mor e flexible client s tha n th e one s tha t wal k int o thei r offices . Th e powe r wielded i n thes e construction s an d eviden t i n th e transcript s the y report o n i s realist power . Muc h o f i t i s cynical. Th e clien t i s brough t into a world tha t i s unfamiliar an d pay s fo r th e lawyer' s insigh t abou t the judge o r abou t lega l strategy . Th e clien t i s disabuse d o f naive belie f that th e law is an idealized too l for correctin g injustice . " A major profes sional functio n therefor e i s to attemp t t o limi t clients ' expectation s t o realistic levels/' 84 However usefu l thi s insigh t abou t wha t lawyer s d o t o clients, it doe s not stra y fa r fro m th e traditiona l insight s o f realism, an d like realis m i n th e la w schools , i t leave s the structure s o f professiona l power intact . Th e cynicis m o f realis m doe s not , a s Felstiner an d Sara t would hav e u s believe , "chi p awa y a t th e lega l facade, " i t is the lega l facade.85 Thoug h w e migh t becom e a little cynica l i n learnin g ho w w e are treated b y lega l practitioners , w e lear n nothin g t o rattle th e struc tures o f legal power, especiall y i f we simply adop t th e realist fram e sug gesting tha t justice is not reall y relevant t o legal practice. Both o f the movement s i n th e la w schools , a s well a s this additiona l example fro m anothe r par t o f th e lega l academy , dra w attentio n awa y from th e mundan e practice s whereb y lawyer s wiel d powe r tha t citizen s do not have : the powe r t o kno w whe n an d wher e th e judge wil l b e sit ting; the nature of the calendar; who controls the docket ; and the paper s that nee d t o b e filed. Th e realism her e is a professional an d institutiona l one. It is hard to see with a traditional conceptio n o f the legal system. To fully understan d it s dynami c w e need t o go beyond th e critiqu e o f legal form an d sho w ho w realis t jurisprudence perpetuate s hierarchies . Ulti mately, th e powe r i n la w an d th e lega l professio n i s wielded i n opposi tion t o th e expectation s w e hav e receive d fro m th e past . Wher e lega l

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mystery an d reverenc e onc e hel d th e scepte r aloft , no w cando r an d irreverence d o the job. Text s woul d als o mak e la w accessibl e t o man y more people , especiall y wher e th e tex t i s relatively simple , a s with th e American Constitution . According t o Gary Pelle r and other s identified wit h CLS , the law/poli tics dichotom y o f contemporar y realis m ha s impoverishe d th e concep tion o f politics becaus e "[i]t reduces th e conceptio n o f politics fro m th e wide notio n o f struggl e ove r th e exercise s o f contingent socia l powe r t o the narro w conceptio n o f how t o adap t t o th e limite d possibilitie s pre sented b y th e functiona l necessitie s o f socia l life/' 86 Thi s concer n i s focused o n th e shif t fro m formalis m i n genera l an d th e libert y o f con tract formulation s i n particular, t o realism as it developed fro m it s initia l more radical assertio n i n th e 1930 s to it s "domesticated " incorporatio n into mainstrea m lega l discourse . The shift , whic h domesticate d realis m presents a s radical, Pelle r see s as perpetuating th e "organizatio n o f con ceptual spac e whic h too k individua l subject s a s the ultimat e sourc e o f social relations/' 87 Where "th e centra l representational dichotom y i n th e liberty o f contract discours e was the public/private distinction, " accord ing t o Peller , "Realis m relie d o n simila r spatia l metaphors." 88 Thes e included distinction s betwee n word s an d things , right s an d remedies , the i s and th e ought , an d fact s an d values . I n th e oppositio n betwee n formalism an d instrumentalism , realis m i n jurisprudence perpetuate s the metaphysic s o f liberalism an d constitute s lega l powe r aroun d thos e relationships. Like divisions betwee n though t an d experience , for m an d substance, o r reaso n an d will , th e distinctio n betwee n la w an d politic s perpetuates lega l authority ove r the rules of the game and limit s politic s to the margins and th e surfaces. 89 These division s are most prominent i n the la w and economic s movement , whic h i n fac t moves , i n som e sense , partway bac k t o the libert y o f contract formulation . Th e positivist divi sions are also evident i n judicial behavioris m i n politica l scienc e an d i n the socia l research o n alternativ e disput e resolution. 90 No t surprisingly , they ar e also evident i n th e critica l school . We can conclud e b y explor ing the critiques leveled a t that schoo l b y minorit y faculty . Minority politic s in the legal academy ha s focused attentio n o n strug gles to diversify la w school faculties an d a t the same time has introduce d a new for m o f legal discourse that i s neither forma l no r realist . The mos t prominent exampl e o f both effort s i s Derrick Bell , whose protests bega n this discussion . H e begins his boo k And We Are Not Saved with a quot e from th e Bible : "Th e harves t i s past, th e summe r i s ended, an d w e ar e

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not saved " (Jeremia h 8:2o). 91 Th e boo k wa s a reaction t o wha t th e U.S. Supreme Cour t ha d don e an d th e perception s o f equality tha t bot h sup port th e Court' s decision s an d affir m a n intention t o chang e littl e in th e practice o f race relations . "Today , whil e al l manner o f civi l right s law s and precedent s ar e i n place , th e protectio n the y provid e i s dilute d b y lax enforcement , b y th e establishmen t o f difficult-to-mee t standard s o f proof, an d wors t o f all, b y th e increasin g irrelevanc e o f antidiscrimina tion law s to race-relate d disadvantages , no w a s likely t o b e a result a s much o f social class as of color." 92 Fo r Kimberle Crenshaw , a n influentia l critical rac e theorist , a t leas t par t o f th e effor t mus t b e t o sho w a ne w way to present law: "Through th e allegory, we can discuss legal doctrin e in a way tha t doe s no t replicat e th e abstraction s o f lega l discourse." 93 Very earl y i n Bell' s book, h e turns t o faculty meeting s an d conference s as par t o f th e worl d o f law . I n thi s context , Howar d La w Schoo l an d Charles Houston ar e recognized fo r thei r contributio n t o the civi l right s movement, th e predecesso r t o critica l rac e theory. Thi s i s followed b y a series of allegorical "Chronicles. " The first, "Th e Chronicle of the Constitutional Contradictio n (Th e Real Status of Blacks Today)," focuses o n th e way law has been boun d u p with oppression , fro m "th e sanction o f slavery i n th e Constitution " t o th e ide a tha t "'republican ' equalit y i n Vir ginia rested o n slavery." 94 All throug h th e Chronicles , Bel l th e lawye r i s speakin g t o Bel l th e African American . In "Th e Chronicle of the Celestia l Curia (The Benefit s to Whites of Civil Rights Litigation)," the issue is the capacity o f law and litigation to achieve meaningful refor m fo r th e victim s of racial and eco nomic inequality . Bel l parodies presume d progressiv e development s i n the la w a s emanating fro m conservative s wh o woul d sti r th e disinher ited t o revolt . Withi n th e communit y o f civi l right s lawyers , a hege monic libera l positio n i s shown i n th e cas e o f Lewi s M . Stee l from lat e 1960s. Stee l wa s a n NAAC P staf f attorne y wh o criticize d th e Suprem e Court's decision s whil e Ear l Warren wa s Chie f Justice . H e argued tha t the decision s benefite d th e whit e rathe r tha n th e blac k community. 95 Steel was fired b y the national boar d th e da y after th e article appeared . Bell also argues that anythin g shor t o f quotas draw s energy away fro m fundamental socia l change . Thus, schoo l desegregatio n throug h racia l balance i s describe d i n "Th e Chronicl e o f the Sacrifice d Blac k School children (Neithe r Separat e Schools nor Mixe d Schools) " as a distraction . In Bell' s work, th e powe r o f la w t o mystif y throug h it s abstraction s i s addressed by the allegorical form. Minority scholars present an alternativ e

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jurisprudential for m featurin g a focus o n the institutional seat s of power and a challenge to the way law has been writte n i n those places. The qualities eviden t i n th e practice s o f realism and minorit y politic s in th e lega l academ y ar e th e ke y t o th e contemporar y pictur e o f th e powerlessness o f law. Peter Fitzpatric k ha s linked positivis m t o what h e calls the "libera l cosmology/ ' whic h provide s " a particular protectio n o f law's innocence/' 96 H e show s ho w th e separatio n o f law fro m materia l life distract s u s fro m th e responsibilit y o f la w fo r th e constitutio n o f social relations and ultimatel y fo r muc h of material life. Realism, with it s denial of law's power, i s a paradoxical pictur e o f law for thos e wh o hav e so much power—th e judges , th e lega l academics , an d a t leas t t o som e extent the practicing attorneys . It is certainly a t odds with the picture of law I have describe d i n th e ga y community , a threatened an d relativel y powerless community tha t sough t protection fro m majorit y hysteri a sur rounding AIDS . Th e powerlessnes s o f la w leave s th e lega l communit y without responsibility . Thi s positio n make s i t naiv e t o as k muc h o f th e law, an d analogousl y i t become s unthinkabl e t o as k wh o th e lawyers , legal academics, and judges are . An approac h sometime s calle d "relational " embed s lega l though t i n human relation s and socia l institutions. Alan Hunt's interest i s much th e same as I have been pursuing here. 97 He makes an effort t o transcend th e limitations o f a liberal framework i n order t o liberate scholarshi p o n law from th e inabilit y t o look criticall y a t it s socia l foundations . Thi s atten tion to social relations is emphasized her e as a basis for movin g fro m th e realist perspectiv e t o a constitutive pictur e o f law. The separation o f law from it s literature an d it s cultur e throug h immersio n i n it s institution s makes i t impossibl e t o se e th e institution s themselves . Th e commo n sense political view b y which w e have come to accept this cultural sepa ration is an outgrowth o f realism. This function o f what we take to be an ordinary commo n sens e perspectiv e s o permeates scholarshi p tha t th e critique o f positivism i n th e academ y lead s to the cal l for a constitutiv e theory o f law. Such a theory i s necessary t o understand th e par t realis m plays in maintaining th e institutions o f law.

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Chapter4

It i s time t o explor e new way s t o dea l wit h such famil y problem s as marriage, chil d custody an d adoption s outside th e formalit y and potentiall y traumatic atmospher e of courts . —Chief Justic e Warren E . Burger , "Agenda for 2000 A.D."

desire fo r peace , fo r concilia tion—a remedia l urge—thi s i s the socia l consequenc e o f informal ism, th e "alternative " t o law that ha s been suc h a preoccupatio n aroun d the lega l professio n sinc e i t surface d in th e 1970s . For th e las t twenty-fiv e years, th e remedia l orientation , a s informalism, spawne d a new profes sion wit h associations , conferences , and careers . Groups suc h a s the Soci ety fo r Professional s i n Disput e Resolution (SPIDR ) an d th e Nationa l Conference on Peacemaking and Confl ict Resolution offered th e opportunit y for growt h i n a professional directio n following th e activis m o f th e 1960s . Informalists buil t centers , lik e th e National Institute for Disput e Resolution (NIDR ) i n Washington , D.C. , where the y dre w million s o f dollar s from foundation s suc h a s Ford , Aetna, an d Hewlett . From these institutions the y wen t fort h t o prosely tize. Unlik e activist s i n th e previou s decades, informalist s i n th e 1980 s were closel y linke d t o institutions — churches, courts , foundations , an d the lega l profession—an d i n thi s sense informalis m ha s bee n a move ment in law. As a lega l practice , informalis m 77

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has mad e dispute s it s business . Jus t a s the practic e o f medicin e claim s illness, informalist s wor k t o hea l conflict . Fro m withi n th e movement , the remedia l urg e i s no t a politica l deman d o r a visio n o f socia l processes, bu t rathe r th e discover y o f somethin g latent , a fact o f life . The "proces s of disputing"—the natura l and seemingl y inevitabl e erup tions i n th e socia l fabric—preoccupies thes e mediators . This perceptio n of dispute s a s a n elementa l for m o f socia l lif e present s the m a s inevitable. 1 Conflic t an d th e urg e t o resolv e i t ar e conceptualize d b y informalists a s prehistoric. Accordin g t o practitioner s o f th e remedia l arts, me n an d wome n hav e dispute d fro m th e biblica l Cai n and Abe l t o contemporary Israe l an d Palestine . Natur e become s a n all y agains t th e inevitable counterargument s tha t lin k dispute s t o professional interest s and a particula r configuratio n i n socia l history . Workin g unde r th e shadow o f a biblical tradition , a s well a s a legal one , th e peacemakers , according t o this movement, wil l inherit th e earth . Informalism, o r alternativ e disput e resolutio n (ADR) , i s a movemen t constructed b y me n an d wome n followin g thei r sens e o f what need s t o be done . The constructio n o f disputes , o r the dispute s paradigm , serve s the remedia l urg e an d i s neither particularl y natura l no r inevitable , bu t the participant s prefe r t o hide thei r role s i n nature . The shynes s abou t agency see n i n th e lega l academy an d attribute d t o realism i s also char acteristic o f informalists operatin g fro m remedia l premise s i n law . Law offers a cover fo r politics , an d informalis m make s us e o f thi s cove r i n various ways . Unlik e som e politica l movements , wher e gettin g credi t and publicit y ar e expected aspect s o f the politica l process , informalis m would prefe r no t t o b e see n a s a movemen t a t all . A s th e inevitabl e response to natural phenomen a rathe r tha n a political process , informal ists mas k th e representatio n o f interests. Bu t informalism i s more accu rately associated with politics than nature. From the outside, informalis m as a movement ma y indeed appea r to be an industry . Informalists operatin g unde r th e remedial impulse needed dispute s t o work on—tha t is , there ha d t o b e dispute s befor e ther e coul d b e reme dies. Informalists no t onl y found peopl e in conflict , the y als o develope d a framework i n socia l scienc e tha t make s disputin g central . Accordin g to scholars in the sociology o f law, this framework cam e from anthropol ogy an d conflic t theory . Th e anthropologist s buil t o n th e wor k o f Ma x Gluckman, P . H. Gulliver , an d Kar l Llewelly n an d Edwar d Hoebel. 2 These scholar s applie d th e principle s o f America n jurisprudenc e t o other societies , which the y calle d primitive . They als o develope d a case

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approach lik e th e on e America n la w school s ha d institute d fift y year s before. Rathe r tha n reflectin g th e bod y o f preceden t associate d wit h English law, cases were viewed a s the conventional response of ordinar y people dealin g wit h inevitabl e socia l problems. In conflict theor y begin ning i n the 1960s , scholars incorporated th e practices o f arbitration int o a mor e intellectuall y sophisticate d pictur e o f socia l processes . Fo r instance, i n the wor k o f Wilhelm Aubert , a n importan t earl y sociologis t of law, conflic t becam e a building bloc k fo r a new theor y o f socia l con trol incorporatin g th e perceptio n tha t dispute s ar e natural. 3 With thes e academic tool s providin g th e basi s fo r a n energeti c scholarship , th e informalist movemen t coul d buil d it s empire. Informalism wa s not withou t it s critics, wh o emerge d a t th e height o f the movement' s activity . Som e of this critica l wor k helpe d t o highligh t informalism a s politics. British scholar Maureen Cain and Hungarian con stitutional lawye r Kalma n Kulcsar published a n influential articl e durin g the academi c frenz y ove r dispute s i n th e earl y 1980s . The article , title d "Thinking Disputes : An Essa y o n the Origin s o f the Disput e Industry, " was a response t o sudde n growt h o f informalism an d th e prominenc e o f the remedial urge. 4 Cain and Kulcsa r argue d tha t th e assumptions o f academics, when institute d i n a movement practice , constitut e an ideology. 5 They elaborate d th e ideolog y o f the informalis t movemen t a s a way o f calling attentio n t o its politics an d t o associate it s ideas wit h it s practi tioners. The ideology o f informalism, i n their view , include s a belief i n universality, whereb y dispute s ar e everywher e i n huma n society ; functionalism, whereb y dispute s an d thei r remedie s serv e a s vita l part s o f society;6 and settlement practices, where the critique of courts leads infor malists to new institutions. 7 Universality , functionalism , an d settlemen t practices ar e som e share d characteristic s o f the orientatio n t o dispute s that allo w u s t o identif y th e movement. 8 Th e practitioner s migh t acknowledge thes e characteristic s o f informalism a t th e sam e time tha t they would den y the movement nature of their activity. 9 Remedy, a s the socia l manifestatio n o f informalism, supplant s socia l practices traditionally associate d with disputes , such as law. Informalist s present remed y a s a righteou s crusad e an d a trum p t o othe r form s derived fro m law , like the autonomou s expectation s associate d wit h th e claim o f right . I n th e worl d o f labo r negotiation , wher e informalis m flourishes a s arbitration, disput e resolutio n processe s ar e availabl e a s alternatives t o strike s an d labo r violence . Informalists offe r remed y a s a higher socia l practice than th e fights an d right s of the litigation process .

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Viewed withi n th e movement' s ideologica l form , thi s seem s attractiv e enough. Bu t in the contex t o f politics, problem s hav e arisen. Fo r exam ple, i n th e pas t decad e Africa n American s hav e challenged feminist s o n the "myt h o f the Blac k rapist/' whic h place s Africa n America n me n a t the forefront o f the problem of violence against women. 10 The informalis t response to issues of race and rape tends to be remedial, that is, that suc h issues are subject t o settlement rathe r tha n th e basi s for call s for justice. In fact , th e clas h betwee n informalis t ideolog y an d contemporar y con cern for domesti c violenc e ha s led to changes in the articulate d practic e in places where the ideology o f mediation doe s not see m appropriate. For instance, battere d wome n are discouraged fro m usin g mediation . When informalis m sit s in th e plac e traditionall y lef t fo r la w i n theo ries of public authority w e say of this socia l practice that i t constitutes a community i n law . The for m differ s fro m th e righ t asserte d b y gay s i n the controvers y ove r th e bath s i n Sa n Francisco , an d fro m th e rag e against pornograph y t o b e discusse d i n th e nex t chapter . Becaus e infor malism i s so close to la w i n a professional an d institutiona l sense , i t i s more aki n t o realis m i n th e la w schools . Som e o f th e feature s o f law' s magisterium, lik e the rob e an d th e gavel , ar e clearl y jettisoned i n favo r of th e urg e t o resolve rathe r tha n judge. Bu t the lawye r an d hi s o r he r professional form s ar e ver y muc h i n evidence . Alon g wit h th e profes sional orientatio n o f the participants , man y o f whom ar e lawyers, ther e is also the way the movement depict s itself as standing agains t the paga n masses.11 This key featur e o f modern lega l ideology, describe d b y Pete r Goodrich a s "institutional/ ' mean s tha t "th e professio n als o stand s between justice, 'lad y and quee n o f all moral virtues', and barbarism." 12 The architectur e o f many o f our la w building s testifie s t o the centralit y of those images—Greek temple s house our most important courts . In th e case o f family disputes , informalis m become s institutionalize d a s alter native disput e resolutio n an d mediation . Program s fro m cour t diversio n to institutiona l grievanc e procedure s ar e advanced b y member s o f th e legal profession, cour t administrators , an d attorney s i n private practice . As a form o f conflict management , informalis m occupie s in history th e soil tille d b y th e progressiv e revol t agains t forma l processe s i n th e courts. I n th e earl y twentiet h century , lega l activist s an d reformer s articulated a range o f alternatives t o the inherite d lega l process , ofte n called formalism. Rosco e Pound, in his 190 6 speech "Popula r Dissatisfac tion with the Administration o f Justice," 13 expressed a desire for greate r efficiency an d acces s from whic h informalis m gre w as a movement advo -

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eating ne w methods . Th e informalist s depicte d lega l actor s an d thei r processes i n a highl y critica l fashion . Th e ol d form , th e groun d tha t launches informalism , i s epitomized b y embattle d court s an d battlin g lawyers with thei r ow n institutional interest s in th e forefront. Thus , th e legal shar k an d th e cour t bureaucrac y becom e a foil fo r remedia l inter ests, an d th e oppositio n agains t whic h informalist s propos e t o mak e their contribution . Lik e realism , informalis m i s associate d wit h la w schools and , lik e realism , i t operate s fro m denia l o f a traditional lega l form. I n th e process , conflic t resolutio n ha s becom e a central aspec t o f law an d ha s com e t o represen t remedia l practices . Thus , remed y an d informalism, mediation , conflic t resolution , dispute s processing , an d ADR, alon g wit h delegalization , hav e enough i n commo n t o constitut e a movement whe n looke d a t from th e perspective o f law and la w reform. 14 My ai m her e i s t o highligh t th e exten t t o whic h th e movemen t depends o n a distinctive form . Informalis m put s fort h settlemen t a s th e overriding concern . I t i s far better , i n thi s framework , fo r mothe r an d daughter, Egyp t and Israel , even the tobacco industry an d the America n Cancer Society, to "settle " than t o fight fo r a right. The movement ideol ogy i s remedial becaus e o f thi s commitmen t t o reachin g a resolution ; "getting t o yes " is elevated t o a matter o f principle. 15 The Hol y Grai l of agreement become s an article of faith i n the movement .

Law Reform a s Form o f La w The remedial orientation manifeste d a s informalism constitute s a form of law in a number o f senses . Practitioners plac e the importanc e o f a remedy i n oppositio n t o the lega l process. They firs t characteriz e th e la w i n formal terms , muc h a s th e realist s hav e done . The y depic t thei r ow n activity i n oppositio n a s informalism. I n th e guis e o f institutional prac tices like "mediation, " informalis m claim s to b e different fro m th e tradi tional lega l process. Mediators disavo w procedura l rule s an d sometime s even theorie s o f practice. 16 O n the surfac e the y affec t a militant casual ness in dres s (shorts , gol f shirts , eve n Birkenstock s i n certai n contexts ) and styl e o f speech . I n th e case of Howard Bellman , a regulatory nego tiator charge d wit h bringin g industr y an d environmentalist s togethe r on the matte r o f a federal nuclea r wast e dump , th e form o f presentatio n is illustrative. During negotiation s i n 199 0 he offered th e following sum mation: " I thin k th e forma l proces s i s goin g t o expir e eithe r i n a fe w hours o r afte r thi s nex t meeting . Th e informa l proces s wa s goin g o n a

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hell of a long time before w e started an d i s going to continue, I presume, for decades , a s a matter o f fact/' 17 Thi s casua l styl e assert s th e opposi tion o f informa l an d forma l an d suggest s a n alternativ e t o traditiona l professional practice . Informalism i s grounded i n an assessment o f law b y lawyers . Lawyer s may not have been the first t o think o f elevating the importance of remedies, althoug h ther e ar e a number o f instances, suc h a s plea bargainin g and settlemen t conferences , wher e remed y i s the operativ e featur e o f law. Lawyer s hav e appropriate d informalis m t o becom e it s primar y benefactors an d som e of its foremost advocates . Bu t lawyers lik e forme r Chief Justic e Warren Burge r brough t i t t o the courts . Lawyer s lik e Joe l Handler sol d it to the foundations. An d lawyers like Janet Rifkin mak e it more acceptable to the public. Burger was an early proponent o f ADR , a s will b e noted below . Handler, wh o teaches a t th e UCL A La w Schoo l an d was presiden t o f the La w and Societ y Associatio n 1991-93 , consulte d with th e For d Foundatio n i n th e earl y 1970 s when i t helpe d t o se t u p NIDR. Rifkin , professo r o f legal studie s a t th e Universit y o f Massachu setts, Amherst , ha s hel d a number o f advocac y position s i n th e Ameri can Ba r Association an d participate d activel y i n th e disput e resolutio n community. In addition, the prominence of legal authority i n some disciplines, suc h a s academic socia l scienc e relatin g t o law, leads man y wh o have only a passing association wit h the profession t o embrace informal ism as one of its current techniques . This, of course, appears paradoxical becaus e the ideology of informal ism is base d o n a critique o f traditional lega l forms . Lawyer s inevitabl y bring th e movemen t clos e t o th e stat e apparatu s eve n whil e informa l procedures an d remedia l interest s esche w th e state' s traditiona l forms . Remedial practice , informalism , an d th e alternative s movemen t see k t o build a community aroun d th e absenc e o f bot h rag e an d right . Yet, as a movement practice, remedy is closely associated wit h institution s o f law. As a legal form , informalis m i s linke d t o realis m an d movement s lik e critical lega l studie s (CLS) . Thus, informa l alternative s t o la w ar e intri cately connecte d t o courts , th e bar , an d th e la w schools . Th e for m appears i n a variety o f settings , fro m plea-bargainin g t o famil y media tion, an d participant s tak e prid e i n thei r orientatio n t o procedura l rather tha n substantiv e issues . Christine B. Harrington's work on mediation and informal justice show s the movemen t characte r o f informalis m an d ho w i t i s roote d i n la w reform.18 Sh e draws parallel s wit h th e progressiv e reform s advocate d i n

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the firs t fe w decade s o f th e twentiet h century . Thos e movement s wer e associated, throug h Dea n Pound , wit h sociologica l jurisprudence , a n approach to law grounded in positivism and linked to legal realism.19 Sociological jurisprudence, whic h alon g wit h lega l realism is the intellectua l precursor t o la w an d society , dre w o n th e ne w Germa n socia l scienc e becoming popula r i n the academ y durin g th e firs t quarte r o f the twenti eth century. In public administration, th e progressive reformers reclaime d government fo r th e middle classe s with scienc e and research . In address ing th e courts , th e progressive s advocate d "'business-like ' manage ment/' 20 whic h the y claime d woul d defus e publi c criticis m o f the law . This links informalism wit h reform i n the tradition o f the liberal state. The progressive perio d i n legal reform wa s driven b y a framework fo r public authorit y aptl y characterize d a s the "Corporat e Ideal. " In a boo k carrying thi s title, James Weinstein offer s tw o theses that run counte r t o prevailing opinio n abou t th e role the stat e plays in the interest s o f busi ness.21 The first i s that th e libera l stat e had bee n establishe d b y th e en d of World War I. The second i s that th e libera l corporat e socia l order wa s developed b y thos e wit h politica l hegemony , th e corporat e financia l establishment. Th e pressure for chang e may have come from th e bottom , but th e reform s wer e pu t i n plac e b y libera l leaders . The y wer e elit e efforts t o ste m th e tid e o f socialis m an d expan d th e politica l economy . The socia l theory o f this framewor k hold s tha t th e libera l stat e require s federal interventio n an d tha t i t canno t surviv e i n a truly laissez-fair e order. According t o Weinstein, th e ideology o f federal interventio n doe s not captur e th e natur e o f America n liberalism . Rather , liberalis m pro motes the idea that th e stat e is in opposition t o capital . This opposition, lik e that betwee n th e formal an d th e informal , i s one way tha t belief s ca n b e organize d t o maintai n th e dominanc e o f th e given socia l order. Liberalism , then , ha s bee n th e ideolog y o f the domi nant economi c groups sinc e the nineteenth century . I n the day s of Jack sonian democracy , th e thrus t agains t monopol y include d suc h achievements a s free publi c educatio n an d popula r suffrage . I n thi s period "busines s leader s sponsore d institutiona l adjustment s t o thei r needs, and supporte d politica l ideologies that appeale d t o large number s of people o f differen t socia l classe s in orde r t o gain , an d retain , popula r support fo r thei r entrepreneuria l activity." 22 Bu t b y th e en d o f Worl d War I , leader s o f the larg e corporation s an d bank s emerge d secur e i n a "loose hegemony " ove r th e politica l structure . Contro l operate d i n th e name of corporate liberalis m i n the progressiv e er a (1900—1920). In larg e

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part becaus e clas s struggle rage d throughou t th e period , man y busines s leaders cam e to believ e tha t cu t throa t capitalis m threatene d socia l sta bility. Thus , th e Nationa l Civi c Federation oppose d socialists , radicals , and middle-clas s reformer s o n th e on e hand , whil e th e libertarian s i n their ow n ranks , th e busines s establishment , organize d a s the Nationa l Association o f Manufacturers. Marcu s Hann a wa s the first presiden t o f the Nationa l Civi c Federation, an d Samue l Gomper s wa s the vic e presi dent fro m it s founding unti l his deat h i n 1924 . Andrew Carnegi e was its biggest contributor . Accordin g t o Weinstein , "i n larg e corporations , such a s United State s Steel, the 'anarchists ' tende d t o be those men wh o came from th e manufacturing en d o f the busines s while the progressive s were thos e wh o represente d th e ban k o r wer e second-generatio n man agers/' 23 Bu t whe n the y wer e "unabl e t o establis h hegemon y ove r th e business communit y o n th e basi s o f it s trad e unio n policies , Federa l leaders turne d t o welfare a s an are a o f work tha t woul d appea l particu larly to anti-union employers." 24 One o f th e specifi c reform s brough t b y corporat e liberalis m wa s workmen's compensation . Th e reaction t o entrepreneuria l gree d serve d those wh o woul d stabiliz e th e economy . I n term s o f injuries t o workers , the industria l syste m too k a sever e toll . I n U.S . Steel's Sout h Chicag o plant, 4 6 me n wer e kille d an d 59 8 injured i n 1906 . In th e earl y nine teenth century , recours e t o damage s wa s throug h th e court s an d wa s based o n law s (e.g., the fello w servan t rule , th e assumptio n o f risk, an d contributory negligence ) that kep t recover y lo w an d mad e it difficul t t o establish responsibilit y fo r workin g conditions . Labo r attacke d thes e defenses an d di d no t generall y suppor t workmen' s compensation . Th e amounts specifie d i n compensatio n law s were suspect , an d mos t union s opposed governmen t regulatio n o n the theory that government wa s controlled b y business . Workmen's compensation , the y thought , migh t als o reduce loyalty t o the unions . At the same time, a mounting attac k o n courts was being thwarted b y industrialists. On e aspec t o f labor' s ne w loo k a t politic s fro m 190 5 t o 1908 was a fear tha t increasin g us e o f cour t injunction s agains t labo r would mov e the America n Federatio n o f Labor (AFL ) to politica l actio n to limit the judiciary. S o when Carnegi e contributed t o labor's legal fun d in an important cas e as part of his work with the NCF , h e warned tha t h e would no t giv e "th e slightes t countenanc e t o attack s o n th e Suprem e Court." 25 Bu t fo r labo r reformer s th e court s wer e th e enemy . Fo r instance, i n 191 1 the Ne w York Cour t o f Appeal s hel d i n Ives v . South

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Buffalo Railroad Co. tha t th e "conservative " compensatio n ac t o f Ne w York (relying o n privat e insurance ) wa s unconstitutional. I n Ne w York, an amendment backe d b y Theodore Roosevel t wa s passed t o reverse th e Ives decision . A s Presiden t Roosevel t ofte n tol d bi g business , socia l reform wa s truly conservative . B y 192 0 every stat e bu t si x i n the Sout h had workmen's compensation an d the federal governmen t ha d a program for civi l employees. Another are a o f earl y refor m wa s i n th e cit y commissio n an d cit y manager movements , wher e th e byword s wer e "efficiency " an d "reduced costs. " Locally , t o rationaliz e governmen t an d mak e a cit y more attractiv e mean t mor e business . Unde r th e banne r o f busines s management an d socia l science , smal l businesspeopl e create d th e com mission an d counci l manage r for m o f government . Busines s wa s con nected t o the nee d fo r paving , harbors , th e election s system , an d water , fire, an d sewe r services . Th e resul t wa s ofte n businesspeopl e a t th e helm. Th e cit y manage r for m wa s oppose d b y th e norther n politica l machines, socialists, and trade unionists. The plans eliminated war d rep resentation, an d henc e minorities ; concentrate d power , makin g i t har d to mobilize opposition ; an d eliminate d th e partisa n ballo t concentratin g on a politics of personality. "Efficiency " an d "reduce d costs " ushered i n new form s o f government. 27 Reform struggle d alon g i n othe r arena s o f the industria l fron t fro m 1913 to 1915 . These included th e United State s Commission on Industria l Relations. The commission wa s formed unde r Presiden t William Howar d Taft followin g violenc e a t th e Los Angeles Times, a n open-sho p paper . The idea o f an industrial relations commissio n wa s supported b y promi nent reformer s suc h a s Lincol n Steffens . Presiden t Woodro w Wilso n continued t o link th e academ y t o refor m wit h th e appointmen t o f suc h important member s a s Fran k Wals h a s chai r an d Joh n R . Commons , author o f The Legal Foundations of Capitalism, a s researcher. Walsh , a radical socia l justice advocate , believe d i n publicit y abou t th e condi tions unde r whic h labo r worked . H e looke d int o th e activitie s o f Col orado Fue l an d Iro n an d th e rol e o f Joh n D . Rockefeller i n controllin g Standard Oi l a s well a s producing th e Ludlo w massacre . Thes e move ments durin g th e mos t contentiou s year s i n th e struggl e betwee n labo r and capita l revea l a relationship betwee n economi c an d politica l power . This is the relationship tha t produce s refor m i n the spiri t o f democracy . In the end , th e mor e radical alternatives presente d th e greates t threa t to the legac y o f the Nationa l Civi c Federation reformers . Thei r "politic s

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of socia l responsibility" wa s a basis for th e emergin g corporat e system . Their reform s cloude d clas s identification durin g a period whe n social ists suc h a s Victor Berge r wer e electe d t o Congres s an d seventy-thre e cities elected socialis t mayors . Supported b y liberal busines s leaders an d reformers lik e Jan e Addams , th e federation' s Industria l Economi c Department investigate d th e menac e o f socialism . Th e reactio n linke d the "informal " wit h th e hars h an d final, a s economist Scot t Nearing wa s fired fro m th e Universit y o f Pennsylvani a i n 1915 . Though i t faile d t o destroy th e socialis t movement , Nationa l Civi c Federatio n activit y se t limits. B y movin g t o th e lef t i t absorbe d som e o f th e socia l issue s o n which socialis t strateg y wa s based . By analyzing th e constraint s o f lega l for m i n th e informalis t move ment, w e dra w ou t th e tensio n i n critica l realism—tha t is , we se e th e underside an d implication s fo r a movement i n la w eve n i n th e word s i t uses. Gran t McConnel l sa w a numbe r o f paradoxe s i n progressivism . Although linke d t o rural populism , progressivis m wa s an urba n move ment. Althoug h speakin g fo r th e masses , i t wa s hostil e t o organize d labor. For McConnell this same tension wa s characterized i n the progressive movement's paradoxica l suppor t fo r privat e powe r throug h it s cri tique o f itself. 28 Thi s analysi s o f progressiv e interest s an d ideologie s rests o n a view o f la w tha t i s quit e complementar y t o th e on e offere d here. Th e la w doe s no t no r ca n i t simpl y "contain " privat e interests ; rather, i t must b e understood a s constituting thos e interests. Only at thi s depth o f analysis can we hope to understand th e way law and legal institutions determin e politics . Progressives gave a great dea l of attention t o arbitration processe s an d "voluntary tribunals, " suc h a s the Chambe r o f Commerce Committe e o n Arbitration o f the State of New York, which wer e developed b y busines s leaders durin g th e progressive period a s mechanisms to cut dow n o n th e rate o f litigation. 29 Throug h suc h vehicle s a s th e Ne w Yor k Stat e Ba r Association's Committe e o n Preventio n o f Unnecessar y Litigatio n (formed i n 1916) , a somewha t les s matur e ba r playe d a majo r rol e i n developing thi s alternativ e framework . Althoug h thes e ideologie s per sist, an d barel y see m to hav e age d afte r hal f a century, group s suc h a s the American Ba r Association hav e changed a great dea l with the growt h of a national syste m of law. Many o f the reform s institute d i n thi s perio d wer e attempt s b y th e self-defined "better " classe s to transform th e values and limi t the powe r of the immigrant s wh o ha d com e to dominat e th e urba n landscape. 30 I n

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her analysi s o f thi s phenomenon , Harringto n cite s comment s t o th e Committee o n Smal l Claims and Conciliatio n b y Reginal d Hebe r Smith , who "haile d smal l claim s court s a s socializatio n agent s wort h mor e t o the caus e o f Americanizatio n tha n an y amoun t o f talk/' 31 Lowe r cost s and expande d acces s woul d perfor m th e socializatio n functio n al l th e more comprehensivel y and , mos t importantly—i n th e argo t o f th e time—more efficiently . Althoug h th e movemen t expresse d a n affectio n for th e "les s formal/' i t wa s also highly "professional, " th e ne w cod e fo r gentry control . In anothe r "progressive " movement , th e on e to eliminat e la y o r non professional judges , th e consequence s o f bourgeoi s refor m durin g thi s period ar e evident . La y judge s ar e remnant s o f a n earlie r an d mor e democratic populis m tha t ha s becom e inconsisten t wit h professiona l interests as these interests hav e been articulate d b y the organize d ba r i n the twentiet h century. 32 Ther e i s a widespread presumptio n tha t non lawyers, like laypeople, ar e incapable o f adhering t o legal rules an d ren dering judgment. Whil e ther e hav e alway s bee n nonlawye r judge s i n America, the challenges to their suitabilit y hav e been fairly recent . Earl y attempts t o limi t thi s popula r an d essentiall y les s formal institutio n o f the stat e relie d o n th e requiremen t i n som e stat e constitution s tha t judges b e "learne d i n th e law. " The common-la w principle , however , was that n o learnin g wa s needed. I n th e 1960s , the ol d "learne d i n th e law" expectatio n fo r judicial competenc e bega n t o b e couche d i n term s of constitutiona l du e proces s protection , bu t mos t court s turne d dow n claims that nonlawye r judges coul d no t constitutionall y instruc t juries , act in nuisance prosecutions, conduc t preliminar y exam s in felony cases , or carr y ou t othe r dutie s typica l o f misdemeanor judges. The Suprem e Court accepte d nonlawye r judges i n Cohort v. Kentucky, a case involvin g a conviction befor e a lay judges. Contemporary academic s hav e infused remedia l practice s wit h form s of law that reflec t som e of the reformis t tendencie s reviewe d i n th e pre vious chapte r i n conjunctio n wit h realis m i n la w schools . Like realism , remedial practice s ar e nurtured b y liberal s an d conservative s alike . We see this i n Mar k Kelman' s book , A Guide to Critical Legal Studies, an d i n Richard Posner' s economi c analysis. 33 The interes t i n informalism , i n a practical sense , comes out o f the sam e epistemological critiqu e tha t lie s at th e hear t o f lega l realism . Thu s i t i s linked t o th e neorealis m o f CL S and t o la w an d economics . Th e latter , wit h a mor e coheren t method , shares the critiqu e o f practice wit h th e AD R movement . Som e of this w e

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can se e in Posner's effort t o look more closely at the interpretivist move ment i n law . But law and economics , rathe r tha n bein g immerse d i n th e epistemological controversies , create s a n alternativ e normativ e scheme , an economic formalism tha t ultimatel y ha s little connection t o ADR . The descriptio n o f mainstream lega l thought b y CL S scholars contain s the remedial notio n o f the stat e as intervenor, whic h i s central to libera l ideology. Accordin g t o Kelman , thi s bod y o f thought i s simultaneousl y beset b y internal contradiction s an d "repressio n o f the presence of these contradictions." 34 These contradiction s appea r agai n a t th e hear t o f th e ADR movement . I n generall y unselfconsciou s ways , remedia l practice s attempt t o resolve the contradiction s identifie d b y CL S scholars and oth ers i n th e las t twent y years . Th e thre e centra l contradiction s ar e between (i ) " a commitmen t t o mechanicall y applicabl e rule s a s th e appropriate for m fo r resolvin g dispute s . . . and a commitment t o situa tion-sensitive, a d ho c standards" ; (2 ) "a commitmen t t o th e traditiona l liberal notion that value s or desires are arbitrary, subjective , individual , and individuatin g . . . and a commitment to the ideal that w e can 'know ' social an d ethica l truth s objectively" ; an d (3 ) " a commitmen t t o a n intentionalistic discourse , i n whic h huma n actio n i s seen as the produc t of a self-determinin g individua l will , an d determinis t discourse , i n which th e activit y o f nomina l subject s . . . i s simpl y deeme d th e expected outcom e o f existing structures." 35 The hear t o f contemporar y realism an d th e foundatio n fo r th e AD R movemen t i s the indeterminac y position. Thi s i s a characteristic o f CLS , wher e governanc e b y rule s i s made t o loo k impossibl e becaus e case s requir e huma n interventio n i n the for m o f interpretation. Th e CL S positio n draw s o n moder n concep tions o f languag e an d elevate s practic e an d conventio n ove r th e tradi tional formal exegesis . Similarly, on the need for purposiv e intervention , CLS, drawin g fro m la w an d society , call s attentio n t o th e la w i n actio n and thereb y focuse s o n the law's essentially politica l character . The realist/CL S vie w o f conflic t als o has affinitie s t o ADR . Conflic t i s more natura l tha n order , an d th e fac t tha t failure s o f normativ e orde r may b e embrace d b y lef t an d righ t alik e i s a source o f suppor t fo r th e realist position . Fo r the Crits , "[T]h e idea tha t stat e power i s often exer cised o n behal f o f those wh o captur e influenc e i n battl e certainl y seem s to b e the common wisdom." 36 While Crits profess t o avoid a faith i n plu ralism becaus e o f it s failur e t o recogniz e th e influenc e o f entrenche d interests, the y ar e als o reluctant t o accep t th e framework s o f th e firs t realist perio d whic h focuse d o n captur e o f governin g institution s b y

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elites. In this avoidance of the determinative , thei r epistemologica l skep ticism make s the m les s radical tha n thei r predecessor s an d muc h mor e like the informalists wh o den y th e role of institutional coercion . The continue d interes t i n gran d theorie s an d th e inevitabl e pul l toward mor e structura l explanation s ultimatel y separat e th e academi c realism o f CL S from th e institutiona l realis m o f ADR . I n th e cas e o f la w and economics , th e marke t orientatio n t o bargainin g i s simila r t o th e operative framewor k drivin g informalism , bu t th e doctrina l payof f fo r law an d economic s goe s i n a differen t directio n fro m th e practica l changes sough t b y th e AD R movement . A s part o f their positio n i n th e academy, Crit s projec t a theoretical cynicis m tha t clashe s wit h th e opti mism o f informalists. Whil e Crit s d o not pu t muc h stoc k i n th e benevo lence that ma y o r may no t b e part o f the rul e o f law, 37 this i s certainly a feature o f informalism . Th e AD R movemen t i s less self-consciou s tha n the law and economic s and CL S movements abou t th e power tha t rest s in even the least formal institutiona l arrangements , ADR' S proponents see m to have trouble recognizing th e mor e ordinary psychologica l conventio n that acknowledge s transference—o f th e sor t commonl y practice d b y mediators—to b e a form o f manipulation . Perhaps th e mos t tellin g featur e o f academi c discussio n o f informal ism i s th e propensit y t o maintai n tha t thi s movemen t i s organize d around a n "alternative " practice. Informalism, i n positing itsel f in opposition t o law , resist s th e incorporatio n o f la w int o th e "alternatives " framework. 38 Wit h regar d t o la w refor m a s a form o f law , however , I have described a number o f respects in which facet s o f law are central t o the mediatio n "alternative." 39 I n th e mid-1980s , a more sophisticate d presentation o f informalis m seem s t o hav e develope d tha t mor e full y acknowledges th e exten t t o whic h th e movemen t i s a part o f th e lega l process. To observe thi s developmen t i n movemen t practice , I turn firs t to the earlies t articulation s o f the informalis t creed , an d the n t o the cri tiques a s they emerge d fro m th e applicatio n o f informal processe s i n th e area of family law .

The Poun d Conference s Three histori c twentieth-centur y speeche s reflec t th e concern s o f th e ADR movemen t an d lin k the m t o th e law : Roscoe Pound' s 190 6 addres s to th e America n Ba r Association (ABA) ; Chie f Justic e Warre n Burger' s speech t o a 197 6 conferenc e tha t sough t t o buil d o n th e concern s

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expressed b y Pound; and a speech at the same conference b y Frank E. A. Sander o f Harvard La w School , a n influentia l contributo r t o the ideol ogy o f informalism. Thes e speeches , an d tw o conference s a t which the y were given, for m th e basi s for examinin g wha t m y colleagues have aptl y called "th e productio n o f ideology/' 40 Lik e other phenomen a tha t relat e law's forms t o its socia l life, speeche s i n conferenc e settings , wher e peo ple mee t t o develo p strategie s an d generat e suppor t t o institutionaliz e their position , ar e evidence o f law in society. Pound's speech , "Th e Cause s o f Popula r Dissatisfactio n wit h th e Administrations o f Justice," 41 whic h i s quite famou s i n la w refor m cir cles, wa s give n a t a conferenc e o f th e fledglin g AB A hel d i n St . Paul , Minnesota, i n 1906 , and attende d b y tw o t o three hundre d members. 42 The ABA , forme d i n the late nineteenth century , ha d onl y just reache d a place o f prominence, bu t no t ye t nationa l significance , an d Poun d him self wa s relatively unknown . Bor n in 187 0 on the Nebrask a frontier , b y the tim e o f the conferenc e th e 36-year-ol d Poun d ha d acquire d a Ph.D. in Botan y from th e Universit y o f Nebraska an d studie d la w for a year a t Harvard. H e had taugh t botany , publishin g fiftee n professiona l paper s on the subject , an d als o practiced law , where five of his papers had bee n published, includin g "Th e Decadenc e o f Equity." 43 H e bega n teachin g Roman la w a t th e Universit y o f Nebraska i n 189 5 and wa s dea n o f th e law schoo l fro m 1903 . Historically, bot h th e conferenc e an d it s speake r placed alternative s to the inherited lega l system on the national agenda . Pound's "sociologica l jurisprudence," whic h wa s th e drivin g forc e behind hi s speech, claime d a place for socia l science in the national legal establishment. I t predate d Justic e Loui s Brandeis' s sociologica l brie f i n Muller v. Oregon 44 by two years but wa s basically part of the same movement. Jus t a s Brandeis would lin k academi c scholarshi p t o the record i n a case before th e Supreme Court and b e acknowledged i n the opinion fo r the usefulnes s o f this technique, Poun d i s known fo r havin g expande d the empirica l foundation s fo r understandin g courts . I n thi s h e differ s somewhat fro m late r realist s suc h a s Jerom e Fran k an d Thurma n Arnold, whos e analyti c critiqu e o f process an d theor y ha s more affinit y with som e of the more vocal contemporary manifestation s o f realism. 45 He begins the speec h historicall y i n an attempt t o ground dissatisfac tion i n th e fabri c an d histor y o f Anglo-Saxon law . From it s roots i n th e early contest s ove r roya l sovereignt y i n th e Middl e Age s to democrati c resistance in nineteenth-century America , the various dissatisfaction s t o which Poun d allude s d o indeed depic t th e growt h o f the law . From th e

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claim o f equa l justice fo r ric h an d poo r t o concer n ove r corruptio n b y judges i n courts , whic h serve d a s a newly institutionalize d Renaissanc e expression o f the technologies o f governance, Poun d depict s dissatisfac tion as an engine for growth . In the United States , especially in the earl y twentieth century , som e o f th e dissatisfactio n wa s a democratic resis tance t o contro l o f court s b y conservativ e interests . Pound' s wor k i s i n part a response t o those forces , which , lik e the refor m orientation s dis cussed earlie r i n thi s chapter , me t redistributiv e demand s wit h institu tional refinements . Pound present s a picture o f th e court s a s overburdene d an d ineffi cient, on e that i s still with u s today. Initially, i t was not simpl y the flood of case s tha t bothere d Pound , bu t rathe r ho w the y wer e handled . According t o Pound, the court syste m in the United State s needed atten tion i n thre e differen t respects : multipl e courts , concurren t jurisdic tions, an d a waste o f judicial manpower . Commentator s not e tha t thi s system o f classificatio n reflecte d hi s botanist' s trainin g an d wa s a styl e Pound woul d emplo y throughou t hi s scholarship. 46 Poun d denounce s the "mechanical " operation s o f the law , foreshadowing th e mechanica l jurisprudence tha t wa s t o becom e suc h a n importan t foi l fo r realism , which suggest s link s rathe r tha n stron g division s betwee n Poun d an d the realists. While th e detail s o f Pound's perspectiv e ge t lost i n history , th e imag e of an overburdened cour t syste m persists. This image of the legal syste m seems t o b e a s enduring a s Alexis d e Tocqueville's dictu m tha t every thing i n Americ a inevitabl y end s u p i n litigation . Poun d spok e i n a language that appear s remarkably fresh : Judicial power may be wasted . . . b y rigid district s or courts or jurisdictions, s o that busines s ma y b e congeste d i n on e cour t whil e judges i n another are idle. Uncertainty, delay and expense, and above all, the injustice of deciding cases upon points of practice—have create d a deep-seated desir e to keep out of court, right or wrong, on the part of every sensible business man in the community. Indeed, th e freshnes s o f Pound' s word s i s as much a function o f th e success of the movement attache d t o this position as it is to the speaker' s ability t o anticipate development s i n th e law . In layin g a foundation fo r the contemporar y "litigatio n crisis " mentality , a s well a s for informal ism, thi s pictur e i s amon g th e mos t compellin g depictin g America n courts. Yet, excep t i n th e broa d sense , i t i s not entirel y clea r ho w la w

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reform an d th e critiqu e o f the administratio n o f justice become s a foun dation fo r th e AD R movement . One of the particularly creativ e parts of Pound's speech condemn s "th e sporting theor y o f justice/' i n which lawyer s tend t o seek privat e advan tage instead o f searching fo r trut h an d justice: "Wit h th e passin g o f th e doctrine that politics, too, is a mere game to be played for its own sake, we may look forward confidentl y t o deliveranc e from th e sportin g theor y o f justice/' Thi s depictio n wa s ultimately embedde d i n realism through th e work of Jerome Frank in Courts on Trial. The depiction of the fight-for-itsown-sake o r empty-contes t aspec t o f th e America n syste m becam e th e basis for informal alternative s suc h as mediation and arbitration .

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The legacy o f Pound's speec h i s important fo r understandin g th e con temporary AD R movement , includin g it s relatio n t o ideologica l move ments in law like realism and contemporar y critica l perspectives, a s well as its links to reform movement s o f the past. The speech i s still availabl e in pamphle t for m fro m th e America n Judicatur e Societ y o f Chicago , a group tha t trace s it s formation i n 191 3 to the speech . And , accordin g t o John Wigmore , i t wa s "th e spar k tha t kindle d th e whit e flame o f progress."47 Althoug h no t initiall y a s enthusiastically received— a reso lution a t th e conferenc e callin g fo r mas s printin g o f th e speec h wa s defeated—it i s a n ico n o f cour t reform . Wigmore , wh o observe d th e speech, wa s a dea n a t Northwester n Universit y La w School , an d h e brought Poun d t o Evanston , a major ste p i n Pound' s journey fro m th e frontier t o the citade l of legal power . In 1976 , the National Conference o n the Causes of Popular Dissatisfac tion wit h th e Administratio n o f Justice was held a t St . Paul, Minnesota , in the sam e hall where Poun d ha d initiall y spoke n sevent y year s before . The conference , whos e titl e echoe d Pound' s speech , cam e durin g a time when th e bicentennia l o f th e Declaratio n o f Independenc e ha d gener ated a rhetoric o f renewal. The keynote address was given b y then Chie f Justice Burger , wh o applaude d Pound' s effor t "t o brin g rationalit y an d order t o the economi c an d socia l chao s cause d b y th e industria l revolu tion, b y th e subsequen t growt h o f our citie s and b y th e wave s of immigration." 48 The conferenc e sough t t o mobiliz e th e leadershi p o f the ba r and th e judiciary, an d i t i s a key sourc e o f interes t i n th e ideolog y o f informalism. Sponsor s included th e America n Ba r Association, th e Con ference o f Chie f Justices , an d th e Judicia l Conferenc e o f th e Unite d States. Proceeding s wer e publishe d i n Federal Rules Decisions, th e official federa l agenc y publication. 49

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Burger's keynote , title d "Agend a fo r 200 0 A.D., " include d a cal l fo r reform i n the directio n o f ADR . Amid a n extraordinar y numbe r o f refer ences t o Pound' s speech , Burge r emphasize d th e nee d fo r fundamenta l change. N o minor tinkering , a s Pound ha d initiall y pointe d out , woul d do.50 Change was important t o the Chief Justice, though on e had to admit that he was a quite solidly situated baro n of the bar. Changes in legal practice would b e the necessary response to other massive changes the countr y would b e facing. Burge r looked to institutional structure s as a way to measure the success and health of the official normativ e order. The AB A helped found th e National Center for Stat e Courts. Lawyers and judges formed th e American Judicatur e Society , i n part , a s a response t o Pound' s speech . They also created th e Judicial Conference o f the United States , the American Law Institute, an d th e Institute o f Judicial Administration, eac h wit h an interest in professional refor m throug h institutiona l change . Expansio n of the federal judiciary i s one of the keys to institutional reform suggeste d by Burger , bu t th e structura l elemen t o f Burger's presentation i s also reflected in the AD R movement. In the guise of alternative institutions, whic h despite their name take the establishment of law-related programs as a measure of their success, ADR is a largely a lawyer's movement. Another concer n Burge r borrowe d fro m Poun d an d th e progressive s and mad e t o wor k i n th e interes t o f th e judicia l establishmen t wa s efficiency. Althoug h no t "a n en d i n itself, " sai d Burger , efficienc y "ha s as its objective th e ver y purpos e o f the whol e system—t o d o justice."51 Small litigants , h e said , "ar e ofte n exploite d b y th e litigan t wit h th e longest purse " wh o ca n us e dela y t o hi s advantage . Bu t th e smal l guy , especially i f h e ha s bee n judge d guilt y o r condemne d t o die , i s les s salient i n th e argumen t whe n th e issu e o f efficienc y i s taken t o bea r o n appeals and th e jury system . In anticipating th e charg e that th e conferenc e wa s stacked i n favo r o f those wh o woul d reduc e acces s to courts , Burge r cite d a s the firs t o f hi s fundamental change s th e nee d t o fin d way s to "resolv e mino r dispute s more fairly an d mor e swiftly tha n any present judicial mechanisms mak e possible."52 Lawyers are not feasibl e fo r man y mino r o r smal l claim s like "shoddy merchandis e . . . o r a poor roofin g job, " an d Burge r suggest s that nonlawyer s migh t b e brough t i n fo r neighborhoo d o r communit y disputes. Similarly, Burger added, "I t is time to explore new ways to deal with suc h famil y problem s a s marriage, chil d custod y an d adoptions " outside wha t h e calle d "th e formalit y an d potentiall y traumati c atmos phere of courts."

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There i s n o indicatio n tha t participant s a t th e conferenc e wer e uncomfortable wit h th e teno r o f this critiqu e o f law, even thoug h mos t were lawyers. The demand fo r chang e was a central part o f the program , and ther e wa s little that criticize d th e wa y thi s chang e was suppose d t o develop. Onl y Simo n Rifkin d an d Laur a Nade r decrie d th e absenc e o f talk o f rights an d charge d tha t th e conferenc e sough t t o clos e access t o the courts . Bu t Burge r ha d anticipate d thei r concern s i n hi s expresse d desire fo r "th e speedies t an d th e leas t expensiv e mean s o f meetin g th e legitimate need s o f the peopl e i n resolvin g disputes/ ' Burge r thu s pre sented informa l mechanism s as an alternative to court congestion , a classic argumen t o f remedia l practic e advocates . Th e orientatio n o f th e gathering wa s at leas t i n par t a n expressio n o f preference fo r a differen t style of politics with clea r clas s implications. During th e 197 6 conference, Fran k Sander , wh o wa s to becom e a key activist i n th e AD R movement , dre w image s from a n academi c pas t i n a talk title d "Varietie s o f Disput e Processing." 53 Althoug h lat e i n th e movement, b y compariso n t o Pound' s progressive-perio d oration , thi s presentation cam e as organized interest s were arrayed aroun d ne w insti tutions championin g alternativ e way s o f resolving disputes . Informal ism had rise n to significance a s an instrument o f liberal reform . 94

Family Mediatio n Alternative s Juvenile court s ste m fro m th e progressiv e period , a s d o domesti c rela tions o r family courts . The first domesti c relation s cour t wa s establishe d in Buffal o upo n th e recommendatio n o f the Ne w York Stat e Probatio n Commission i n 1910 . Built on the sam e model as the juvenile court , wit h its emphasis o n socia l justice ove r du e proces s an d it s paternalistic con ception o f th e relationshi p betwee n th e stat e an d th e defendant , th e New York court deal t wit h case s of wife abandonment , illegitimacy , fail ure t o support , offense s agains t minors , an d custod y disputes. 54 A t th e height o f th e contemporar y informalis t movement , activist s targete d family-related disputes , alon g wit h consumer , environmental , an d busi ness disputes, a s objects o f reform. 55 Robert Mnooki n an d Lewi s Kornhauser , la w professor s wh o wer e early supporter s o f th e AD R movemen t i n famil y situations , describ e informalism i n th e are a o f domesti c relation s a s "a n alternativ e wa y o f thinking abou t th e rol e o f la w a t th e tim e o f divorce." 56 Rathe r tha n viewing la w a s "imposin g orde r fro m above, " the y se e mediatio n "a s

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providing a framework withi n whic h divorcin g couple s ca n themselve s determine thei r post-dissolutio n right s an d responsibilities/ ' Th e acade mic foundation fo r movin g fro m court s t o informal appendage s wa s th e belief tha t mediatio n woul d lea d t o a for m o f "privat e ordering/ ' o r what Lo n Fulle r calle d th e "law " tha t partie s brin g int o existenc e b y agreement.57 While the medi a broadene d suppor t fo r AD R i n the form o f dramatic presentation s o f law' s failure , suc h a s th e popula r movi e Kramer vs. Kramer with Dustin Hoffman an d Mery l Streep, a community of attentive an d intereste d professional s cam e increasingly t o represen t an institutionalized forc e fo r informalis m withi n th e law. Sander's Jun e 198 2 keynote addres s a t th e Firs t AB A Conferenc e o n Alternative Mean s o f Family Disput e Resolution , title d "Famil y Media tion: Problem s an d Prospects," 58 provides a basis for analyzin g th e dis course o f informalism. Sande r ha d chaire d th e ABA' S Special Committe e on Disput e Resolutio n an d helpe d t o organiz e th e conference , whic h took plac e in Washington, D.C. , and wa s funded b y th e ba r associatio n and variou s foundations . I t als o receive d suppor t an d programmati c assistance fro m newl y establishe d group s lik e NIDR , funde d b y the For d and th e Willia m an d Flor a Hewlet t foundation . Sander' s address , wit h its specific concer n for famil y mediation , i s a good example of movemen t discourse. I t epitomize s a focus o n remedia l actio n a s it i s structured b y a view o f the legal system . The most obviou s aspec t o f Sander's discussio n o f "alternatives " i s its disputes focus . I t is infused wit h a discursive practic e familia r largel y t o lawyers an d thos e wh o ar e aroun d court s o r wh o defin e themselve s i n terms o f lawyers an d courts . I t i s not tha t th e la w i s the onl y plac e w e find dispute s o r that dispute s inevitabl y lea d t o legal issues, bu t rathe r that disputin g i s a term of art for a particular movement . Dispute s are the social reality o n which thi s form o f law is based. A s it is used b y Sander , the dispute s paradigm i s a practice for th e movement. The movement ha s built a structure o f understandings tha t transfor m a social phenomenon , disputes, into a highly organize d aspec t of political culture . Sander pay s homag e to Fuller a s a legal theorist intereste d i n alterna tives, an d h e play s dow n th e issue s o f cour t congestio n tha t Burge r introduced a s th e basi s fo r hi s interes t i n alternative s t o court . Th e "problem" addresse d b y th e movemen t i s grounded i n anthropologica l research an d communit y relations . Sande r present s "report s fro m th e field" i n th e for m o f commentar y fro m "litigators. " Hi s searc h i s for a better way , and h e interposes the skil l of the intermediary a s a new pat h

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away fro m th e "donnybrook " towar d "civilization. " Sande r link s th e ADR movemen t t o th e famil y environmen t i n term s o f characteristic s t o which informa l processe s are addressed, suc h a s intensity o f feeling an d the existence o f continuing relations . The inevitability o f dispute s demand s a n institutiona l response . Con sequently, a characteristic o f Sander' s speec h i s its heavil y procedura l and institutiona l orientation . Althoug h i t deal s with conflic t i n the fam ily, its real detail and its passion are linked to the various forms for chan neling th e dispute s rather tha n th e substanc e o f the conflict . Th e listin g of institutiona l form s i s impressive . Jus t i n term s o f thos e linke d t o courts, Sande r list s "smal l claim s mediation, court-annexe d arbitratio n for routin e middle-size d claims , medica l malpractic e screenin g tri bunals, an d th e mini-tria l use d i n larg e and comple x litigation/' 59 Thi s attention t o institution s an d th e separatio n o f process fro m substance , though no t uniqu e t o th e lega l profession , i s a skill mor e finely hone d among lawyers than amon g mos t o f the citizenry . At a more superficial level , the authority fo r the discussion clearly lies in the legal profession. Th e author i s a Harvard professor , th e bibliogra phy i s overwhelmingly fro m la w review s o r abou t law , th e authoritie s from who m Sande r draw s hi s materia l ar e eithe r i n la w o r par t o f th e growing paraprofessiona l communit y i n disput e resolution . Thi s com munity relie s heavil y o n th e institution s o f th e law , particularl y la w reviews, bu t i t approaches th e materia l fro m th e concern s o f often criti cal social research. This symbiosis has been essential to the emergence of the AD R movement . Th e academi c communit y cam e out i n forc e i n th e late 1980 s to revie w th e boo k Dispute Resolution b y Stephe n B . Goldberg, Eric D. Green, and Sander. 60 Such closel y linke d network s pursuin g share d goal s ar e amon g th e most important consideration s fo r ensurin g tha t remedia l practice s suc h as the dispute s focus an d th e substantive/procedural spli t are carried b y a political movement . Share d practice s associate d wit h th e lega l profes sion identif y la w as a problem an d offe r th e informa l alternativ e a s par t of a strategy wit h significan t consequence s fo r ho w powe r i s wielded i n the Unite d States . The Third Nationa l Conferenc e o n Peacemakin g an d Conflict Resolutio n in 198 6 carried a n impressive list of supporting orga nizations, heade d b y th e William an d Flor a Hewlet t Foundation. 61 Eve n greater evidenc e o f links with th e law can b e found i n the SPID R confer ence held i n Ne w York City in 1987 , where th e openin g plenar y sessio n was addresse d b y Margare t Shaw , directo r o f the Institut e o f Judicia l

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Administration, an d Pete r S . Adler, directo r o f the Progra m o n Alterna tive Disput e Resolution , Hawai i Stat e Judiciary . Bot h o f these confer ences include d session s o n famil y mediatio n an d "issues " session s devoted t o th e family . Onl y a fe w year s afte r Sander' s cal l fo r famil y mediation, however , th e famil y a s a center o f mediation practic e seeme d to be in decline . Critics o f informalism i n th e famil y mediatio n are a hav e bee n amon g the mos t voca l i n oppositio n t o th e remedia l orientation . I n a n essa y i n the New York Times, 62 Lenor e J . Weitzman, Herber t Jacob , an d Mar y Ann Glendo n argue d tha t wome n far e wors e unde r no-faul t divorce . Their essay dre w responses from practicin g lawyer s who argued tha t th e process o f divorce , lik e crimina l prosecution , goe s to tria l les s than 1 0 percent o f the time . The Natioanl Organizatio n fo r Wome n (NOW ) Lega l Defense an d Educatio n Fund' s 198 4 pamphlet "Divorc e Mediation : A Guide for Women " ha s a more extensiv e treatmen t o f the subject . Writ ten b y attorney s Judit h Avner , fro m th e Famil y La w Project, an d Susa n Herman, fro m th e Institut e fo r Mediatio n an d Conflic t Resolution , th e work contend s tha t feminist s nee d t o respond t o the growt h o f informa l alternatives. The NO W pamphle t begin s wit h a cautio n tha t divorc e mediatio n should b e carefull y examine d an d scrutinize d becaus e th e woma n i s often th e mor e vulnerabl e partne r i n a divorce. The author s war n tha t "subtle prejudices " suc h a s economi c dependenc y an d th e desir e t o avoid conflict , whic h ofte n relegat e wome n t o a n inferio r status , ma y hurt a woman i n the mediation process . Stressing that divorc e mediatio n is a voluntar y process , th e author s als o distinguis h i t fro m goin g t o court o n th e basi s o f it s lac k o f formality . Som e states , lik e California , mandate mediatio n i n case s o f divorce ; others , lik e Massachusetts , encourage the partie s to work wit h cour t officer s t o try an d resolv e diff erences prio r t o going befor e a judge. Usin g a question-and-answer for mat, th e pamphle t lead s wome n throug h th e possibilities , concludin g with th e propositio n tha t th e appropriatenes s o f mediation depend s o n each woman's situation . At abou t th e sam e time that th e NO W pamphle t appeared , th e Famil y Law Projec t o f th e Universit y o f Michiga n La w Schoo l offere d th e fol lowing concern s t o th e participant s a t a Conferenc e o n Wome n an d Mediation a t New York University: (1 ) the parties shoul d b e of relativel y equal bargaining powe r for mediation t o be desirable; (2) because wome n "feel greate r responsibilit y fo r th e qualit y an d succes s o f a relationshi p

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and famil y life/ ' the y migh t b e misinterpreted a s blameworthy; an d (3 ) women feeling th e threat to custody of children may be willing to bargai n away nearly everything else in the interest of maintaining a position as the primary caregiver . These caveats shift t o dire warnings where there is violence in the family. They reflect th e view, which becam e more common in the mid-1980s , that wher e there is violence in a relationship mediatio n i s inappropriate. Th e authors hol d tha t "[mjediatio n provide s n o deterren t to the assailan t an d eve n give s hi m a protected righ t t o spea k hi s min d about hi s wife, wh o becaus e o f the peculia r characteristic s o f victimiza tion, will often agre e with him when he enumerates her many failings/' 63 In thi s critique , informalis m collide s wit h feminism . I t i s a clash tha t seems inevitable, considerin g th e absenc e o f attention t o feminist issue s in document s lik e Sander's speech. 64 By 198 7 cautions were being raise d about th e extensio n o f mediation int o family disputes, 65 and b y th e en d of the decad e the warnings ha d becom e a chorus. 66 A relatively enthusi astic movemen t discours e gav e way to the mor e guarded produc t o f th e political proces s an d th e rar e academi c critiqu e becam e th e norm . Pos ner's consideratio n o f family la w and th e application o f economic analy sis t o famil y relation s link s famil y mediatio n directl y t o academi c thinking, an d suggest s la w an d economic s a s a rehabilitativ e frame work. 67 I conclud e th e treatmen t o f informalis m wit h mor e materia l links betwee n th e movement an d the academy .

Difference an d th e Stat e A facad e o f folks y informalit y an d therapeuti c convictio n mask s th e institutional structure s supportin g informalis m an d make s i t difficul t t o assess transformation s i n th e natur e o f law . Here , th e la w tha t look s accessible, human , therapeutic , eve n friendly , i s produced b y peopl e well situated withi n th e state . Informalists als o mix informality wit h th e language o f socia l science , whic h give s thei r presentation s a comple x passivity. To quote the negotiator Howar d Bellma n again: "Now i t seem s to me that we can end this with som e sort of a bundle o f input that al l of you ma y o r ma y no t full y lik e . . . but hopefull y i s a consensus a s ini tially defined/' 68 Th e terms "bundl e o f input" an d "consensus " emerg e as nontechnical terms of art that help defin e a separate practice and situ ate it in opposition t o traditional lega l practice. In discussin g remedia l practice s i n la w I have draw n o n element s o f social relations i n orde r t o sugges t som e of the distinctiv e interest s w e

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need t o take accoun t o f in orde r t o understand informalism . Thes e rela tions, a s well as some analytic similarities , hav e linked informalis m an d remedial practices to realism. In this section, I expand my analysis to indicate some of the implication s o f this movemen t fo r variou s arm s of stat e power. In particular, th e expansion of a form o f power in which efficienc y is more salient tha n justice an d remedie s mor e highly prize d tha n right s portends a legal form that construct s claimant s out of citizens. Remedial practices exist in communities, where they provid e the legal forms tha t ar e the modern manifestatio n o f state power. Three aspects of state contro l a s social practic e deserv e not e i n thi s context . Th e firs t i s direct corporat e sponsorshi p an d it s correlat e th e variou s indirec t attachments characteristi c o f the Harvar d Progra m o n Negotiatio n an d its would-b e competitors . Th e secon d i s foundation support , whic h i s sometimes a n aspec t o f indirect attachments , bu t als o exists o n it s ow n as part o f the cultura l environmen t i n whic h remedia l practice s thriv e (e.g., NID R an d it s substantia l For d Foundatio n support) . Third , i n th e only slightl y remove d aren a o f the academy , ther e i s the lif e o f institu tions, careers , and professiona l relationship s tha t facilitat e thi s aspect of informalism. In orde r t o illuminat e th e relationshi p betwee n institution s an d th e professions, w e ca n tur n t o on e o f th e mos t articulat e practitioner s o f sociological researc h i n la w an d a n earl y advocat e fo r informa l justice , Joel Handler o f the Universit y o f Californi a a t Lo s Angeles La w School . In his boo k The Conditions of Discretion: Autonomy, Community, Bureaucracy,69 Handle r employ s contemporar y la w an d societ y research , a movement deepl y entangle d wit h th e la w refor m enterpris e i n genera l and informalis m i n particular . Hi s wor k i s particularly attentiv e t o th e administration o f welfare, an d i n his role as consultant t o the Ford Foun dation in the 1970 s he was one of the most effective America n academic s in establishing foundatio n suppor t fo r ADR . In a 1988 article, Handler build s a new conceptio n o f legal power o n a critique of liberalism, focusing o n the consequence o f law for dependen t people.70 He initiates his discussion o f informal justice with "th e specte r of a litigation crisis " and th e call s for "mechanisms , suc h a s communit y boards, neighborhoo d justic e centers , mediation , an d arbitration , tha t would process disputes outside of or alternative to formal procedures/' 71 Handler describe s informalis m a s a response t o tw o impulses : on e i s a critique of professionalism fro m th e left i n the 1960s , and th e other i s an establishment desir e o n the par t o f Chief Justic e Burger , larg e law firms,

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insurance companies , an d th e AB A t o clea r docket s an d decid e claim s "more efficiently, quickly , an d cheaply/ ' This polarity migh t giv e a careful observe r pause , and Handle r expresse s the "seriou s concer n tha t th e disadvantaged wil l suffe r eve n mor e under regime s o f informal justice " than the y ha d unde r th e much-maligne d forma l processes. 72 H e call s attention t o the recor d o f failure fo r informa l justice i n juvenile courts , small claim s courts , an d housin g courts, 73 th e inabilit y o f informa l mechanisms t o addres s th e problem s o f maldistributio n i n th e socia l structure tha t manifes t themselve s i n any dispute . Then, i n a style observers o f the AD R movemen t hav e become familia r with, h e goe s o n t o elaborat e th e alternativ e proces s a s havin g ne w wrinkles, a new informalism , mor e appealin g tha n before. 74 Accordin g to this assessment , informalis m ma y allo w th e partie s t o "connec t wit h each othe r i n mor e humanisti c way s tha n i n th e forma l system, " an d there i s the possibilit y tha t "th e qualit y o f participation wil l approac h dialogism."75 A s members o f a law-school-based movemen t wit h a solid antilogical and antiempirical attachment , informalis t theorist s are able to operate fro m contradictor y position s a s if thi s wa s a virtue. And , lik e law, informalism denie s it s sociologica l determinants , it s clas s or ethno graphic roots. 76 100

The informalist movement' s materia l basi s involves a telling conjunc tion o f financial interest , careerism , an d the intellectual fashio n tha t dri ves foundation decisions . The NID R wa s se t u p i n th e 1970 s with fund s from th e For d Foundatio n an d receive d substantia l suppor t fo r th e nex t twenty years . Its apparatu s i s actively involve d i n professiona l associa tions suc h a s the unaffiliate d La w and Societ y Associatio n an d th e mor e guild-associated America n Ba r Foundation. I n its academic attachments , NIDR commission s research drawin g attentio n t o the issues as movement operatives woul d hav e them discussed . I n th e etiquett e o f the contem porary academy , th e conclusion s canno t b e stipulated , bu t i t remain s perfectly acceptabl e to se t the research agend a an d creat e the settin g fo r its presentation . The Fun d fo r Researc h o n Disput e Resolutio n wa s administere d b y NIDR unde r a separate boar d chaire d b y Sanfor d Jaff e an d wit h Handle r and Felic e Levine , long-tim e directo r o f th e Nationa l Scienc e Founda tion's La w and Societ y Program , a s members. The fund operate d o n th e edge o f th e academy , drawin g interes t i n it s agend a wit h a budge t o f nearly $ 2 million. Recen t grant s fue l th e AD R movemen t an d provid e a form i n which academic s may cast their wor k i n order t o get funding .

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In the Harvard Progra m o n Negotiation, th e hom e bas e of such move ment figures a s Roger Fisher , Sander , an d Lawrenc e Susskind , w e hav e the mor e fully develope d corporat e influenc e ove r knowledg e lon g bar gained an d manage d i n privat e universities . Th e primar y mechanism s are consultin g an d a special institutional relationshi p i n whic h th e tim e of university facult y i s directly purchase d b y corporat e patrons . Here , the setting is either the corporation itsel f or the ivy-covered wall s where traditional bastion s o f gentry academicians , lik e th e Harvar d Facult y Club, may b e rented ou t t o corporat e visitors , wh o pa y fo r th e statu s o f dining ther e under th e auspices of the Program o n Negotiation . On the othe r side , i t i s hard no t t o see institutional aspect s o f Owe n Fiss's comment i n th e Yale Law Journal, "Agains t Settlement." 77 Fis s is a leading advocat e of proceduralism, a n alternative to informalism, an d hi s work i s institutionall y base d i n th e scholarshi p an d form s associate d with a particula r la w school . Perhap s no t coincidentally , th e articl e begins as a critique of a report b y the Harvard Overseer s and Dere k Bok's call fo r attentio n t o "th e ne w voluntar y mechanisms/' 78 Linkin g th e movement t o development s centra l t o informalism a s a very successfu l movement i n law , suc h a s well-funded institutes , section s o f the ABA , and new rules of civil procedure, Fiss holds that the received "accoun t o f adjudication an d the case for settlemen t rest on questionable premises/' 79 In suc h a context o f knowledg e productio n i t make s littl e sens e t o characterize th e stat e a s in oppositio n t o economi c interests . The stat e and th e economy , i n relations like the section s o f the AB A o r foundatio n grants t o academics , an d throug h th e developmen t o f th e ideologica l practice o f remedy an d informalis m i n law , becom e mutuall y constitu tive. I n muc h th e sam e sens e a s some o f the analytica l possibilitie s dis cussed i n the openin g chapte r o n lega l form, w e have the interminglin g described b y Sall y Fal k Moor e an d th e "interlegality " a t th e cor e o f Boaventura d e Sousa Santos' s cartographi c analysi s o f the contemporar y state o f th e law . Santo s draw s attentio n t o "differen t lega l space s [as ] non-synchronic," resultin g i n "uneve n an d unstabl e mixing s o f lega l codes."80 These code s reach i n an d ou t i n cultura l spac e and resonat e a s layers o f meaning throug h whic h legalit y present s itself . The resultin g fragmentation, note d b y bot h Stuar t Macaulay 81 an d Santos, 82 become s anything bu t chaotic . In the guise of the informalism examine d here , th e practices tha t manifes t themselve s a s a remedial syste m significantl y dull th e capacit y o f la w t o b e wielde d agains t th e interest s o f thos e i t constitutes, howeve r imperceptibly. 83

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What Harringto n an d Merr y hav e calle d "ideologica l production/ ' and wha t Cai n and Kulcsa r identif y a s the reasons for th e growth o f thi s movement, amoun t t o a complex socia l an d intellectua l configuratio n that mask s th e interest s serve d b y th e movement , an d i n thi s cas e it s links t o the institutiona l apparatu s fro m whic h i t putativel y set s itsel f apart. Th e economic suppor t an d elit e enthusias m tha t fue l informalis m obviously com e from it s attractions. Informalism fit s nicely into the pen etrating moder n mechanism s o f socia l contro l uncovere d i n al l thei r postmodern ambiguit y an d seemin g innocuousness a s against the bruta l past b y scholar s such a s Michel Foucault, Dari o Melossi, and Davi d Gar land. 84 And, a s is characteristic of all the movements discusse d a s part of law's politics , informalis m i s essentially a legal form. Informalis m crie s for remedies , for peacemaker s and conciliators , who provide a somewhat romanticized analo g to the traditional institutions o f lawyers and courts . In addition , i t construct s th e lega l formalis m o f "qualitativ e inter changeability" 85 i n whic h disputants , lik e voter s an d consumers , become atomize d i n a syste m tha t provide s fo r the m bu t whic h the y cannot escape .

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The informalis t movement , base d i n th e state' s institutions , extend s the reac h o f th e la w b y drawin g o n a conceptio n o f it s inefficac y an d limits. In so doing, it provides microcosmic evidence o f the constructio n of family an d personalit y b y law . Here, the ultrarealis m o f the remedia l form commodifie s husband s an d wives , landlords an d tenant s int o par ties t o disputes . Th e family, 86 th e schools, 8"7 an d th e socia l welfar e bureaucracy,88 al l major instrument s o f indoctrination t o public norms , have eithe r embrace d o r bee n depicte d a s embracing th e idea l o f a system fo r resolvin g disputes . The movemen t work s throug h conventiona l institutions, wher e peopl e ca n lear n th e specific s o f appropriate degree s of conformit y an d th e propriet y o f peace . Th e ultimat e powe r o f th e state ove r th e demand s place d upo n it s bureaucrati c shoulder s i s in th e construction o f deman d i n relatio n t o thes e institutions . Institutin g a new therapeutic discourse , an d thu s allowing expert s to interpret need s in a fashion tha t function s a s the old institutions did , i s the characteris tic contribution o f informalism. 89

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Chapter5

Misogyny i s real. Rap e is real. Economi c discrimination i s real . The devaluatio n o f anything femal e i s real. The sexis m tha t define s sex a s intercours e (only) an d define s intercourse a s the mal e organ (only ) i s real . —Andrea Dworkin , "Pornography: Th e Ne w Terrorism"

oming fro m Englan d t o Americ a in th e seventeent h centur y mus t have take n considerabl e motivation , but th e me n an d wome n wh o mad e the voyag e coul d stan d t o liv e wit h their countryme n n o longer . Thes e were intens e people , perhap s eve n angry people . However , thei r ange r must hav e bee n largel y focuse d o n religious institution s becaus e th e political an d lega l institution s the y set u p i n Americ a dre w muc h fro m their Englis h experience . The law s of England, th e courts , an d th e lawyer s came t o dominat e th e Ne w World . They woul d als o becom e th e subjec t of resistance. From imperial expansio n against Nativ e Americans , throug h the struggle s tha t unite d th e natio n and eliminate d slavery , t o moder n social movements , Englis h institu tions have been subjecte d t o attack . Sometimes thes e attack s hav e bee n accompanied b y arme d struggle : Native America n resistance ; the Rev olution itself ; the Civi l War; the radi cal labo r movement ; th e Weathe r Underground o f the earl y 1970s . Al l of these movements took u p arms and wielded the m wit h a n intensit y bor n of th e perceptio n tha t ther e wa s n o alternative. I n othe r movements , thi s 103

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intensity ha s been carrie d forwar d b y political means. Outrage and radi calism taking for m i n a struggle agains t law are the subjec t o f this chap ter. As in the other discussions , m y focus i s on the constitutiv e functio n of law . Here th e constitutiv e dimensio n i s in form s tha t stan d i n nea r total oppositio n t o th e hegemon y tha t la w appear s t o require . I n th e early feminis t movemen t agains t pornography , fro m whic h muc h o f th e material in this chapte r i s drawn, bu t als o in the antiabortion movemen t and i n histori c struggle s lik e the on e ove r slavery , ther e i s more at stak e than simpl y havin g th e movemen t circumscribe d b y th e word s o f th e master.1 Catharine MacKinno n situate s the rag e o f radical feminis m i n the cri tique of liberalism: "Libera l morality canno t dea l with illusions that constitute realit y becaus e its theory o f reality, lacking a substantive critiqu e of th e distributio n o f socia l power , canno t ge t behin d th e empirica l world/' 2 Th e lega l form examine d here , radicalism , ha s a social expres sion in the rage of its participants. It also takes differentiatio n a s far a s it can go . Radical tradition s ar e one s o f nearl y complet e resistance . Th e form varie s from arme d resistanc e throug h disruptio n t o vandalism an d disobedience. Th e characteristi c i n eac h cas e is an antipath y t o the sys tem tha t result s i n an d i s subsequently supporte d b y a blockage o f dis cursive flow. Without th e renewa l o f discours e ther e i s an estrangemen t that reache s to the cor e of law's claim to be authoritative .

Consciousness Risin g Perhaps th e epitom e o f outrag e towar d la w derive s fro m abolitionism , the early nineteenth-century struggl e agains t slavery . In this movement , leaders lik e Frederic k Douglass , th e blac k autho r an d activist , Willia m Lloyd Garrison , publishe r o f The Liberator, and Joh n Brown , the radica l abolitionist o f Harper's Ferry , carrie d outrag e int o politica l practice . I n the visag e o f Joh n Brown , especiall y i n th e vie w o f hi m w e ge t fro m Thomas Har t Benton' s imagis t portrait , w e hav e a n America n enraged . The resul t i s the politica l mobilizatio n o f anger. O f Brown's radicalism , which histor y ha s refused t o separat e fro m hi s rage, Frederick Douglas s wrote: "H e denounce d slaver y i n loo k an d languag e fierce an d bitter ; thought tha t slaveholder s had forfeite d thei r right to live; that the slave s had the right to gain their liberty in any way they could ; di d not believ e that mora l suasio n woul d eve r liberat e th e slave , or that politica l actio n would abolis h th e system." 3 Brown' s rai d o n th e federa l arsena l a t

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Harper's Ferry falls somewhere betwee n the armed resistance of the Civil War itself, whic h b y th e convention s o f politics w e ascribe anothe r sta tus, an d th e political activity o f legal reform . In politics , wher e th e distributio n o f power (bot h activ e and passive ) is the subject , consciousnes s i s a precondition. Spoke n o f most broadly , to b e conscious—or eve n unconscious—i s t o b e in som e mental stat e i n relation t o others . The women' s movemen t traditionall y ha s focused o n consciousness. A s noninstrumental awarenes s o r denial , consciousnes s is about the forms o f politics rather tha n withi n them . Like the courtla of southern Africa n triba l life, i n which th e entire tribe discusse s a subjec t until i t ha s bee n discusse d enough, 4 outcome s ar e affected discursively . Recent scholarshi p point s ou t ho w discursiv e practice s operat e i n ideo logical struggle s wher e the y ar e no t transformative . I n contemporar y thought, th e bod y a s metaphor i n politics has been the subject o f a good deal of work b y women. 5 Mos t dramatically , th e politic s o f abortion ha s made th e bod y it s subject ; i t ha s redefine d wh o an d wha t i s inside o r outside, an d wha t i s on its own . Cruelty is implicit i n domination , a s Kate Millett's compelling conclu sions on sexua l politics demonstrate . He r ai m is at the tendenc y o f eve n the mos t traumatic socia l relations t o mask th e forc e behin d them . Mil lett calls our attention to the fact that "[w]he n a system of power is thoroughly i n command , i t has scarcel y nee d t o spea k itsel f aloud ; whe n it s workings ar e expose d an d questioned , i t become s no t onl y subjec t t o discussion, bu t eve n to change/' 6 The link betwee n rag e and socia l relations i s so embedded i n la w an d system s o f power tha t i t i s hard t o pu t in words, yet it is an essential qualit y o f the radical legal form. 7 Consciousness-raising i s no t abou t confrontatio n wit h th e obviou s and widel y accepted . Tha t is , it is not th e "ordinary " respons e i n a system tha t operate s hegemonically . Altere d consciousnes s o r ideolog y is , in fact , counterhegemonic . I t counter s tha t whic h dominate s becaus e i t comes from seein g th e obviou s i n th e no t widel y accepted . Thus , con sciousness i s linke d wit h rage , a s capture d i n thi s 197 8 statemen t b y Andrea Dworkin : "Th e oppressor . . . i s the maste r invento r o f justification. H e i s th e magicia n who , ou t o f thi n air , fabricate s wondrous , imposing, seemingl y irrefutabl e intellectua l reason s whic h explai n wh y one group must b e degrade d a t the hands o f another." 8 Fo r radical femi nists opposed t o pornography, th e stat e and la w are not see n a s "o n ou r side."9 Neither, o f course, are law and the stat e instruments viewe d wit h the liberal' s ambivalence , a position t o b e explored i n thi s chapter . La w

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is the enemy. Dworkin's was one of the earliest statements in the moder n attack o n violen t pornography , an d i t demonstrate s th e "outgroup " quality o f the socia l relations characteristic o f this movement. 10 The literatur e o n socia l movement s fro m Seymou r Marti n Lipse t t o Michael Walzer 11 classifie s advocac y o f fundamental chang e a s ideologically extrem e rathe r tha n emotionall y intense . I n thi s tradition , a spectrum o f politica l orientation s i s arrayed a s if reflectin g th e positio n o f the bod y in space. Susan Sontag has illuminated thi s spatial relation an d called attention t o its links with repression : Take, for instance, a tenacious metaphor that has shaped (an d obscure d the understanding of ) so much of the political life of this century, the one that distributes , and polarizes, attitudes and social movements according to their relation to a "left" an d a "right." . . . I t seems . . . that its persistence in discourse about politics to this day comes from a felt aptnes s to the modern, secular imagination of metaphors drawn from the body's orientation i n space—lef t an d right , to p an d bottom , forwar d an d back ward—for describin g socia l conflict, a metaphoric practice that di d add something new to the perennial description of society as a kind of body, a well-disciplined body ruled by a "head."12

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This metapho r ha s bee n dominan t fo r th e polit y sinc e Plato and Aristo tle. Thi s is , as Sonta g point s out , "perhap s becaus e o f its usefulnes s i n justifying repression/' 13 No t th e leas t reaso n fo r thi s i s its capacit y t o delineate politics as a constrained real m of the possible . In the cas e of movement practice , however , w e can situat e politic s b y its intensity a s well as its place on the political spectrum . Combinin g th e spatial an d emotiona l i s tricky, partl y becaus e liberalism assume s a connection. Thi s i s certainl y th e cas e wit h th e militi a movemen t an d th e antiabortion movement ; their radicalism puts them on the political fringe . Yet in constitutiv e term s the socia l meaning o f a political force i s closel y tied t o its depiction b y the dominan t interests . One way to see feminists ' outrage at pornography's violenc e and the expressio n o f this outrage in a radical social movement is as a critique of the spectrum and liberalism .

Radicalism a s Law's Form Radicalism, a s an ideological for m eviden t i n movement s agains t violen t pornography, abortion , an d discrimination , attack s th e sam e instru ments of government appealed to by gay activists—the courts , the judges, and th e doctrine s o f law. Common sens e tells us that th e "instruments "

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are th e same , onl y th e natur e o f th e respons e i s different . Bu t radical s find th e la w oppressive. On e cannot sa y that a police officer viewe d a s a "pig" i s really th e sam e institutio n a s the avuncula r figure o f middle class socialization. The radical form an d th e rage that drive s these movements com e fro m struggle s agains t th e law . La w i s associate d wit h despair rathe r tha n hope , an d i t i s seen a s standing behin d oppressiv e social conditions . Thi s la w maintain s a n inequitabl e statu s quo—th e inequality o f powe r an d wealth , fo r instance , a s gendered relations — while radicals deman d a transformation . The radical lega l form i n politica l discours e relie s o n intens e feeling s and disquietude . Douglass' s characterizatio n o f Joh n Brow n convey s that emotion , a s di d th e pictur e o f slaver y Douglas s himsel f calle d up . For the women' s movemen t a hundred year s later , Millet t woul d sum mon up a similar rage by her interpretations o f the violence and domina tion i n Henr y Miller' s Sexus. 14 Th e emotio n come s fro m outsid e o f dominant socia l relations , o r a t leas t fro m outsid e th e institutionaliza tion of those relations as law. As a legal formation, radicalis m challenge s substantive lega l determinations . Drawin g o n expectation s o f equalit y and a shared humanity , i t wield s thes e vision s i n oppositio n t o the sta tus quo. 15 In movement s lik e the oppositio n t o abortio n sinc e th e 197 3 Supreme Cour t decisio n i n Roe v. Wade, a law ca n b e th e focu s o f th e rage an d radica l chang e i n a law ca n b e a strategy. La w i n genera l o r a body o f law , rathe r tha n a particula r law , ma y als o b e th e subjec t o f political unrest. In this sense, the movement play s off the dominan t con ception o f law. The feminist cas e against pornograph y an d th e practice s that constitut e th e movemen t ar e a mirror imag e o f the right s claim , i n this case , to free expression . The commentar y b y Wome n Agains t Pornograph y (WAP ) i n th e lat e 1970s sa w la w o n th e sid e o f th e pornographe r an d propose d tha t la w had i n fac t fostere d th e rang e o f pornographi c materia l available . Th e movement too k th e liberal successe s o f the post-World Wa r I I period a s its terrain. Ther e wa s general agreemen t tha t th e law s o n pornograph y were mor e libera l i n th e 1970 s an d 1980 s tha n the y ha d bee n twent y years or mor e before , an d tha t th e consequenc e wa s more pornography . All the while, the movement skirte d th e edge of censorship and was continually confronte d wit h th e challeng e o f free expression . I n th e cas e against pornography , radica l feminist s argue d tha t i n a male-dominate d society sexualit y involve s danger , an d tha t dominant/subordinat e powe r relationships i n se x a s i t i s normall y practice d perpetuat e violenc e

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against women. 16 The movement in the early stages identified lega l form s with terrorism . The role , th e responsibility , eve n th e natur e o f law i n antipornogra phy discours e ca n b e compare d t o th e form s la w take s i n othe r move ments. The form eviden t i n the antipornography movemen t share s wit h the gay rights claim s in the AID S crisi s a belief in the power o f appellat e doctrine an d th e compulsio n o f rights claim s grounde d i n tradition . I n the antipornograph y movement , however , ther e i s muc h les s sens e o f entitlement tha n w e sa w i n th e ga y community. 17 I n addition , radica l feminists esche w th e "sophisticated " cynicis m o f critica l lega l studies , with it s tendency t o minimiz e th e powe r an d responsibilit y o f law. A n implicit jurisprudence make s sense out o f politics constitute d i n radica l social movements . The feminis t positio n doe s not simpl y accep t a positive fram e o f la w comin g fro m distan t o r professionall y constitute d institutions, though i t does take account o f those institutions. The position i s as sophisticate d a s the mos t advance d lega l scholarship , whic h finds tradition , structure , an d la w wher e other s den y tha t ther e i s any thing bu t power . According t o Owe n Fiss , drawin g fro m Harr y Kalven , th e Suprem e Court ha s give n ris e t o a free speec h traditio n i n it s decisions . Thus , "Free speec h i s now par t o f our genera l culture , an d I believ e th e deci sions o f the Cour t implante d tha t principl e i n ou r culture , nurture d it , and gav e it much o f its present shape." 18 Some kinds of "expression " ar e not "speech " unde r th e definitio n o f the First Amendment . Th e moder n doctrine come s from Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire i n 1942 . In Chaplinsky, a Jehovah's Witness ha d calle d a town officia l a "goddamned racke teer" an d a "damne d Fascist." 19 Judg e Fran k Murph y decide d tha t "certain classe s o f speec h neve r rais e constitutiona l problems " an d assumed tha t thi s speec h coul d b e prevented an d punished . "Th e lew d and th e obscene , th e profane , th e libelou s an d th e insultin g o r 'fightin g words'. . . they ar e neithe r essentia l t o an y 'expositio n o f ideas ' no r a 'step to truth/ " The lega l histor y o f obscenit y begin s wit h legislativ e involvement ; constitutional histor y i s grounded i n the court' s response . The first U.S. case was Commonwealth v. Holmes, din. 182 1 Massachusetts case involv ing th e 174 8 book Fanny Hill [Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure), one of the "eroti c classics." 20 Mos t moder n pornograph y prosecutio n ca n b e traced t o the lat e nineteenth centur y an d th e Comstoc k laws , which se t new restraint s o n the degre e of frankness allowe d i n discussio n o f sexu -

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ality. The history o f prosecutions i s governed b y th e Hickli n Rule , firs t used i n 1868 , whic h employe d a standar d o f "whethe r th e marke t tended t o deprav e an d corrup t th e min d o f those whos e minds ar e ope n to such influences'' an d wh o might ge t a hold o f the material . In 1913 , Judge Learne d Han d rejecte d th e Hickli n tes t becaus e i t for bid all that migh t corrup t th e most corruptible. 21 His protest wa s echoe d by Judg e Feli x Frankfurter, 22 bu t Roth v. United States (1957 ) was th e clearest reaction. Until 1930 , the U.S. Customs Department barre d Aristo phanes' Lysistrata, Balzac' s Droll Stories, Defoe' s Moll Flanders and Roxana, Flaubert' s Temptation of St. Anthony, an d Voltaire' s Candide. Earl y twentieth-century literatur e tha t combine d politic s an d eroticis m adde d to th e propensit y t o prosecut e thes e classics . Works suc h a s Tolstoy' s Kreutzer Sonata, Shaw' s Mrs. Warren's Profession, Danie l Carso n Good man's Hagar Revelly, Theodor e Dreiser' s The "Genius" and Elino r Glyn' s Three Weeks all contained criticis m o f the bourgeoi s politic s at the sam e time that they scandalize d thi s class and its sensibility abou t sex . In 1933 , a U.S. Court o f Appeal s substitute d fo r th e Hickli n Rul e a concern fo r "obscenit y a s the dominan t effect." 23 Th e issue of obscenit y first cam e befor e th e Suprem e Cour t i n 1948 , when th e Cour t affirme d the convictio n unde r a New York obscenit y statut e fo r "Th e Princes s with th e Golde n Hair, " par t o f Memoirs of Hecate County, writte n b y Edmund Wilso n an d publishe d b y Doubleday . Judg e Jerom e Frank , i n United States v. Roth (1956), 24 wrote a n opinio n delineatin g th e contro versy an d appealin g t o th e Suprem e Cour t fo r a decision , whic h cam e the following year . The emergence o f the obscenit y issu e seems to me to be a result o f the strengt h o f the Firs t Amendmen t rathe r tha n an y par ticular retrograd e tendencie s o n th e par t o f the publi c a t th e time . Th e year before , th e Suprem e Cour t ha d hel d i n a per curiam opinio n tha t a state obscenity statut e i n Kansas relating t o motion picture s wa s uncon stitutional becaus e of vagueness. 25 The appea l o f Judge Frank' s decision , Roth v. United States, becam e the ke y decisio n o n obscenit y i n constitutiona l history . Announce d i n 1957, this was one of Justice William Brennan' s earliest opinions , and it s logic stil l governs th e debat e ove r pornography . Writin g fo r th e Court , Brennan declares , "W e hold that obscenit y i s not within th e area of constitutionally protecte d speec h o r press. " His framework dre w fro m th e history o f communit y i n Americ a fro m th e Puritan s o n an d th e protec tion i n th e commo n la w for libel , a s well a s the newe r doctrin e o f fight ing word s linke d t o th e states ' polic e power . I n Brennan' s argument ,

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speech is protected becaus e it is the lifeblood o f politics. He begins wit h the issu e o f free expression , o r "whethe r obscenit y i s utterance withi n the are a o f protected speec h an d press." 26 Although Brenna n postulate s the historica l prohibition s agains t obscen e speech , fro m th e car e wit h which h e proceeds one senses a concern for expressio n wit h mor e mean ing an d greate r complexit y tha n wha t w e see so often i n th e contempo rary libera l respons e t o the antipornograph y movement . Brenna n held , "The protectio n give n speec h an d pres s wa s fashioned t o assur e unfet tered interchang e o f ideas for th e bringin g abou t o f political an d socia l changes desire d b y th e people." 27 Fre e speec h ha d a purpose, a s out lined i n th e Continenta l Congres s o f 1774 . According t o Brennan , thi s was "the advancement o f truth, science , morality, an d art s in general, i n its diffusio n o f liberal sentiment s o n th e administratio n o f government , its read y communicatio n o f thoughts betwee n subjects , an d it s conse quential promotio n o f unio n amon g them , whereb y oppressiv e officer s are shame d o r intimidated , int o mor e honorable an d just mode s o f con ducting affairs." 28 Becaus e o f al l this , a small categor y o f th e obscen e might b e proscribed .

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The "obscene" in the opinion refers to "that for m o f immorality whic h has relatio n t o sexua l impurit y an d a tendenc y t o incit e lustfu l thoughts." Se x and obscenit y ar e distinguished . Obscen e materia l deal s with se x in a manner appealin g t o prurient interests , that is , it has a tendency t o incite lustful thoughts . The obscene is associated wit h "morbi d or lasciviou s language " an d wit h lus t rathe r tha n simpl y sexua l excite ment. I n making thi s distinction , Brenna n make s it clea r that h e believe s that se x i s a great an d mysteriou s forc e an d th e subjec t o f absorbin g interest, whil e obscenity i s a subclass o f sex that i s offensive t o decency . The contribution fo r whic h the Roth cas e is most noted i s its new test fo r obscenity. I n orde r t o safeguar d fre e expressio n whil e enablin g th e pun ishment o f obscenity , Brenna n shifte d th e standar d fro m th e Hickli n Rule's attention to an isolated excerp t an d a particularly sensitiv e person , and focuse d instea d o n the averag e person applyin g contemporar y com munity standards . In thi s test, th e dominan t them e woul d b e taken a s a whole and examine d wit h regard to its appeal to the prurient interest . The "middl e years " in obscenit y doctrin e cam e to b e associated wit h Justice Potte r Stewart' s aphoris m " I know i t when I see it." The distinc tion i n Roth, whic h sai d tha t obscenit y wa s b y definitio n utterl y with out redeemin g socia l values , becam e a criterion i n Jacobellis v. Ohio in 1964.29 Where ther e ar e ideas, there is protection. Tha t wa s the basi s of

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the decisio n i n Memoirs v. Massachusetts, 30 anothe r cas e involving th e book Fanny Hill. Accordin g t o Justice Warren Burge r (writin g i n Miller v. California), Memoirs veere d sharpl y fro m Roth. I t was , a t least , a restatement. There were three tests: (i) the dominan t them e of the mate rial taken a s a whole must appeal to a prurient interes t i n sex; (2) it mus t be patently offensiv e b y communit y standard s relating t o descriptio n o r representation o f sexua l matters ; an d (3 ) i t mus t b e utterl y withou t social value. To be judged obscene , the material had to fail all three tests. Associate Justic e To m Clar k dissente d becaus e h e fel t tha t th e "ne w test" th e cas e introduced—th e "utterl y without " test—rejecte d th e basic holdin g o f Roth, wher e h e ha d bee n th e decidin g vote . Clar k believed the test had only two parts, and that socia l value might even b e weighed agains t offense . Clark' s descriptio n o f Fanny Hill make s it see m "dirty." H e say s i t depict s nothin g beside s th e brothel s an d see s n o social value , say , i n th e variou s industria l metaphors . H e clearl y believed i t wa s oka y t o kee p somethin g ou t o f circulatio n becaus e i t caused "genita l commotion. " By 1973 , the Cour t ha d changed . I n Miller v. California, a. ne w stan dard distinguishe d protecte d fro m unprotecte d expressio n b y empha sizing community-base d offensiveness , wit h a focu s o n hard-cor e porn—ultimate sexua l acts , masturbation , excretor y functions , an d lewd exhibition s that lac k seriou s literary, artistic , political o r scientifi c value. 31 I n Paris Adult Theater v. Slaton, a companion case , legitimat e state interest i n regulating obscenit y overcam e safeguards agains t expo sure to juveniles an d passersby. 32 Th e qualit y o f life, th e "ton e o f com merce i n th e grea t cit y centers, " an d publi c safet y (citin g th e minorit y report o f the commissio n o n obscenity ) wer e considere d enoug h t o justify controllin g pornography . I n dissent , Brenna n call s attentio n t o "sensitive adult s an d juveniles" an d zonin g i n case s suc h a s Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville, whic h struc k dow n a n attemp t unde r nuisanc e laws t o protec t citizen s fro m unwillin g exposur e t o offensiv e materia l in drive-i n movies , an d Young v. American Mini Theatres, whic h allowed a Detroit zonin g ordinanc e limitin g wher e adul t por n show s could b e put on. 33 This i s the doctrina l worl d i n whic h th e politic s o f pornography unfolded . Dworkin's firs t speec h o n th e subjec t o f pornograph y wa s give n i n 1977 at th e Universit y o f Massachusetts, Amherst . I t wa s linked a t th e time with movements against domesti c violence and "femal e sexua l slav ery."34 Concern abou t pornograph y becam e increasingly associate d wit h

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the conditio n o f wome n a s subject s o f mal e violence . A subsequen t speech b y Dworkin , spawne d b y a sit-in a t th e universit y ove r ad s fo r topless club s i n the studen t newspaper , develope d th e feminis t critiqu e of pornography an d la y the foundation fo r th e challeng e to liberal ideal ism. Thi s challeng e wa s importan t t o th e intensit y o f th e movemen t because it examined th e "materiality " o f speech . A shif t i n tactic s b y som e feminist s agains t pornograph y bega n t o appear i n 1983 . After a n unsuccessfu l attemp t i n Minneapolis , activist s were abl e to pas s an ordinanc e i n Indianapolis , wit h th e concurrenc e o f the cit y council , tha t attacke d pornograph y i n a new way . The majo r aspects o f the Indian a ordinanc e ar e its "findings " tha t "Pornograph y i s a discriminator y practic e base d o n se x whic h denie s wome n equa l opportunities i n society " an d a definitio n o f pornograph y a s "Th e graphic sexuall y explici t subordinatio n o f women, whethe r i n picture s or in words." As Joel Grossman ha s argued, "Ne w ordinances attempte d to bypass th[e] morass of inscrutable constitutiona l doctrin e b y definin g pornography a s a form o f sex discrimination." 35 Certainly , however , th e shift i n focu s towar d discriminatio n an d oppressio n wa s more than a n attempt t o bypas s a constitutional doctrine . A s Donal d Down s point s out, "Suc h conflatio n woul d undermin e th e entir e edific e o f moder n First Amendment doctrin e and revolutioniz e th e law of equality." 36 In he r opinio n i n American Booksellers Association v. Hudnut, th e Indianapolis case , Judge Sara h Evan s Barke r distinguishe d th e conven tional meanin g o f pornograph y fro m th e feminis t position , takin g account o f th e claim s abou t violenc e an d discriminatio n a s a basis fo r striking dow n th e ordinance. 37 Thi s brough t th e ne w politic s bac k t o court, completin g th e circl e of legal struggl e bu t certainl y no t tyin g u p the movement . B y this stag e in it s evolution, th e antipornograph y cam paign ha d turne d it s rage toward lawmaking , an d i t ha d becom e a ver y different sor t o f movement. 38 The decision s i n th e court s di d ver y littl e to address the feminis t consideration s tha t hav e bee n a t the hear t o f th e movement fro m it s inception . Th e critica l relationshi p o f the feminis t critique of pornography t o the dominan t conceptio n o f the First Amend ment will keep the movement alive .

Dworkin—The Earl y Rag e Dworkin's Universit y o f Massachusetts speech 39 wa s repeated ofte n o n college campuse s an d wa s th e basi s fo r he r remark s a t th e Ne w Yor k

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University La w School forum o n the subject. He r remarks begin b y associating pornograph y wit h mankind' s greates t inhumanities . "Slavery , rape, torture , extermination/ ' t o Dworkin, ar e "th e substanc e o f life fo r billions o f huma n being s sinc e th e beginnin g o f patriarcha l time." 40 Male domination , sh e point s out , ha s depende d o n "th e law " a s a n instrument. "Th e oppresse d ar e encapsulate d b y th e culture , laws , an d values o f the oppressor . Thei r behavior s ar e controlle d b y law s and tra ditions base d o n thei r presume d inferiority. " Th e effect , t o whic h th e movement struggl e i s addressed , i s tha t wome n "hav e burne d ou t o f them the militant dignit y o n which al l self-respect i s based." 41 The speec h move s i n th e relentles s fashio n tha t exemplifie s a socia l life constitute d outsid e th e mainstream . T o Dworki n th e violenc e o f pornography i s "alway s accompanie d b y cultura l assault, " whic h sh e describes a s "propagand a disguise d a s principle o r knowledge." 42 Th e result, as a characterization o f a people under law , is the form o f domina tion wit h whic h sh e began , wome n a s "a n enslave d population—th e crop we harvest i s children, th e fields w e work ar e houses." In this con struction o f America , "Wome n ar e force d int o committin g sexua l act s with me n tha t violat e integrit y becaus e th e universa l religion—con tempt fo r women—ha s a s it s first commandmen t tha t wome n exis t purely a s sexual fodder fo r men." 43 In the fall of 1978 , feminist radical s and la w students gathered a t New York University t o discus s the emergin g issu e of "violen t pornography. " The discussio n tha t follow s i s base d o n th e repor t o f tha t conferenc e published i n th e Review of Law and Social Change. 44 An explanatio n o f how the conferenc e cam e about i s given b y Dea n Norma n Redlic h i n hi s opening remarks . The year before , a feminist studen t o f his, Teresa Hommel, ha d prepare d a discussio n o f "violen t pornography, " a new per spective, and th e conference ha d grow n ou t o f this interaction . Dworking speech , "Pornography : Th e Ne w Terrorism, " provide s th e key insights . The ideologica l practice s i t advocate s ar e a focus o n har m or dange r t o wome n an d a n undifferentiate d vie w o f pornography . Recently, activist s hav e calle d attentio n t o links betwee n pornograph y and violence . In the contex t o f the feminis t case , the attemp t t o demon strate tha t pornograph y cause s violenc e i s reminiscent o f the "clea r an d present danger " logi c i n constitutiona l discourse . Th e logi c tha t ther e are exceptions t o the constitutiona l righ t t o free speec h whe n ther e i s a possibility o f physical har m i s so characteristic o f the Firs t Amendmen t tradition tha t th e feminis t positio n appear s t o b e derivative . T o th e

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extent tha t th e antipornograph y movemen t i s focused o n harm , i t link s pornography wit h th e First Amendment tradition . Dworkin talk s bot h abou t rap e a s terror an d abou t th e constitutiona l protection o f freedo m o f expression . La w fo r her , an d fo r th e antipornography movemen t i n its early stages , is a product o f patriarch y and th e ideologica l for m th e proble m takes . La w i s see n a s an epiphe nomenon, a rationalization s o that "whe n pornographer s ar e challenge d by women/ ' th e lega l establishmen t punishe s th e wome n "al l the whil e ritualistically claimin g t o b e th e lega l guardian s o f 'fre e speech/" 4 5 Much o f the substanc e o f the ideology an d it s significance i n socia l relations dra w from th e sor t of popularly constitute d ideolog y addresse d b y contemporary lega l scholars to show the relevance of High Court materi als in th e culture. 46 Th e substance , i n fact , i s not stat e la w bu t publi c mythology abou t law . This mytholog y i s fa r mor e pervasiv e tha n la w itself and ofte n seem s to reach ou t in various new directions .

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The feminis t cas e agains t pornograph y pai d littl e attentio n t o th e explicit formulation s o f constitutiona l law , an d i n it s earl y years , fro m about 197 7 to 1982 , the movement avoide d seekin g state-supporte d cen sorship. Instead , th e movemen t state d a case agains t domination . La w was spoke n b y "th e oppressor, " an d h e wa s identifie d i n term s o f hi s perpetuation o f "wrongs for hi s own pleasure or profit." 47 Yet, the movement's practice s themselve s an d subsequen t development s sugges t tha t this avoidanc e may b e taken a s an influenc e o f doctrine , a tacit recogni tion o f th e hegemon y o f fre e expressio n ideology . Fo r years , th e spli t between protected speec h and pornography wa s far mor e powerful ideo logically tha n wha t wa s foun d i n actua l legislatio n o r cour t opinion . Feminists appeale d t o the mythica l Firs t Amendmen t wit h th e emphasi s on pure tolerance commonl y place d there . This popula r ideolog y o f free expression , rathe r tha n constitutiona l law on free expression , ha s bee n the primar y influenc e o n the politics of the feminis t antipornograph y movement . Whil e constitutiona l la w depends o n distinctions , movemen t practic e abhorre d them . While con stitutional doctrin e set s standard s fo r determinin g wha t i s obscene, th e conventional publi c positio n doe s not permi t a qualitative evaluatio n o f speech. The result i s an ideologica l practic e unfamilia r wit h distinction s and evaluation s and differen t i n its impact from stat e law. While activist s in Sa n Francisc o an d Sa n Dieg o invoke d right s believe d t o b e clearl y applicable t o the condition s ga y me n face d a t the onse t o f the AID S epi demic, this confidenc e i n the specificit y o f law was not s o characteristi c

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of th e feminis t critique . Th e consciousness-raisin g an d mobilizatio n characteristic o f the earl y antipornograph y campaig n refuse d t o defin e the movemen t i n term s o f the law . In fact , centra l t o the movemen t wa s the denia l tha t la w ha d th e doctrina l flexibilit y t o cop e wit h th e situa tion. A t th e sam e time, however , ther e wa s increasing attentio n t o rap e and domesti c violenc e fro m som e o f th e sam e quarter s withi n femi nism.48 The fabric o f offense fo r th e antipornograph y movemen t wa s al l of a piece. Whether i t be sexuality i n an advertisement fo r diaper s or th e brutality o f hard-core pornography, la w was an agent of domestic terror ism. Accordin g t o Dworkin , "Th e violenc e i s always accompanie d b y cultural assault—propagand a disguise d a s principle . . . . This propa ganda i s the glove that cover s the fist in any reign o f terror/' 49 Books o n pornograph y appearin g i n th e wak e o f antipornograph y activism eithe r ha d t o dea l wit h th e activis m directl y o r b e hel d accountable. Wha t Jea n Elshtai n called , somewha t dismissively , "th e new por n wars'' 50 ha d change d th e intellectua l terrain . Movemen t activists ha d reaso n t o b e concerne d tha t thei r effort s wer e providin g subject matte r an d employmen t fo r academic s an d writers , man y o f whom ha d littl e interes t i n changin g th e la w o n pornography . Tw o books b y politica l scientist s intereste d i n constitutiona l protectio n fo r speech an d it s controversies , Downs' s The New Politics of Pornography and Richar d Randall' s Freedom and Taboo are noteworthy fo r wha t the y tell us about the rhetorical reaction t o this form o f law. 51 Randall's previ ous boo k wa s on censorship , an d hi s interest i n pornograph y goe s bac k awhile. Down s published a n importan t treatmen t o f the fre e expressio n controversy i n Skokie , Illinois , ove r Nazi s marching i n a predominatel y Jewish community . These are very differen t book s in many respects, bu t both hol d that pornograph y need s protection . Randall focuse s o n th e meanin g o f pornography , viewin g sexualit y through politica l theor y an d vic e versa . I n thi s work , obscenit y i s sim ply pornograph y proscribe d b y law . Randal l distinguishe s betwee n pornography "a s psychologica l element " an d pornograph y "a s socia l designation." 52 Althoug h h e doe s no t refe r t o Dworki n o r MacKinnon , Randall know s th e practice s o f pornography an d th e law . He describe s the moder n massag e parlo r a s the missin g lin k i n a "behaviora l chain " that ha s prostitution a t one end an d masturbatio n a t the other. Randall' s locutions, lik e hi s framework, ar e familiar. Hi s passage o n gratificatio n and perversity , "[n] o external libert y ca n completel y fre e u s from anxi ety abou t th e latter , an d n o socia l censorshi p i s so complete tha t i t ca n

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obliterate th e seductiv e invitatio n o f th e former " call s Judge Learne d Hand t o mind , a s doe s hi s concludin g section , wher e th e discussio n o f pornography i s largely free o f judicial terms. 53 Moving fro m right s t o socia l control , Randal l want s t o minimiz e th e sense of inevitability surroundin g wha t h e calls " a libertarian obscenit y doctrine/' 54 This leads hi m t o reassess the tests for obscenit y an d t o as k whether "prurien t interest " i s simply anothe r wa y of defining hard-cor e pornography. Randal l hold s tha t a fear o f prurience i s not a legitimat e reason fo r proscribin g pornography ; i t ma y no t b e wha t i t doe s t o th e consumer tha t i s the cor e o f the issue , bu t rathe r th e kin d o f world th e consumer make s u s al l live in. Or , i n Randall' s words , pornograph y "i s more straightforwardl y understoo d a s being offensive." 55 Similarly , i n a nod t o th e feminis t position , Randal l finds tha t vigorou s assertion s o f "the ideal s o f huma n sexua l relation s base d o n affectio n an d mutua l respect . . . may develo p a keener sens e o f socia l bond s an d values." 56 Because th e psychosocia l worl d o f pornograph y i s more centra l t o hi s book tha n th e law s o n pornography , Randal l i s les s wildl y critica l o f feminists tha n man y o f hi s colleague s i n th e libera l constitutiona l la w establishment. Indeed , th e centra l focu s o n wha t pornograph y mean s t o the cultur e make s th e boo k mor e tha n simpl y a formalis t libera l response to the threat o f censorship. Still, Randall's idea o f "the pornog raphy within, " lik e liberalism, dim s the prospects for control . Downs's boo k i s about th e radica l feminis t movement , wha t h e call s the "ne w politic s o f pornography. " I t i s a valuable chronicl e o f the his tory o f the antipornograph y ordinance s i n Minneapoli s an d Indianapo lis. The commo n presenc e o f MacKinno n an d Dworki n an d th e similar , but no t precisel y identical , condition s i n thes e citie s mak e fo r a ver y useful descriptio n of the politics of this important issue . We get the local civil liberties unions in each city, with their ties to New York. We see the pace and intensit y o f local politics, the wor k tha t goe s into draftin g leg islation, an d th e excitemen t o f th e proces s a s score s o f lifetim e politi cians, an d on e novice activist , tackl e th e proble m o f pornography. Thi s is not th e simpl e decisio n o f a prosecutor o r a cop abou t wha t t o shu t down. I t i s not th e relativel y professiona l politic s o f zonin g an d othe r forms o f regulation. I t is the politics of local legislation . Because the movemen t challenge s th e traditiona l left-righ t spectru m in th e Unite d States , attentio n fro m politica l scientist s wil l n o doub t expand ou r vocabular y eve n i f i t doe s no t hel p th e movement . Down s does not g o as deeply int o the histor y o f the pornograph y issu e as Ran-

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dall does, and consequentl y hi s insight into what is new in the politics is less than i t might be . That is , although h e recognizes th e traditiona l sit uation o f obscenit y doctrin e i n conservativ e logic , th e failur e t o full y account fo r th e transformativ e potentia l o f th e feminis t emphasi s o n equality lead s rather t o the mor e traditional puzzl e o f radical feminist s and conservatives, in Downs's unfortunate conception , "i n bed together. " His book i s about political movements, and hi s perspective is still tied t o the traditional continuu m o f left an d right . While he is not a s consciou s of this a s he migh t be , the boo k doe s help u s se e the limitation s o f thi s particular formulation . Although Downs' s project , bein g s o deeply embroile d i n th e frame work o f contemporar y legalisms , i s not goin g t o appea l t o radical femi nists, it is meant to draw from thei r critique . Ultimately, Downs wants t o recast the obscenit y law s by addin g a "prong" t o the Miller test . Down s proposes addin g th e issu e o f "violen t obscenity " t o th e tes t whic h requires tha t obscenit y mus t "appea l t o prurien t interest , giv e paten t offense, an d lac k socia l value. " For Downs , "Portrayal s o f murder , dis memberment, brutality , o r violenc e i n th e contex t o f obscen e act s . . . would b e subject t o the designatio n o f 'violen t pornography/" 57 Alon g with th e Mees e Commission , h e woul d giv e th e writte n wor d ful l pro tection, bu t h e believe s hi s concer n fo r visua l depiction s o f violenc e would hel p in the legitimate task o f fostering norm s of civility . MacKinnon criticize d Down s i n th e New York Times fo r no t inter viewing th e antipornography sid e of the debat e and fo r basin g hi s boo k on "th e favorit e fantasie s an d fabrications " o f pornography' s defend ers. 58 Althoug h thi s i s no t technicall y true , a s Down s di d intervie w Charlee Hoyt an d Naom i Scheman , supporter s o f the ordinanc e i n Min neapolis, MacKinnon's point is important. Althoug h Down s reads a great deal of movement literatur e a s well as constitutional law , like most polit ical scientist s h e take s th e perspectiv e o f th e state . H e interview s officials an d read s officia l reports . H e doe s muc h mor e wit h thi s topi c than mos t politica l scientist s wh o teach constitutiona l law , bu t th e per spective he offers i s only one side in the debate. As a political scientist, I was pleased wit h th e wor k tha t Down s di d i n bringin g th e movemen t into th e discipline . But , characteristically , th e vantag e poin t i s that o f dominant interests, in this case the interests of the tolerance community . Both book s distinguis h themselve s i n styl e fro m work s o f advocacy , but the y ar e not really very different . Th e outcomes are predictable, an d in man y respect s i t look s lik e the framewor k wa s largely se t u p befor e

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the inquiry. Things were learned, certainly . Downs has some kind word s for radica l feminists . Randal l i s clearly discoverin g thing s a s he write s about th e relationshi p betwee n anxiet y an d desire . Th e thin g w e ar e compelled to ask of Randall, given the feminist critique, 59 is what he can tell u s abou t th e constructio n o f desire. 60 His insight int o the relation ship betwee n sexualit y an d socia l lif e i s impressive , an d readin g hi s book is like having a very fine conversation on a subject tha t makes faceto-face conversatio n difficult . O n this issue , however , I believe hi s com mitment t o liberalis m i s hard t o defen d excep t o n th e term s liberalis m has se t fo r itself . Tolerance ring s hollo w i n ligh t o f a number o f issue s we face, an d certainl y i n ligh t o f the radica l feminis t position . Besides , tolerance a s Randall carefull y present s i t lead s to lack o f responsibility . Liberals car e very littl e abou t wha t th e dirt y ol d me n ar e reading i n th e back room . The new politic s o f pornography n o longer appreciate s tha t kind o f tolerance.

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The sam e opportunit y t o fal l bac k o n th e "deeper " discussio n o f political and psychologica l theory i s not available for Down s because hi s book focuses squarel y o n the antipornography movement . The boo k i s a systematic treatmen t o f the movemen t tha t i s valuable fo r it s presenta tion o f the chronolog y an d lega l developments. I t was unpopular amon g feminists because , lik e most la w studie s i n politica l science , i t too k th e state's perspective. This is unfortunate becaus e Down s is a sensitive an d engaged politica l scientis t wh o ha s taken th e movemen t mor e seriousl y than mos t colleagues . But when on e feels the radicalism o f Dworkin i n a book lik e Intercourse an d want s t o recoi l fro m th e notio n tha t al l me n want t o d o is occupy, violate , invade , an d colonize , Down s is little com fort. Whe n I look for qualifier s ("som e men,"—I sa y to my friends), h e is also o f littl e help . A boo k whos e cove r sport s a plain brow n wrappe r being rippe d bac k t o expos e a nude statue , an d whic h begin s wit h a quote fro m Nietzsche , prais e fro m thre e libertaria n mal e law professors , and acknowledgmen t t o two others , make s "som e men" a tougher clai m to support . The disciplinin g o f academi c network s i s powerful . On e wonder s about th e effec t o n tenur e fo r on e wh o migh t hav e stoo d agains t th e accepted vie w of the First Amendment. Som e of those who preach toler ance ca n barel y contro l thei r ow n rag e at the ide a tha t w e might distin guish th e feminis t positio n fro m tha t o f th e Nazi s o r th e Klan . Th e ideology agains t whic h radica l feminis m i s arraye d i s ver y powerfu l indeed, an d on e finds i t i n th e book s mentione d here . I t i s in Downs' s

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orientation t o the stat e an d establishe d institutions . I t i s in th e psycho logical conceptio n o f pornography a s inevitable pu t fort h b y Randall . I t is in th e tantalizin g cover s an d th e sens e that th e ne w an d th e tabo o i n the titles will be of interest . Carol Sternhell' s revie w o f Dworkin' s book s Ice and Fire and Intercourse suggests a relationship o f law to liberal theory, an d o f liberal the ory t o consciousness . Sternhel l characterize s Intercourse a s making " a single argumen t (an d it' s a doozy)" that "Sexua l intercours e shoul d b e abolished" becaus e i t i s "th e caus e o f man y o f women' s problems. " Dworkin hersel f pu t i t thi s way : "Physically , th e woma n i n intercours e is a space inhabited, a literal territory occupie d literally : occupie d eve n if there has been no resistance, no force; even if the occupied perso n sai d yes please, ye s hurry, ye s more." Accordin g t o Sternhell , th e weaknes s in Dworkin' s contributio n i n bot h book s "i s it s relentles s portrai t o f Woman Victimized, victimize d i n essence, victimized a s women, victim ized without explanation. " Dworkin' s analysis concludes with the obser vation tha t "misogyn y i s real. Rap e i s real. Economi c discriminatio n i s real. The devaluatio n o f anything femal e i s real. The sexism tha t define s sex a s intercours e (only ) an d define s intercours e a s th e mal e orgas m (only) is real." In sayin g this , Dworkin, accordin g t o Sternhell, "reduce s real ( I hope changeable ) politica l arrangement s t o (unchanging) biologi cal design. " Sternhel l see s Dworkin makin g th e sam e mistake a s a male acquaintance wh o explaine d th e inevitabilit y o f mal e dominanc e b y analogy t o electricity : "Th e plu g goe s to the socket ; th e socke t doesn' t go to th e plug. " What sh e believe s th e ma n an d Dworki n fai l t o se e i s that th e analog y i s true onl y whe n th e socke t i s nailed t o a wall, onl y when " a hole nailed an d immobile is the only model of sexuality." Stern hell's countervailin g rag e is the kin d th e New York Times like s to mak e available t o its readers . The rag e an d sarcas m ar e directe d a t a feminis t argument i n favo r o f the sophisticatio n o f seein g a world tha t changes . This i s the law' s an d th e society' s respons e t o feminis t radicalis m ove r pornography; bot h la w an d societ y ca n change . Whil e true , thi s i s n o way to support a movement. One need no t overstat e th e contribution s o f French scholar s suc h a s Pierre Bourdie u an d Miche l Foucaul t t o recogniz e thei r valu e i n tran scending a positivist conventionality. 61 Alon g wit h interpretiv e theo rists lik e Stanle y Fish , thei r approac h suggest s a new kin d o f sociolog y that i s attentive t o the socia l foundations o f ideas. Sociolog y o f law ha s long avoide d carefu l inquir y int o how communitie s mutuall y constitut e

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legal forms . Establishin g a sociology o f la w tha t capture s th e form s o f law i n socia l relation s require s attentio n t o th e communitie s mutuall y constituting th e lega l form. Th e interest i s less in the demographics—o r at leas t les s centrall y i n thos e characteristic s o f race , sex , age , an d national origi n tha t w e associat e wit h demography—bu t mor e com pletely in the ideological, social, and materia l construction o f alternativ e communities. The alternativ e fo r right s movement s i s to go deepe r int o America n practice, no t furthe r away—tha t is , to dra w fro m th e constitutiv e char acter o f ordinar y practic e an d t o conceptualiz e i t i n a transformativ e fashion. Thi s wa s eviden t i n th e wor k o f Charle s Reich , Angel a Davis , and Malcol m X , an d i t i s no w eviden t i n th e wor k o f Derric k Bell , Staunton Lynd , an d MacKinnon . I n her essa y "Liberalis m and th e Deat h of Feminism, " MacKinno n argue s tha t th e libera l reactio n t o th e antipornography movemen t ha s spli t feminism. 62 Sh e show s th e hege monic natur e o f liberalism an d it s inability t o address femal e inequalit y in it s analysis o f socia l life. A t the cente r o f her positio n i s the fac t tha t women inhabi t a society organize d aroun d men . The antipornograph y movement' s qualities , aspirations , an d radica l demands ar e significant . T o those wh o liste n an d d o not find th e equa tion o f law and dominatio n puzzling , the perspectiv e i s a powerful forc e for change . A s Dworkin point s out , "Strategie s o f resistance ar e devel oping. . . . Some are rud e an d som e are civil . . . . Some disregar d mal e law, brea k i t wit h militanc y an d pride." 63 In th e end , th e demand s ar e not a s dramati c a s the challeng e t o la w migh t suggest . Thoug h highl y rhetorical, Dworkin' s challeng e t o law , tha t "[ojther s dar e t o deman d that the law must protect women—eve n women—fro m braze n terroriza tion,"64 is relatively basic . In fact, thi s is what la w tells us it is doing. I n many respects , the socia l relations buil t outsid e thi s clai m are crucial t o the sens e it makes as a form o f law.

Law, Class , an d Consciousnes s The constitutiv e approac h demand s som e attention t o the clas s and his torical characte r o f the antipornography movement . This means perhap s less attentio n t o th e constitutiv e operation s o f it s ideology . I n thi s respect, th e movemen t ha s bee n predominatel y middl e clas s and roote d in left-libera l feminism . It s movement root s ar e in the wav e of feminis m that emerge d i n the earl y 1970 s and le d to suc h lega l transformations a s

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Roe v. Wade an d th e introductio n o f the Equa l Right s Amendment . B y the late 1970s , when the manifestations o f the movement we have focused on becom e evident , som e of those successe s wer e looking les s attractiv e and the careerism of liberal feminism wa s beginning t o show itself to radicals. A t thi s time , a fuller expressio n o f feminis t rag e wa s eviden t i n work suc h a s Kathleen Barry' s Female Sexual Slavery, whic h wen t wel l beyond th e comfortabl e aspiration s fo r equalit y associate d wit h th e Equal Rights Amendment o r Simone de Beauvoir s The Second Sex. As th e activis m conventionall y associate d wit h th e 1960 s bega n t o wane, th e antipornograph y movemen t wa s free t o g o beyon d man y o f the socia l an d ideologica l characteristic s o f earlie r activists . Wome n Against Pornograph y ha s bee n influence d b y th e sam e counterideologi cal critiqu e tha t wa s pose d b y movemen t wome n agains t lef t male s i n the lat e 1960s—w e won' t mak e the coffee , w e won't tak e th e minutes — and whic h wa s influential a t th e onse t o f the women' s movement . Thus , elements of left- an d right-wing ideolog y becam e a part o f how Dworki n presented herself , althoug h a "strang e bedfellows " angl e wa s a muc h bigger dea l fo r thos e outsid e tha n withi n th e movement . I n th e move ment, it s contributio n wa s at leas t i n par t a n earl y impatienc e wit h th e confines o f th e traditiona l politica l spectrum . Radica l me n wer e quit e often th e worst i n their treatmen t o f women . The movemen t wa s closel y tie d t o universit y an d professiona l set tings, with man y of its major event s situated i n middle-class institution s like NY U La w School in the 1970 s and Barnar d Colleg e in 1982 . As a key element o f feminism , th e antipornograph y movemen t wa s linke d wit h other expressions of outrage at the treatment wome n get in the home, on campus, and in the streets. 65 As the movement's concern s have reached a larger audience , the y hav e inevitabl y involve d a more divers e popula tion. I n th e battere d women' s struggl e an d i n the extensio n o f prosecu tion fo r rape , th e incident s an d th e us e o f law have reached member s o f classes and racial groups that are underrepresented o n college campuses. The feminist cas e against pornograph y ha s subsequently bee n shape d by debate s ove r wha t i s pornographic, ove r fre e expression , an d ove r the nature of legislation as a form o f politics. In these considerations, th e link betwee n stat e law and ideolog y depend s o n the issue and th e grou p considered. Throughou t th e debate , an d perhap s particularl y becaus e i t took plac e in a middle-class environment , th e autonom y o f the individ ual ha s bee n asserte d quit e ofte n a t th e sam e tim e tha t th e fallacie s o f that position—it s failur e t o calculat e th e degree s o f restraint presen t i n

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the context o f expression—have bee n rampant. A s Fiss notes, "Th e exaltation o f autonomy presuppose s a world tha t n o longer exist s and tha t i s beyond ou r capacit y t o recall—a worl d i n whic h th e principl e politica l forum i s the street corner. It ignores the manifold way s that the state participates in the constructio n o f all things socia l and ignore s the proble m of private censorship/' 66 The point i s put anothe r wa y in Jennifer Nedel sky's discussion of the inability o f one variation of feminist spiritualit y t o understand tha t the Bill of Rights is not simpl y a tool to be used b y thos e outside government to resist, bu t a tool—indeed, just part of a whole tool box—which th e government use s to keep the democrati c polity in line.6"7 As th e movemen t shifte d towar d relianc e o n th e stat e i n lat e 1983 , harm—which liberal s like William O. Douglas always contended wa s the key to justifying restraint s o n expression—played a central role . On th e other hand , lega l distinction s betwee n form s o f pornography continue d to b e resisted . Whe n th e cit y o f Indianapoli s defende d it s ordinanc e against violen t pornograph y i n court , i t concede d tha t th e ordinanc e would no t withstan d th e standar d measur e o f constitutiona l authorit y in Miller v. California. Subsequently, th e federal court s agreed .

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The movement , constitute d b y it s oppositio n t o fre e speech , coul d not hav e existed a s it di d withou t notion s o f law derive d fro m th e Firs t Amendment. Fro m the foru m a t the Ne w York University La w School i n the lat e 1970s , where a new movemen t agains t pornograph y wa s articu lated, t o the mos t recen t debate s i n th e lef t an d feminis t press , the ten sion betwee n expressio n an d censorshi p ha s been intense. 68 In a politics constituted i n thi s wa y certai n consequence s ar e foreordained, suc h a s who will join o n what sid e and wh o will already b e there. Traditionally , we might hav e expected feminist s an d pornographer s t o share an abhor rence fo r Victoria n moralists , bu t thi s wa s no t t o b e the case . Instead , counterintuitive alliance s becam e par t o f th e publi c spectacl e an d heightened attentio n t o the issue of limits on expression . Radicalism, o f th e sor t tha t equate d stat e la w an d terrorism , domi nated th e feminis t cas e agains t pornograph y a t th e en d o f th e 1970s , before th e movemen t becam e involve d wit h loca l ordinances an d bega n to see law a s an instrumen t o f reform. T o capture th e antipornograph y movement befor e it s tur n t o la w a s a n instrumen t o f change , I hav e focused o n th e 197 8 conference a t Ne w York University , o n Dworkin , and o n th e earl y expressio n o f outrag e fro m tha t period . Bu t the move ment continue s t o grow , i n par t becaus e o f the challeng e i t present s t o conventional wisdom i n law.

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From it s inception , th e antipornograph y movemen t ha s bee n infl uenced b y law. It has operated i n a sphere audience s generall y associat e with legality , illegality , an d th e Constitution . Th e movemen t ha s als o been influence d b y on e of the generation' s mos t creativ e lega l thinkers . For the las t decade , i n whic h th e 1960 s generation cam e to maturit y i n the academy , MacKinno n ha s bee n a challengin g voic e fo r a ne w jurisprudence. Sh e ha s embodie d clarit y i n though t abou t la w a t th e same time that sh e ha s engage d u s to think abou t lega l practic e i n ne w ways. MacKinnon reshapes, and ask s us to rethink, th e contours of politics and socia l life . Suc h rethinkin g challenge s ou r notion s o f mundan e and avant-garde , publi c an d private , left an d right . While offerin g som e of the mos t radica l conception s o f practice com ing ou t o f th e lega l academy , MacKinno n ha s turne d th e attentio n o f radical activist s towar d cit y governmen t an d give n man y caugh t u p i n the destructio n o f property reaso n to care about the local administratio n of justice . I n drawin g attentio n t o th e harassmen t o f wome n i n th e workplace, MacKinno n ha s demande d tha t w e tak e equalit y an d th e administrative proces s seriously . A s a theorist o f libera l epistemology , particularly idealis m i n law , MacKinno n ha s als o suggeste d ho w w e might tak e ourselve s an d ou r wor k mor e seriously . Thus , MacKinno n has give n feminis m it s shar e o f lega l victories . Th e cos t ha s bee n a n accusation o f "essentialism " b y a community concerne d wit h he r chal lenge to liberalism. This charg e seem s false give n th e rang e o f her inter ests and th e sensitivit y o f her politica l theory . I n additio n t o he r wor k on sexual harassment an d pornography , sh e has developed th e seeds of a new lega l theory o f rape, a conception o f abortion engagin g t o those o f us concerne d abou t heav y emphasi s o n th e rhetori c o f choice , an d a vivid descriptio n o f the constitutiona l presumptio n tha t equalit y i s less important tha n free speech . Thus, in law the issue of essentialism is most likely t o aris e becaus e la w o n expressio n mos t dramaticall y represent s liberal tolerance . Th e critiqu e o f essentialis m has , i n man y respects , been a critique o f the constitutiv e vie w o f law . The limit s o f bot h cri tiques are political as well as epistemological. 69 The unfavorabl e receptio n give n b y th e libera l communit y t o MacK innon's mos t recen t book , Only Words, i s understandable i n ligh t o f liberalism's deep devotion to its contemporary framework. Whil e MacKinnon critiques th e rea l consequence s o f Firs t Amendmen t protection , he r reviewers canno t conceptualiz e pornograph y a s anything bu t anothe r idea i n th e fre e marketplace . Callin g attentio n t o wha t pornograph y

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does, MacKinno n claim s tha t abus e i s protecte d a s speech . Liberal s ar e adamant tha t th e governmen t mus t champio n objectivity , wha t MacKin non term s th e '"speec h yo u hate ' test : the mor e yo u disagre e wit h content , the mor e importan t i t become s t o protec t i t / ' 7 0 Th e mos t controversia l review o f he r boo k demonstrate d thi s perspectiv e an d sough t t o t r u m p the radica l feminis t positio n wit h th e traditiona l speech/actio n distinc tion. Th e image s o f rap e i n th e revie w b y Carli n Roman o victimize d an d dehumanized MacKinno n i n a way tha t onl y a male reviewe r could . The libera l fre e speec h positio n ha s a proble m wit h distinctions , tha t is, wit h a failure t o distinguish . Thi s failur e i s eviden t i n a n exchang e o f letters t h a t too k plac e i n Amherst , Massachusett s i n Decembe r 1989 , after feminist s brok e int o a newsstan d tha t sol d pornograph y an d van dalized magazines . Th e exchang e wa s betwee n a loca l lawye r w h o wa s president o f th e Chambe r o f Commerc e an d a colleg e professo r support ive o f t h e demonstrators . Th e n e w s s t a n d manage r wa s q u o t e d i n t h e Springfield Union

a s equatin g t h e feminist s w h o vandalize d he r book -

store wit h th e Kla n (an d th e Gestapo) . Th e presiden t o f th e Chambe r o f Commerce sai d simila r things . Th e professo r responded ,

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I've live d i n Amhers t fo r fifteen year s an d teac h politica l scienc e a t th e University. I think w e would kno w i f the KK K wa s in Amherst. We woul d know becaus e of what the y sa y and wha t the y do . As a university professo r I fear suc h puzzling association s becaus e the y do s o little t o advanc e discussio n abou t eithe r pornograph y o r property . The KK K stand s fo r racis m an d anti-semitis m i n America . I t stand s fo r brutal repressio n b y a dominan t majority . Feminis m hold s tha t wome n have bee n hel d bac k b y mal e dominatio n an d i t stand s fo r liberation . Those ideas look differen t t o me. Besides the KK K i s a male organization . Amherst i s home t o man y college s an d althoug h w e have ou r head s i n the cloud s lot s o f th e time , w e shoul d b e abl e to recogniz e th e KK K i f i t comes to town. For one thing the y ar e not going to be our sisters . The vandalis m i n Amhers t migh t b e describe d a s a violen t ac t agains t the ACL U theor y tha t say s w e canno t distinguis h betwee n radica l femi nism an d t h e K K K . Thi s i s a t h e o r y i n t r o d u c e d wel l int o thi s c e n t u r y and nurture d t o extreme s i n th e las t decade . M y favorit e exampl e i s Fre d Friendly an d Marth a Elliott' s That Delicate Balance, a boo k produce d fo r the televisio n serie s o f th e sam e name , whic h describe s fre e speec h doc trine a s "protectin g th e though t tha t w e h a t e / ' W h e n i t fail s t o distinguish , th e ACL U theor y denigrate s th e substan tive value s o f fre e expression . Thes e ar e value s wo n i n struggl e agains t

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repression b y governments . Th e valu e o f fre e expressio n ough t t o encourage u s t o b e impatien t wit h thos e wh o canno t distinguis h between constitutionall y protecte d speec h an d pornography . In additio n t o problems wit h distinctions , antipornograph y activis m poses fundamental challenge s to other aspects of liberalism. The militancy of the movemen t echoe s the outrag e o f John Brow n an d th e succeedin g waves of women's liberation. I n all of this, liberalism stand s in oppositio n to the focus and the intensity o f the movement. This is evident in the dra matic qualit y o f the coverag e o f the antipornograph y vandalis m a t th e Amherst newsstand . I t i s rare tha t twent y wome n fro m th e universit y constitute a gang, bu t tha t wa s how the women wer e described . There is no questio n tha t wome n fighting bac k i s news . Th e vandalis m cam e between murder s in Montreal, Canad a (don e b y a man wh o shoute d tha t feminists ha d take n to o many liberties) , and th e murder o f a female Uni versity of Massachusetts student in the local mall parking lot. For those of us who worked a t the university al l these events had a great impact . The sanctimoniou s invocatio n o f th e Bil l o f Right s an d freedo m o f speech b y th e loca l Chambe r o f Commerc e presiden t emphasize d vio lence. H e condemne d th e vandalis m a t th e newsroo m a s " a violen t ac t against freedom o f speech/' Suc h theories d o not advance the discussio n about pornograph y o r property , bu t rathe r focu s o n th e process . Th e conventional vie w o f free speec h i s puzzling becaus e i n mos t o f our lif e we are taugh t tha t wha t peopl e stan d fo r wil l determin e thei r plac e i n the communit y o r a t leas t i n history . Whe n w e lear n t o distinguis h between th e Son s o f Libert y an d Georg e III , th e righteousnes s o f th e American caus e becomes the determinin g facto r an d violenc e a cause fo r celebration. I n callin g attentio n t o the assertion tha t th e end canno t justify th e means , w e confron t on e o f the cornerstone s o f the ACL U posi tion. The ACLU , on e of the group s that claim s the en d canno t justify th e means, ha s sometime s trie d t o sho w tha t th e en d i s irrelevant. I n thi s context, a value mean s somethin g an d a robust commitmen t t o freedo m of expression doe s not preclud e actio n agains t pornography . Radical feminist s hav e bee n criticize d fo r focusin g to o narrowl y o n pornography a s a site o f feminis t struggle. 71 Althoug h th e connectio n between pornograph y an d violenc e against women is central to the radi cal argument, som e activists doub t tha t th e pornograph y issu e ha s th e capacity t o reac h ou t t o battere d women . Fro m m y vantag e point , th e antipornography movemen t i s one o f the mos t compellin g challenge s t o liberal legalism in existence. The response to strategic concern s ought t o

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be that w e need t o avoid th e many trap s of liberalism. There is no prob lem with focuse d activism . Th e deman d fo r "evidence " i n thi s cas e is a denial of experience . One o f th e strength s o f th e antipornograph y movemen t i s it s chal lenge to the presumptions of liberalism and th e related limits posed for a full understandin g o f the nature of law. Radical feminism i n general, an d the movemen t agains t pornograph y i n particular , ar e frontal attack s o n liberalism. Th e fronta l quarte r t o whic h th e attac k i s ofte n directe d makes som e me n nervous . Specifically , th e intensit y o f th e critiqu e o f liberal jurisprudence ha s been very unsettlin g t o the men and wome n of the civi l liberties bar. 72 With regar d t o the implications o f positive theories o f law , ther e mus t b e a place fo r focuse d attentio n tha t doe s no t accept the premises of state power. Indeed, radica l feminism i s threaten ing becaus e of its failure t o accept the hegemony o f the legal system, no t because it sometimes break s the law.

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Given th e natur e o f middle-clas s politic s an d politic s closel y tie d t o institutions suc h a s universitie s o r t o professiona l communities , th e antipornography movemen t doe s fac e challenge s t o th e buildin g o f coalitions. But , equall y important , th e movemen t face s th e challeng e o f liberalism i n developin g coalition s wit h othe r radica l movements . Although centra l t o th e pornograph y issue , th e influenc e o f prevailin g ideology aroun d speec h ha s bee n difficul t t o demonstrate . A s noted ear lier i n th e chapter , th e Suprem e Cour t ha s give n ris e to a "Fre e Speec h Tradition/' 73 Bu t it is the vernacula r understandin g o f freedom tha t ha s been the terrain for feminist critique s of pornography. Paradoxically , th e everyday variet y o f free speec h right is a much less legally sound but , a t least among the middle class, a more prevalent conceptio n tha n what th e Supreme Cour t offers . A s Fiss concluded, "Som e justices, suc h a s Blac k and Douglas , mad e a reputation fo r themselve s b y espousin g a n abso lutist positio n o n free speech : No regulation mean s no regulation/' 74 Bu t this ha s neve r bee n a position embrace d b y th e Suprem e Court. 75 Th e Court ha s alway s foun d contrar y position s worth y o f som e attention . The contemporar y feminis t cas e agains t pornograph y unfold s o n thi s legal an d conceptua l terrain , whic h i s constitute d b y th e traditio n o f constitutional though t abou t th e relationship betwee n th e First Amend ment and obscen e or pornographic material . Many activists in the struggles on the left, suc h as gay liberation, blac k and Chican o nationalism , th e women' s movement , welfar e rights , an d environmentalism, com e out o f liberalism. Man y participant s cal l them-

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selves liberal because they believ e it puts them on the side of social justice and humanity . I n some respects they ar e right. There appears to be a link between thes e interest s an d th e receptivit y t o socia l chang e associate d with liberalism . This receptivity t o chang e at the margin s i s a feature o f liberalism, indee d i t is a feature o f power i n America tha t make s the sys tem resistant t o fundamental change . Liberalism i s essential to the syste m of domination responsibl e fo r th e condition s o f gross inequality tha t sur round u s in America . Radica l feminism i s closer to the tradition o f Joh n Brown than Ab e Lincoln, close r to Susan B . Anthony tha n Eleano r Roosevelt, an d close r to Malcolm X than Marti n Luthe r King . But radicalis m does not den y the appeal of both approaches, whereas liberalism does. The constitutiv e approac h demand s mor e attentio n t o th e clas s an d historical character o f belief. In this respect, my sample is the antipornog raphy movemen t i n an d aroun d th e academy , particularl y my ow n com munity i n wha t w e cal l th e "Pionee r Valley " nort h o f Springfield , Massachusetts, an d almos t t o the Vermont border . The movement her e is rooted i n th e feminis m o f the "secon d wave " bu t reflect s development s resulting fro m twent y year s o f feminist practice . In this community , th e kinds of feminist politic s were varied enoug h to produce subgroup s wit h distinctive identitie s an d politica l agenda s withi n th e large r domai n o f equality fo r women. Radical feminism wa s uncompromising an d in man y respects shocking t o more traditional forms . In Wester n Massachusetts , u p an d dow n th e valle y tha t produce d Shay's Rebellion i n 1787 , radical feminists hav e created a culture o f resistance, on e manifestatio n o f whic h i s th e antipornograph y movement . There are many way s to understand thi s culture . On e is to examine lesbian communitie s an d wha t Janic e Raymon d call s "GYN/affection." 76 Another i s to look to the wor k o f women suc h a s Mary Daly . In address ing "lust, " Daly says, On the one side, lust and pure lust Name the deadly dispassio n that prevails in patriarchy, the life-hating lecher y that rapes and kills the objects of its obsession/aggression. Indeed , the usual meaning of lust within th e lecherous state of patriarchy i s well-known. It means sexual desire of a violent, self-indulgent, character , lechery, lasciviousness. Phallic lust, violent an d self-indulgent , level s al l life , dismemberin g spirit/matter , attempting annihilation. 77 With storie s lik e this an d others, 78 collective households , distinctiv e entertainment, services , an d form s o f struggle , th e communit y ha s th e cultural presenc e to support it s vision o f the law.

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While law' s "innocence " ofte n cover s it s responsibility fo r pain , th e most tellin g critica l wor k ha s brough t domination , pain , law , and soci ety togethe r again . Millett' s extraordinar y imag e o f th e brutalit y tha t accompanies oppressio n call s ou r attentio n t o on e o f th e mos t funda mental and littl e understood truth s i n American politics—th e silenc e of power. The movements agains t domesti c violenc e and rap e shar e an ideological structur e wit h th e antipornograph y movement . Th e struggl e i s over wha t wome n an d sexualit y ar e to be. 79 Those wh o woul d remai n within existin g socia l relation s allo w la w it s conventiona l innocence . Those wh o woul d radicall y chang e thos e relations ar e outraged a t law' s complicity. Becaus e radica l feminis m teache s tha t pornograph y i s no t speech bu t violence , that violenc e against women is not a "concern" bu t a crime, and tha t resistanc e i s not disobedienc e bu t self-defense , i t is an extraordinary movement . Radicalis m i n thi s sens e is an explosiv e foun dation for equality ; instrumentalis m i s not. The radica l feminis m o f MacKinno n an d Dworki n ha s bee n a chal lenging voic e for a new jurisprudence. The y embod y clarit y i n though t about la w an d engag e u s t o thin k abou t lega l practic e i n ne w ways , reshaping th e contour s o f politic s an d socia l life . Althoug h Down s noted tha t thei r positio n o n equalit y migh t "undermin e th e entir e edifice o f moder n Firs t Amendmen t doctrin e an d revolutioniz e th e la w of equality/' 80 th e earl y challeng e meant t o d o even more . Radical femi nists challenged la w as it constituted th e mundane and th e avant-garde , the publi c an d th e private , th e lef t an d th e right . Whil e offerin g ver y radical conception s o f practice , th e movemen t i s democrati c i n it s reconstitution o f a political community , an d ultimatel y i n its expressio n of fait h i n loca l government . And , becaus e i t contain s a powerful cri tique of liberal epistemology, particularl y idealis m in law, the movemen t suggests how we might tak e law more seriously .

The Constitutio n o f Interest s Rethinking Legalis m

A

Chapter6

Representation a s power an d powe r a s representation ar e a sacrament i n imag e and a "movement " i n language where , exchanging thei r effects, th e dazzlin g gaze an d th e admirin g reading consum e th e radiant bod y o f th e monarch. —Louis Marin , Portrait of the King

mericans ofte n loo k to o har d for law , and , consequently, w e tend t o look pas t it . We expect law s to be tucked awa y in the inner office s of law firms, in difficult-to-access la w libraries, o r in obscur e professiona l practices. Bu t law also hides beneat h our noses, in social and cultural prac tices. This law that w e don't notic e is powerful. A s part o f the landscape , legal practice s determin e whos e field the farmer plows—hi s ow n or that of another—or, jus t a s inconspicuously, mark th e boundarie s o f suburba n plots and urban buildings . This lega l landscape features zone s of pornography, wher e th e movie rating s di p to the botto m o f the alphabet , an d metropolitan ghetto s wit h blac k a t the center an d whit e a t th e periphery . Even whe n w e don't notic e th e law we are in the landscape. More quie t tha n th e official lega l contexts that appea r in the chronicles of publi c life— a trial , a hearing, an execution—features suc h a s rights , realism, remedies , an d rage for m the legal landscape for various movemen t activists. Right s ar e familiar . Th e other form s begi n t o complet e th e picture. I n th e precedin g chapters , we looke d a t some of these practice s 129

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and trie d t o make them "problematic/ ' Sexuality , positivism , disputing , and pornography , a s political practices , ar e linke d t o distinctiv e lega l forms tha t constitut e participatio n i n the politica l process . These forms , like the practice of rights, are ways to do things. Legal forms in the practices o f distinc t communities , suc h a s gay s i n Californi a appealin g t o constitutional right s o r law professor s i n Cambridg e denyin g th e utilit y of rights , fram e politica l interests . Thes e lega l frame s constitut e th e identities, guid e th e aspirations , an d fue l th e interest s tha t defin e poli tics in a legal order . Political interests an d th e activity tha t result s from the m challeng e u s in the searc h for law' s role in political action. Movement practic e in gen eral and thes e form s i n particula r ar e self-conscious . Becaus e they exis t in practice , th e form s ar e taken fo r grante d onl y i n a contingent sense , and no t i n the wa y tha t th e authorit y o f a stop sig n is . The tolerance o f drunk drivin g befor e mother s organize d agains t i t an d th e progressiv e nature o f free speec h befor e feminist s questione d i t wer e bot h given s that mutate d unde r th e gaz e o f politics . Instrumental strategie s appea r unfettered. Th e movement to destroy pornograph y ha s been pretty clea r about wha t i t wants . The attentio n w e pa y t o interests—t o whethe r o r not the y wil l b e satisfied—distract s u s fro m th e form s tha t constitut e them, an d th e self-consciousnes s o f movements, b y drawin g attentio n from lega l construction , make s tha t constructio n particularl y signifi cant. This chapte r examine s lega l form a s an influenc e i n politic s an d a s a contribution t o legal theory.

Intellectuals an d Politic s When entrepreneur s an d activist s o f the ga y right s movemen t joine d with civi l libertarians t o oppose closin g th e bath s i n Sa n Francisco, thi s was no t a surprisin g alliance , bu t a n expressio n o f th e centra l rol e rights—and right s activists—have playe d in gay life for th e last twenty five years. Ga y me n i n th e mid-1980 s strugglin g agains t AIDS , fea r o f AIDS, an d hostil e institutions , saw , in man y instances , mor e promise i n law than woul d b e found amon g som e law professors. Whil e bathhous e owners an d activist s displaye d a faith i n la w a s they trie d t o kee p th e baths open , th e critica l lega l studies (CLS ) movemen t professe d a loss of faith i n law . These belief s abou t la w an d wha t i t ca n d o for m relation ships "i n law" . The relationships forme d t o keep th e bath s ope n i n th e early year s o f the epidemi c differe d fro m thos e tha t cam e ou t o f late r

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protests. Relationship s tha t forme d deepe r i n th e despai r o f th e epi demic, such as ACT-U P an d Quee r Nation, wer e more akin to the radical ism of the Women Against Pornography . Key players i n these development s ar e the intellectual s wh o interpre t politics with referenc e t o imagined socia l and cultura l possibilities. Various social theorists hav e tried t o situate th e ideologie s o f activists in th e social context . I n hi s essa y "Th e Intellectuals, " Antoni o Gramsc i explored th e relationshi p betwee n thos e wh o produc e idea s an d th e social classes they serve . He proposed tha t the "notio n o f 'th e intellectu als' a s a distinc t socia l categor y independen t o f clas s i s a myth. " B y intellectuals, Gramsc i doe s no t mea n simpl y a grou p tha t thinks . H e acknowledges tha t "[a]l l men ar e potentially intellectual s i n th e sens e of having a n intellec t an d usin g it " an d explore s th e socia l use s t o whic h the intellec t i s put . H e divide s thos e wh o ar e intellectual s b y socia l function int o tw o groups , th e Traditiona l (o r professional ) an d th e Organic. This latter group he calls "the thinking an d organizin g elemen t of a particular fundamenta l socia l class." 1 Lawyers who become involve d in fashionin g grou p interest s ar e this sor t o f intellectual. 2 S o are man y political activists. The link betwee n lega l form an d politica l activity arise s from th e wa y intellectuals articulate the structures o f political action. The constitutiv e quality o f law draw s intellectual s in . Th e relation s o f power , economi c and political , ar e shaped b y th e intellectuals . Intellectual s interpre t la w to socia l movements . Ga y activist lawyers , b y assertin g rights , promis e protection whil e constitutin g th e movemen t a s victims. 3 In doin g this , they giv e law a rhetorical qualit y tha t help s t o lin k certai n individual s with th e struggl e an d no t others . Suc h i s th e cas e wit h Andre a Dworkin's critiqu e o f intercourse, whic h problematize s traditiona l sex ual relations . I n th e sam e movement , Catharin e MacKinno n ha s con figured la w around ne w strategie s and techniques. In the CL S movement, activist-scholar Dunca n Kenned y gav e hi s authorit y (i n thi s cas e bot h personal an d institutional ) t o the doctrin e o f indeterminac y associate d with th e critica l form i n contemporar y realism . Stanle y Fish , the Milto n scholar an d theoris t o f la w an d literatur e associate d wit h critica l jurisprudence, adde d hi s contentiou s commitmen t t o reaso n a s a gloss on variou s movements . Sinc e contentiou s reaso n i s a source o f power , Fish has become a star among lega l intellectuals. 4 Academic inquir y elevate s som e forms, privilegin g the m relativ e t o others, at the same time that it appears to have little political significance .

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In th e 1950s , a generation o f politica l scientist s produce d studie s tha t circumscribed mas s politics. Communism, Conformity and Civil Liberties by Samuel Stouffer wa s the interpretive key to the civil rights movemen t and th e Vietna m Wa r fo r a large grou p o f scholars . This stud y o f atti tudes influenced civi l liberties scholarship after Worl d War II by charac terizing democrac y an d it s institutions a s likely to b e nurtured b y elite s and threatene d b y th e "masses " of ordinary people , or , i n th e languag e of the studies , "th e mas s public. " This researc h undercu t th e politica l authority o f the public in matters of fundamental rights . The public wa s a threat becaus e i t ha d th e wron g "opinions. " Aske d ho w the y fel t o n matters of policy, ordinary peopl e were seldom a source of knowledge o r law. They wer e marginalized i n favor o f elites, whose training a s doctor s in matter s o f abortion, o r lawyer s an d judges i n matter s o f free expres sion, gave them specia l authority. 5 In attitud e studies , th e "public " i s a political constructio n tha t sup ports a particular vie w o f law. Although no t produce d b y lawyers , thi s view manifest s itsel f i n th e bar' s interest s an d i n th e implication s o f a marginalized mas s public fo r th e institutiona l lif e o f the law. By valuin g experts, whethe r fo r thei r knowledg e o r opinion, th e studie s suppor t a n orientation t o courts. These were the institution s sensitiv e to fundamen tal rights an d freedoms . I n this way , the attitude studie s helped t o solid ify th e legal form in matters of civil rights and liberty. The Stouffer stud y supported value s associated with freedom, th e marketplace, and the mid dle class . Other, mor e progressiv e values , lik e equality , whic h ar e con nected i n Wester n cultur e t o claim s o f socia l justic e an d worker s movements, receiv e les s attention . Thi s wa s accompanie d b y a tur n toward politica l rights and awa y from economi c rights. This shift i n legal orientation i s linked t o courts throug h th e "Doubl e Standard " i n consti tutional jurisprudence. Par t o f constitutional la w for th e las t fift y years , the "Doubl e Standard " justifie s judicia l revie w wher e th e politica l process appears no t t o b e working properly . Subtly , th e subjec t o f right s became situated with respect to class, with ba d attitudes taking the plac e of education an d persona l hygiene 6 as features distinguishin g th e classes. By the mid-twentieth century , the ideology of popular intoleranc e wa s affecting movemen t strategies . The civi l right s movement , fo r instance , supported th e idea that ordinary folks, at least southern whit e ones, were a threa t t o racia l progress . I n th e Unite d State s durin g th e lat e 1960s , from th e rednecked supporter s o f the Ku Klux Klan as a picture of south ern bigotr y to public initiatives and referenda agains t fair housing, 7 ther e

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was reaso n t o suspec t th e attitude s hel d b y th e America n peopl e o n issues of equal rights and civi l liberties. The Stouffer stud y an d it s progeny contributed t o the specter of ordinary people threatening basi c liberties. B y implication , popula r institutions , lik e legislatures , especiall y state legislatures, wer e no t t o b e trusted. Learne d Hand—th e autho r o f the ide a that th e peopl e had t o defen d liberty , no t th e courts—notwith standing, the late 1950 s in America ushered i n a period in which only th e courts could b e trusted wit h the preservation o f rights. The consequence s fo r ga y right s ar e direc t an d powerful . Th e move ment wa s base d o n the specte r o f widespread homophobia , an d th e la w was see n a s a protective barrie r agains t discrimination . I n spit e o f th e role of law in criminalizin g homosexua l relation s an d th e polic e repres sion a t th e Stonewal l Ba r itself , th e post-Stonewal l response , whic h extended t o the bathhouse closings , linked homosexua l interests to legal claims i n th e for m o f civi l right s protection . Realis m i n la w school s tended t o leav e institutiona l elitis m intact , whil e informalis m turne d cynicism abou t th e powe r o f law o n it s head . Wit h th e radica l feminis t antipornography movement , the perception that the public is an illibera l mass come s full circle . That is , fear o f mas s politics reinforce s th e ide a that radical opposition t o law is reactionary. 8 Academic intellectuals hav e had a great dea l to say about socia l movements. The frameworks i n sociolog y an d politica l scienc e are varied an d discussion o f the appropriat e for m o f socia l scienc e inquir y int o move ment politic s continue s t o b e lively. 9 For th e mos t part , th e concer n o f movement scholar s is simply no t fo r th e role of law or legal institution s in th e live s o f activists . Mos t o f the literatur e o n collectiv e actio n an d the choic e t o participat e i n socia l movement s doe s no t amoun t t o th e kind o f state-centere d orientatio n suggeste d b y Gramsci . I n fact , th e most common framework extrapolate s fro m a model of individuals char acterizing group s o n th e basi s o f self-intereste d individua l choice . This framework contribute s t o th e socia l formulatio n o f liberal institutions , and b y isolatin g individual s an d leavin g th e stat e unexamine d i t serve s to maintain th e hegemony Gramsc i revealed . An exception to this general orientation is the work of Joseph Gusfiel d and hi s colleagues working o n "new " socia l movements. 10 Gusfield's ow n work brough t th e symboli c dimension s o f struggl e t o the for e t o revea l the interweaving o f law and politics . In the new socia l movements litera ture, scholar s hav e reconceptualize d collectiv e actio n i n respons e t o emerging form s o f movement practice—suc h a s the peac e movement ,

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student movements , anti-nuclear energ y protests , minority nationalism , gay rights, animal rights, religious fundamentalism, an d women's rights— that see m to lead inexorably to issues of identity.111 have suggested in th e preceding chapter s tha t movemen t analysi s o f identity show s how orga nization aroun d a form o f law influence s socia l relations. The constitu tive dimensio n o f law operates o n thes e relation s a s identities. Thus th e gay o r radica l feminis t activis t wh o identifie s wit h th e movemen t an d sees him o r hersel f i n movemen t term s i s gay o r radica l a t leas t i n par t because o f law . This ma y no t b e a s new a s som e ne w socia l movemen t theorists argue, 12 sinc e ther e wer e identit y dimension s t o th e politica l parties o f th e nineteent h century , an d religiou s movement s lik e Mor monism ar e certainl y constitutiv e o f identity. I t is , nevertheless, a key feature i n the constitutio n o f interests. In additio n t o this work , Pau l Burstei n ha s recently turne d hi s atten tion t o law, 13 an d Michae l McCann , i n Rights at Work: Pay Equity Reform and the Politics of Legal Mobilization,1^ ha s pushed th e constitu tive frame a s an elaboratio n o f Stuar t Scheingold' s "Myt h o f Rights/' 15 McCann's importan t boo k begin s wit h movements , an d works , a s h e says, fro m th e botto m up . It explicitl y look s for th e influenc e o f law i n movement practic e an d finds la w operatin g muc h a s Scheingol d described tw o decade s ago . Drawin g o n interview s wit h score s o f activists involve d i n pa y equit y reform , McCan n foun d law' s "mos t obvious positive contribution " wa s in movement building . That is, early favorable decision s wer e use d b y organizer s t o mobiliz e th e ran k an d file.16 Lawyer s wer e involve d here , i n way s simila r t o th e civi l right s movement,17 bu t labo r activist s playe d a relatively large r rol e an d hel d out th e promis e o f the la w in orde r t o gain suppor t fo r demand s tha t i n many case s wo n concession s withou t th e completio n o f litigation . A s McCann put s it , th e Suprem e Court' s Gunther ruling 18 an d th e distric t court's rulin g i n AFSCME V. State of Washington 19 "cas t a long shado w that significantl y refigure d relation s betwee n wome n worker s an d employers." 20 Drawin g o n sociolega l scholarshi p o f th e las t twent y years, McCann develop s and present s this observation i n a sophisticate d fashion. Fo r instance, he reminds u s that la w was a constraint a s well as an opportunity. "Th e logics of official antidiscriminatio n law, " he point s out, "wer e no t easil y refashione d t o conve y th e activists ' structura l account o f systemi c wag e discrimination." 21 I n othe r words , eve n a t it s height th e lega l opportunit y coul d onl y b e employe d withi n a libera l framework wit h privat e property an d individual worker s at its core.

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While technicall y a right s struggl e i n th e classi c sense , th e us e o f rights i n pa y equit y cases , a s depicte d b y McCann , draw s attentio n t o social relation s i n a manner tha t enable s u s to extrapolat e th e constitu tion o f interest s t o context s tha t ar e no t right s based . I shar e wit h McCann a belief i n th e importanc e o f contex t an d believ e furthe r tha t we must read la w in the places where movements operate . In each of th e movements discusse d i n thi s book , intellectual s hav e articulated a for m of law based o n relevant institutiona l lif e and movemen t opportunity . I n the case of gays defending th e baths, the rights claim traces its lineage to the Englis h noble s wh o demande d autonom y an d produce d th e Magn a Carta. In the cas e of lawyers on the America n Ba r Association's Commit tee o n Alternativ e Disput e Resolution , th e claim s for informalis m dra w on reformist tradition s that als o have a noble past. Professors a t the Har vard Progra m o n Negotiatio n depic t la w b y minimizin g th e rol e o f lawyers an d highlightin g th e principle s o f informalit y agains t a back ground o f distinctl y evi l traditional lega l processes. Here, the mobiliza tion i s against law and i n oppositio n t o rights. In addition t o the academic intellectual, movement s have organic the orists who wor k t o adapt th e strategie s an d maxim s o f the specifi c case s to the tenet s o f the movemen t an d th e inclination s o f the participants . Sandra Goodman , a n antipornograph y activis t i n Amherst , ha s expressed wit h grea t insigh t th e challenge s t o individual wome n a s th e movement evolve d int o a phas e unfamilia r t o most—tha t o f illega l action. In a statement rea d to the judge at her trial she said, "Thi s trial is not th e struggl e tha t w e wis h t o concentrat e on/ ' Similarly , ga y right s activists an d bathhous e owner s situate d thei r claim s s o as to mee t th e challenge o f keeping bathhouse s ope n i n a way tha t woul d strengthe n rather tha n debilitat e thei r movement . Th e institutiona l advantage s o f law school movements an d alternativ e disput e resolutio n (ADR ) ti e thei r intermediate strategist s mor e directl y t o th e state . Becaus e bot h hav e institutional position s fro m whic h t o work, intellectual s associate d wit h these movement s ar e abl e t o pursu e career s a t th e sam e time tha t the y work i n th e movement . Th e significanc e o f institutionalizatio n i n thi s form i s its lin k t o the state . This lin k i s what make s u s thin k tha t CLS , law an d economics , an d AD R lac k th e tensio n wit h establishe d powe r that w e expect o f critical or insurgent politica l movements . Politics imbricated wit h la w raises issue s as to wha t w e cal l politics 22 and wha t w e call law. Gramsci describe d la w in Italy a s ascending whil e religion diminishe d i n importance . H e sa w la w residin g somewher e

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between scienc e an d religio n a s an instrumen t o f stat e power , an d th e state a s "a n educator " an d a s "a n instrumen t o f rationalization/' 23 I n order t o understan d law' s function , Gramsc i hel d tha t la w ha d t o b e freed fro m transcenden t abstraction s an d place d i n context . Thes e requirements take us, even here near the end of this work, into struggle s over politics and epistemology . Conventiona l discours e makes it particu larly har d t o ge t beneat h th e claim s an d practice s o f politica l move ments. Th e struggle s w e hav e wit h abstractions—idea s abou t realit y beyond convention—ar e themselve s a facet o f state power . Much o f the languag e o f clas s struggl e an d hegemon y i s unfamilia r and henc e unappealing t o Americans. This may account fo r th e enthusi astic receptio n o f Miche l Foucault' s thesi s tha t contemporar y societ y had develope d system s o f authorit y tha t wer e beyon d law. 24 Yet, clas s analysis goes back a hundred years , to before th e liberal state emerged i n its presen t for m wit h it s more subtl e rationalizations . Th e battle s o f th e nineteenth centur y dre w th e line s o f economi c determinism . The y related th e socia l to the biologica l and worke d ou t th e scientifi c founda tions o f both . Fo r moder n socia l science , th e projec t o f socia l researc h shows ho w societ y produce s itself . This involve s relatin g th e sponta neous to the rigid b y lookin g a t movements t o see the law. For example , careers an d professiona l agenda s driv e th e AD R movement . Althoug h ADR ha s grass-roots rhetoric, and som e grass-roots support, th e bar associations an d th e judicial bureaucrac y generat e interes t i n the movemen t and th e foundation s facilitat e it s developmen t wit h thei r largesse . Here, a rhetoric i s appropriated an d powerfu l institution s identif y themselve s with th e commo n ma n o r woman . The socia l function o f the AD R move ment ma y wel l b e t o mak e thing s happe n withou t changin g clas s o r social relations. The movement agains t pornography , o n the othe r hand , is truly radical . It exist s in oppositio n t o traditional interests , an d whil e it uses law as a vehicle, it doe s so in an oppositional way . Some scholars have tried to account for the social relations by which we organize interests. Alain Touraine, who bucke d th e post-structural trend , is concerned wit h th e "glue " o f social relations, the element s o f societ y that hol d i t together. Fo r Touraine, structur e i s not somethin g tha t exist s independent o f people's activit y bu t i s "th e propert y o f a n activity." 25 Touraine break s dow n th e rigid structur e o f interests "outside " the state . Thus, the social structure is the structure of how a group moves, and pub lic life becomes a drama of social action and socia l relations. In the technical language of this framework, societ y consists of hierarchized system s of

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action wit h a t leas t two components : "historicity, " society' s capacit y t o produce th e model s b y whic h i t functions ; an d "clas s relations, " th e processes throug h whic h thes e model s becom e socia l practices. 26 Thes e concerns reflect th e politics of law presented her e with referenc e t o legal forms and moving from instrumenta l t o constitutive law. For American socia l theory abou t law, demonstrating th e principles i n constitutive la w bega n wit h th e earl y wor k o f CL S scholars . In th e lat e 1970s, th e challeng e wa s t o sho w tha t la w wa s mor e tha n word s o n a page o r pronouncement s fro m o n high . On e response cam e fro m labo r historian Kar l Klare . Drawin g fro m Dougla s Hay' s Albion's Fatal Tree and fro m hi s ow n work , "Th e Judicia l Deradicalizatio n o f the Wagne r Act," Klar e propose d lookin g a t law-makin g a s praxis.27 Thi s picture , merely outlined b y Klare, featured prominentl y i n my discussion of legal form i n chapte r 1 . The challeng e t o fill it in , however , wa s neve r take n up b y CL S becaus e th e movemen t turne d towar d realism . Thus, CL S ha s made it difficul t t o articulate th e role of law in th e constitutio n o f inter ests. Yet , fro m th e beginnin g o f th e Enlightenment , la w ha s bee n i n movements an d i n practice—i n lawyers ' offices , i n th e languag e o f equality, i n th e Iran-Contr a hearings , an d i n contemporar y feminism . I t has bee n par t o f u s al l along , eve n a s intellectuals , professiona l an d organic, have told u s law is theirs.

Positivism's Hierarchie s While the public's experience of constitutional right s should b e the nat ural foundation fo r right s i n a democratic system , th e dominan t classe s are very nervou s abou t th e public' s view s o n fundamenta l rights . Socia l research o n attitude s i s at th e cor e o f this anxiety . Thoughtfu l people , often progressiv e people , agoniz e ove r wha t t o d o about th e reactionar y attitudes o f the workin g class . They poin t ou t a working-class propen sity t o se e welfare a s an enem y standin g agains t obviou s clas s interests . The stud y o f law' s constitutiv e forc e recognize s link s betwee n socia l knowledge an d right s a s a subjec t o f research , whil e attitud e studie s leave the socia l and cultura l source s o f feelings unexamined . Wha t peo ple know wit h referenc e t o legal forms i s a source o f law. To the exten t that welfar e i s constructed a s charity, i t become s a form o f wealth. Thi s construction o f wealth determine s that a salary chec k pai d out , whethe r from a public o r private source , is "mine" while payments from th e wel fare departmen t ar e not. 28

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In the United States , the behaviora l turn, quantitativ e methods , and a framework o f attitudes ha d alread y begu n t o defin e th e contex t fo r civi l liberties whe n th e Stouffe r stud y cam e out. Stouffer' s 195 4 survey wa s based o n two publi c opinio n polls , on e b y Gallu p an d th e othe r b y th e National Opinio n Researc h Cente r a t th e Universit y o f Chicago. 29 Stou ffer's wor k i s presented a s scholarship o n people , o r " A Cross-section o f the Nation/ ' Th e stud y ha s its source s in th e intellectua l fermen t o f th e period, whe n the new behaviora l scienc e entered th e academy, accompa nied b y a wave o f fea r abou t fascis m an d communism . B y 1955 , wor k such a s T. W. Adorno's The Authoritarian Personality, an d th e genera l interest i n opinio n research , provide d th e conceptua l framewor k fo r Stouffer's study . Thi s framework , whic h recognize d th e masse s a s a threat, employe d a formulation o f opinion o r "attitude " research , a way of looking a t th e worl d tha t wa s oriented towar d feelings , th e registra tion o f affect , an d a n accountin g o f opinion. 30 Fort y year s afte r i t wa s written, Stouffer' s boo k provide s insigh t int o th e constructio n o f mas s publics a s threatening t o fundamental rights . Indeed, th e impac t o f thi s work an d subsequen t surve y researc h suc h a s The American Voter on political scienc e was to emphasize predictio n o f a public's propensit y t o choose on a narrow rang e of issues. 138

Stouffer compare s elites and masses , directl y addressin g th e politica l and lega l aspect s o f class. 31 Communit y leader s becom e th e basi s fo r comparison o n matter s o f toleration. Stouffe r describe s th e middl e an d working classe s a s reactionar y o n civi l liberties . Althoug h hopefu l that th e medi a an d opinio n leader s wil l sprea d th e messag e o f toler ance, 32 h e als o describe s th e authoritaria n tendencie s o f olde r Ameri cans, thos e wit h littl e education , southerners , farmers , an d clerica l workers, an d compare s thi s to the toleranc e o f college-educated, north ern, urba n managers . Muc h o f th e scholarl y wor k tha t followe d Stou ffer operate d fro m withi n thi s framewor k an d presente d fe w challenges t o hi s perspective. 33 Thi s i s true o f th e classic s o f th e earl y 1960s34 and subsequen t wor k tha t foun d a n elevate d standar d o f civi l liberties in elites as opposed t o masses. 35 Reprinting Stouffer' s table s i n a 198 5 article, Jame s L . Gibson an d Richar d D . Bingham minimiz e th e hysteria o f Stouffer' s tim e an d hol d tha t th e study , pu t i n thei r frame work, "clearl y demonstrate s th e tensio n betwee n majorit y rul e an d democracy."36 The critiqu e offere d b y Joh n Sullivan , Jame s Piereson , an d Georg e Marcus, altered the elite/mass dichotomy , substitutin g a model of democ-

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ratic decision . These scholars questione d th e link betwee n toleranc e an d democracy characteristi c o f the Stouffe r stud y an d subsequen t wor k i n the same tradition.37 They conclude d tha t the perceived greater toleranc e among those who participate in politics and are better educated i s related to other factors , an d henc e "spurious." 38 For them, economi c insecurit y and a combination o f low self-esteem an d dogmatis m ar e class based an d strongly relate d t o intolerance. Buildin g o n these critique s an d address ing som e of their limits , Jennife r Hochschild' s wor k o n equalit y break s from traditiona l attitud e researc h b y addressin g "belief s abou t distribu tive justice," tha t is , why American s d o no t deman d redistributio n o f wealth. I n addition , sh e addresses the ideologica l world s w e inhabit bu t remains attentiv e t o social scientifi c concern s fo r validit y (i n her sampl e of ric h an d poor ) an d th e qualitie s o f th e live s he r respondent s lead . Despite thes e advances , th e uni t o f he r analysi s i s stil l th e individual , presented throug h th e voices of the respondents, an d th e work i s frame d in terms o f attitudes abou t policy . Nevertheless, Hochschil d reveal s th e highly develope d ideologie s concernin g capitalism , dow n t o the accep tance o f inheritance an d th e laziness in the rich. 39 People d o not lik e th e tax structure , ye t they ar e reluctant t o soak the rich. Even at this level of sophistication w e ca n see the elitis m i n th e attitud e perspective . Whe n the author point s out "confusion " amon g her respondents, 40 which deni grates their opinions , she is supporting a hierarchy. One way to transcend th e subjectivit y tha t maintain s the silence s o n institutional powe r i s t o describ e th e culture s o f power—th e la w schools, the judicial conferences , th e foundations an d thei r agendas . I n critical scholarship , for instance , Lanc e Bennett ha s suggested drawin g more sophisticate d researc h o n publi c value s fro m welfar e studies . H e notes example s wher e detaile d ethnographi c an d sociologica l wor k portrays th e characte r o f law s an d institution s governin g th e poor . I n the cas e o f wor k o n welfare , th e attentio n t o cultur e an d practic e i s meant t o delineat e th e institutiona l natur e o f legal entitlement. 41 Com munity powe r studies , whic h com e fro m a differen t intellectua l (an d political) tradition tha n th e attitud e work , hav e draw n attentio n t o th e social relation s an d materia l condition s withi n whic h th e live s o f th e poor ar e led . Here , knowledg e rathe r tha n attitud e determine s value . In th e attentio n t o context , wor k suc h a s J. Anthon y Lukas' s Common Ground (1985) , whic h look s a t th e schoo l busin g controvers y i n Boston, Mar k E . Kann' s Middle Class Radicalism in Santa Monica (1986), about ren t contro l an d developmen t issues , and Murra y Levin' s

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Talk Radio (1987 ) revea l wher e clas s a s materia l condition , acces s t o power, an d perceptio n o f wha t i s "given " fi t int o th e constructio n o f expectation an d th e calculu s o f right. 42 Thes e studie s us e cultura l materials (e.g. , th e thing s peopl e sa y abou t thei r lives ) an d approac h them wit h th e sensitivit y t o th e relevanc e o f conceptua l an d ideologi cal constructions associate d wit h politica l theory . Thes e material s ma y also provide a reliable foundatio n fo r understandin g lega l forms. The y provide som e insigh t int o civi l libertie s i n general , an d particularl y rich description s o f property right s a s a phenomena i n the community . In these cases , the constraint s o n choic e becom e more evident tha n th e choice that w e know a s "attitude. " Transcending a n instrumenta l conceptio n o f interes t i s a ke y t o uncovering th e politics of form. I n his critique of group theory i n politi cal science, Mark Kesselman argues that Davi d Truman reduce s interest s to "subjectiv e attitude s an d preferences. " Truman , Kesselma n observes , failed t o "analyze the contingent relationshi p betwee n subjectiv e prefer ences an d objectiv e interests." 43 Other s hav e mad e tha t relationshi p more central. For instance, Gran t McConnell , i n The Decline of Agrarian Democracy, focuse d o n structura l chang e i n th e Unite d State s throug h "an objectiv e standar d t o judg e interests, " whic h h e suggest s mad e problematic "th e relationshi p betwee n interes t an d interes t group." 44 Over th e las t generation , publi c knowledg e ha s bee n see n increasingl y as a source o f law i n a sociologically sophisticate d sens e that reside s i n practice. Social practice s i n whic h lega l form s ar e base d ar e mor e fundamen tal than attitude , an d the y hav e a claim to authorit y i n matter s o f fun damental rights . Thi s clai m i s base d o n bot h a common-law traditio n that ha s no t ye t die d ou t o f America n practice , an d a sociopolitica l theory tha t place s popula r knowledg e a t the cente r o f political author ity. Constitutiona l scholar s ar e familia r wit h th e "suspec t classifica tions" of equal protection doctrin e (race, sex, alienage, and illegitimacy) , the unprotecte d speec h o f th e Firs t Amendmen t decision s (obscenity , libel, fighting words) , th e fundamental s o f du e proces s (generall y th e procedural protectio n o f the Bil l of Rights), and th e claim s to propert y recognized b y th e Constitution (one s where there is a legitimate expec tation o r interest) . A t thi s level , ther e i s a connection betwee n judicia l claims and publi c understanding . Th e public no t onl y receive s the dis tinctions, i t i s sometime s thei r source . Th e impediment , however , i s institutional.

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Institutional Hegemon y The projec t o n lega l formation s i n politic s bring s t o ligh t th e implica tions of constitutive forms like right, realism, remedy, and rage. By identifying th e wa y movement s understan d la w we may bette r interpre t th e hidden force s o f hierarchy i n liberal capitalis t state s as they ar e found i n the practic e o f realis m i n la w schools , i n th e fea r o f homosexualit y linked t o the AID S epidemic , i n th e emergenc e o f radical feminism , an d in the appeal to the middle ground a t the heart of ADR. Having see n ho w forms o f law determin e th e practic e o f politics b y delineatin g th e possi ble, w e ca n retur n t o a part o f politic s to o easil y overlooked , tha t is , institutions. Institution s ar e th e mos t highl y conventiona l an d rigi d legal form. Th e institutional delineatio n o f political life i s not just i n th e parameters outsid e which w e cannot reach—th e cit y halls we can't fight or the taxes that ar e said to be as inevitable a s death. More significantly , institutions ar e i n th e parameter s o f th e possibl e tha t operat e t o con struct politic s a t it s inceptio n b y influencin g ho w peopl e bin d them selves in movements . Some studie s o f politic s i n whic h stat e powe r take s a constitutiv e form demonstrat e its range and relevance, even if they d o not always use the languag e o f constitutiv e forms . A s part o f the effor t i n politica l sci ence research t o "brin g th e Stat e bac k in," 45 scholars have examined th e role o f stat e elite s in formin g working-clas s consciousness. 46 This mov e from a "society-centered" explanatio n fo r clas s interests t o the stat e i s little known i n la w studies . As an endeavo r tha t ha s trouble gettin g ou t of th e state' s ow n doctrina l constructions , th e America n stud y o f la w seems fa r remove d fro m a politic s explaine d i n term s o f "capitalis t industrialization."47 Yet , interest-group scholarshi p i s a manifestation o f elites forming working-clas s consciousness . As interests, the expression s of group needs are sanitized s o that the y d o not loo k like class or purel y economic interests. 48 This i s the framewor k replicate d b y politica l sci ence work o n law. In hi s stud y o f America n governmenta l processes , Building the New American State, Stephe n Skowrone k als o make s th e stat e mor e complex.49 His construction her e is theoretical, historical , an d compara tive. Hi s subsequent wor k o n th e America n presidenc y adde d th e idio syncrasies of personality an d circumstance. 50 Discrete dynamics "o f men and thei r times " are pronounced; genera l dynamic s tha t defin e institu tions "i n time" are obscured. The modern presidenc y i s now understoo d to chang e i n differen t contexts , suc h a s international relationship s a s

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compared t o domesti c relationships . Th e presidenc y i n practic e i s a n expression o f Franklin D . Roosevelt an d th e establishmen t o f the Execu tive Offic e i n 1939. 5I Skowronek' s ide a tha t onl y th e emergen t relation s matter, an d tha t th e submerge d d o not, misse s som e of the deepe r con stitutive dimension s o f law, suc h a s constitutiona l considerations . Hi s conception i s that neithe r th e moder n no r th e constitutiona l construc tion o f presidential histor y directl y addresse s the presidenc y a s an institution operatin g i n a politica l order , o r th e presiden t a s a n acto r i n political time . I n orde r t o focu s o n institutions , on e doe s no t nee d t o obviate th e power s o f law. On e only need s mor e sophisticate d tool s fo r understanding la w than thos e we take from conventiona l practice . The Cult of the Court, which I wrote in 1987 , focused o n the ways reverence fo r th e Suprem e Cour t structure s politica l actio n i n th e Unite d States.52 While institution s revea l th e structure s o f politics impose d b y forms o f law, some traditional candidate s fo r consideratio n i n th e analy sis of structures—race , sex , an d clas s (o r economi c condition)—see m not to be "legal" at all. The constitutive vie w of law, however, hold s tha t they are . America ha s move d fro m a cult o f the robe , wit h it s emphasi s on specia l mysteries linke d t o medieval form s an d archai c rituals , to th e bureaucratic form s o f institution an d hierarchy , whic h constitut e a cul t of the court . This shift permeate s America n politic s and i s changing th e way law maintains it s empire. The effec t o f "entrenchment, " o r th e creatio n o f a Charter o f Right s for Canad a to supplant a n act of the Britis h Parliament a s the fundamen tal organizing institution , ha s called Canadia n scholar s to look closel y a t the impac t o f judicial institution s o n politics. One aspect in the creatio n of a fundamental lega l process wit h judges an d appellat e litigatio n a t it s center is its effect o n the arrangement o f powers between differen t level s of the governmen t i n Canada . The effect o f the proces s o f entrenchmen t and th e corollar y elevatio n o f judges has been to centralize the develop ment o f fundamenta l lega l conceptions. 53 Jud y Fudg e point s ou t tha t "the entrenchment o f a justiciable charte r o f rights in the Canadian Con stitution wa s no t a response t o th e demand s o f popula r struggle , bu t was instead a n essential element i n the centra l government's respons e t o a popula r struggle." 54 Fudg e als o show s how , i n th e real m o f feminis t demands, th e Charte r ha s affecte d politica l discourse . Feminist s i n Canada mobilize d t o include languag e in the Charte r tha t woul d protec t sex equality. They als o provided tha t Sectio n 28 , which guarantee d tha t the right s an d freedom s unde r th e Charte r applie d equall y t o wome n

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and men , woul d no t b e subjec t t o legislative override . But , particularl y with respec t t o th e effec t o f th e Charte r o n th e politica l debat e sur rounding sexua l assault, Fudg e holds that "[b] y reconstituting th e polit ical discourse in terms of rights, the Charter has polarized an d narrowe d the debat e withou t challengin g prevailin g practices. " She finds tha t th e Charter hardene d th e "ideologica l separation " betwee n publi c an d pri vate by focusing o n how the state should respond to sexual violence and drawing feminist s "int o th e state' s agenda. " Th e result, sh e makes clear , is that "th e socia l constructio n o f sexualit y an d th e socia l relation s o f power i n which sexua l practices take place fade int o the background." 55 One o f the puzzle s i n America n politic s ove r th e las t generatio n ha s been the propensity fo r conservative s t o stand alon e in callin g attentio n to the link s amon g libera l ideology , professiona l elites , an d th e courts . Paradoxically, thos e mos t resistan t t o sharin g th e wealt h hav e emerge d as the mos t suspiciou s o f the elit e theor y o f civi l libertie s an d judicia l activism. 56 Thi s relationship require s mor e carefu l investigatio n o f th e actors an d th e communities , bot h socia l an d scholarly , i n orde r t o demonstrate th e consequence s o f the politica l stance s take n b y judge s and jurists fo r th e ideologica l environmen t o f socia l movements . Th e conventional perspectiv e o n publi c attitude s i s characteristically libera l in a t leas t tw o senses . I n th e Madisonian , untrustin g sense , attitud e studies ar e liberal b y compariso n t o the wor k o f neoconservatives lik e Richard Morgan , whos e criticis m o f "right s production " i s directe d a t "legal intellectuals an d interes t grou p advocates." 57 In th e neoconserva tive ideology , right s ar e no t "really " there , an d Morgan , lik e Walte r Berns an d Christophe r Wolfe , criticize s socia l engineerin g b y lawyer s and courts . The attitude perspectiv e i s also liberal i n th e contemporary , everyday sense . In championin g right s suc h a s privacy an d expression , it i s certainly no t classicall y conservative . Bu t i n no t developin g a critique o f inequality, th e attitude perspectiv e i s not ver y radica l either . Distrust o f th e publi c i n matter s o f "civi l liberty " correlate s wit h skepticism abou t institution s closel y associate d wit h popula r cultur e (e.g., executive s an d legislatures ) an d suppor t fo r institution s tha t ar e more insulated fro m tha t culture , suc h as courts. Public opinion survey s that find respec t fo r th e Suprem e Court , relativ e t o other nationa l insti tutions, are an example. This respect, revealed ove r the last four decade s by surve y research, 58 reflects th e elit e orientation o f civil liberties liber alism. Th e Suprem e Court' s authorit y i n constitutiona l matter s an d a similar identification o f rights with litigation are the central institutiona l

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correlates bearin g o n lega l formation s i n politics . Suppor t fo r th e Supreme Cour t appear s t o b e grounded i n it s specia l connectio n t o law . The Cour t i s ranked mor e favorably tha n Congres s o r th e presidenc y i n about hal f of the survey s don e b y politica l scientists, 59 although ther e is little evidenc e tha t th e Suprem e Cour t ha s a "special plac e either i n th e psyche o r i n th e childhoo d socializatio n o f Americans" o r tha t th e out comes o f it s decision s "comman d sweepin g generalize d approval/' 60 Scholars studyin g thes e survey s sugges t tha t th e Cour t i s ranked mor e favorably du e to the special publics in the legal profession tha t ar e attentive to its work an d nurtur e it s mystique . Another institutiona l dimensio n in American politics is the attempt t o deal wit h conflict s amon g elite s b y elevatin g th e courts . David Barnu m did thi s i n hi s stud y o f th e controvers y ove r th e Nazi s marchin g i n Skokie.61 Gibson an d Bingha m ar e led t o the conclusio n tha t "th e mos t democratic thin g elite s did " i n th e Skoki e cas e was go to court. 62 The y cite Barnu m t o the effec t tha t a minority o f elite s i n Skoki e di d "urg e that th e issu e b e submitte d t o th e court s an d tha t th e decisio n o f th e courts b e obeyed." 63 Thi s i s libera l democrac y wit h a theoretica l vengeance. Th e characteristi c democrati c institution , b y thi s analysis , becomes th e courts , an d th e characteristi c democrati c stanc e become s resistance to popular will . The legitimacy o f an institutio n i s established i n par t becaus e peopl e turn towar d i t an d awa y fro m othe r institution s i n th e politica l processes. Althoug h legitimac y ma y no t b e a zero-su m game, 64 con fidence i n on e institution, suc h a s the picture o f the Suprem e Cour t a s a body o f lawgiver s (maintaine d eve n i n th e mids t o f th e mos t intens e controversy), i s quite clearl y a reflection o f the pictur e o f other institu tions, suc h a s Congres s a s a plac e o f deal s an d self-interest . Fo r th e Supreme Cour t sinc e th e Ne w Deal , legitimac y ha s bee n "proces s based." Tha t is , it ha s depende d o n a n understandin g o f fundamenta l rights that justifies judges becomin g involve d whe n som e action "seem s to obstruc t politica l representatio n an d accountability." 65 B y this ratio nale, court s ar e believe d t o b e superio r t o legislatures i n the protectio n of fundamental rights . An institutional link betwee n court s and politica l or proces s right s ha s characterize d th e socia l "field " o f movement poli tics. The greates t impac t o f process-based theorie s i s the clai m they la y on th e protectio n o f basi c right s i n th e Constitutio n fo r judges, or , a s Laurence Tribe put s it , "th e impoverishe d relevanc e o f the Constitutio n for everyon e excep t judges." 66

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The aspiration t o go "al l the wa y t o the Suprem e Court, " ofte n hear d early in litigation, ha s consequences tha t ar e another dimensio n o f ideological impact . Thi s clai m entail s a consciousness tha t havin g reache d the Supreme Court one has reached th e end o f the line. The case of land ing right s i n th e Unite d State s fo r th e British-Frenc h Concord e Super sonic airplan e i n th e lat e 1970 s exemplifies thi s institutiona l authority . When Lon g Island protester s learne d o f the Suprem e Court's decisio n t o allow th e plan e t o land , thei r enthusias m fo r th e struggl e diminishe d dramatically.67 Certainly , protes t doe s not alway s ceas e when th e Cour t makes a decision, bu t th e institutiona l dispositio n i n tha t directio n ha s become mor e marke d i n th e post-wa r period. 68 Indeed , seein g politica l possibility i n term s o f judicial activis m ha s bee n usurpin g ou r under standing o f the Constitutio n a s a function o f the "institutions , behav iors, and understandings " tha t for m th e political culture. 69 The present inquiry , thoug h i t approaches group s from a constitutiv e perspective, for the most part cut s across the categories of class. Like law, there i s a tendency o f interest grou p formulation s t o relegate economi c inequalities t o contextua l status , on e amon g th e man y way s i n whic h groups differ . E . P . Thompson's conclusio n t o Whigs and Hunters i s a rejoinder t o those who think la w is simply an outgrowth o f class power. 70 Law mediates clas s relations t o the advantag e o f the ruler s and impose s inhibitions o n the rulers . Law mystifies clas s rule bu t i s more than mer e sham. The defens e o f the citize n fro m power' s all-inclusiv e claims , say s Thompson, i s an unqualifie d huma n good . M y argumen t i s a little mor e guarded. I n a constitutive perspective , valu e is less like something insti tutions are awarded an d mor e like the way the institutions ar e known . A consequenc e o f constitutiv e theor y fo r th e stud y o f la w i n move ments has bee n a different pictur e o f the relation s o f groups i n law fro m the usua l "demographic " approac h (i.e. , farmers , women , etc. ) tha t i s part o f a pluralist perspective , an d wher e variet y i s built fro m demand s and socia l indicators . Th e grea t difference s betwee n th e group s exam ined her e hav e not figured prominentl y i n th e analysis . That remain s t o be done as part o f the politics of constitutive law. A related consequenc e has bee n identificatio n o f non-obviou s movement s an d surprisin g alliances. W e hav e no t inquire d simpl y int o self-proclaime d "socia l movements." 71 Fro m th e ver y socia l an d spirite d movemen t o f Anglo Saxon yeoman and their Europea n allies across the North America n con tinent to the most specific concern s about pornograph y i n the latter par t of th e twentiet h century , movement s ar e peopl e actin g i n concer t t o

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pursue interest s tha t ar e eithe r articulate d o r articulable . T o accept a conventional mytholog y tha t treat s movement s a s outsiders seekin g t o get in is to fall into the trap o f pluralism this boo k ha s made every effor t to avoid. Of course, this framework suggest s that som e movements mov e more than others do. The movement for legal abortion was certainly mor e sedentary afte r it s 197 3 success in Roe v. Wade, and i n the last decad e of the twentiet h centur y change s o n th e Suprem e Cour t tha t threate n tha t constitutional protection hav e motivated descendan t pro-choic e forces . In the case of the AD R movement , operatio n within a professional con text an d th e nature o f the claim s compel participants t o play dow n thei r demands an d presen t thei r interest s a s th e inevitabl e consequenc e o f how the y vie w th e world . Similarly , th e attentio n t o conceptua l cate gories suggest s non-obviou s alliances , lik e the on e that i s said t o exis t between traditional conservatives and feminists o n the issue of pornography. Further analysis, however, is less compelling in support o f the actua l existence o f suc h a n alliance. In case s such a s this, the ideologica l driv e of liberal thought stop s wher e contrar y evidenc e o f social life emerges . Movement identit y i n a conceptual sens e also contributes t o how w e see strong claims , such as those made by gays faced wit h the closing of bath houses and th e AID S epidemic . A strategy tha t a t first seem s overblown , ] or a t leas t no t addresse d instrumentall y t o the need s o f the moment , i s seen o n furthe r reflectio n t o b e informe d b y th e socia l fact s o f gay lif e during the AID S crisis, a more reasonable, albeit grand, strategy . ( I conclud e her e wit h attentio n t o th e simila r impac t o f "law' s inno cence" 72 o n th e rol e o f law i n constitutin g class , race, an d sex , an d it s role i n constitutin g variou s politica l interests. 73 The portrayal o f grou p interests i n th e previou s chapter s buil t o n scholarshi p i n th e construc tivist tradition. Activists were engaged in a debate within the movemen t at a tim e o f grav e crisi s fo r th e ga y community . Bot h "realist " move ments, thos e aroun d th e politic s o f th e curriculu m an d thos e aroun d alternative processes , ar e entirely professiona l an d ver y self-consciou s about thei r ideas . Sander, fo r instance , i s not "substantive " i n th e sam e sense tha t othe r activists , suc h a s thos e opposin g pornography , are . Dworkin wa s not, i n the earl y year s of the antipornograph y movement , proposing specifi c ordinances . Yet, the politics in each movement illumi nates a constitutive perspectiv e fo r oppresse d group s generally . B y calling attentio n t o the relativ e powe r o f the group s involve d w e continu e the inquiry int o the way legal power i s hidden. Ultimately, authorit y i n politic s lie s in determination s abou t th e wa y

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the worl d is , not simpl y ho w peopl e fee l abou t it . Th e exten t t o whic h "interests" have been define d a s having feeling s o r demand s rather tha n knowledge i s a powerful agen t fo r maintainin g authorit y relations . Fo r example, whe n a welfare worke r comment s concernin g a client' s mis take, "H e says . .. h e is on Home Relief... I think h e means TADC," 7 4 h e demonstrates tha t assertion s o f property right s ar e subject t o correctio n and refinemen t b y experts , bu t th e authorit y o f the poo r t o participat e in the discussio n i s substantially diminishe d b y a lack o f autonomy an d the technical discours e o f welfare property . This lack o f autonomy lead s to characterizin g th e recipient s accordin g t o thei r menta l o r socia l health, an d thei r claim s o n th e stat e becom e a function o f these condi tions. The social worker no w tend s "t o lay the blam e for wast e on 'emo tional disturbance / th e 'multiproble m family / th e 'female-centere d family/ o r th e poo r man' s propensit y towar d schizophrenia , whic h reduces ou r commo n huma n squalo r t o an exoti c psychologica l squalo r defined b y class." 75 As Douglas Hay , Karl Klare, an d other s mad e clear , this involvement , n o matter ho w sympathetic , lik e the grace of the gen try i n the late Middle Ages, reaffirms th e hierarchies. 76 Social service worker s teac h wha t propert y i s in a way tha t give s th e workers, an d henc e th e state , control . Fo r instance , i n on e disabilit y interview observe d i n Chico , California, i n 1988 , a man referre d t o hi s entitlement i n term s o f the paper s h e kept i n a little whit e ban k pouc h and th e peopl e h e knew wh o would handl e th e paper s for him . Alread y on disability, he was applying fo r Supplementa l Securit y Income . He di d not rea d o r write , bu t h e sa w his benefit s "i n there " (i n the pouch ) an d hoped that , wit h th e cas e worker's help , th e paper s migh t b e negotiabl e for food . Pointin g t o hi s papers , h e said , " I goofed i t up . Se e the thing s in there, I don't understan d al l the words . . . . I see the letter s o n differ ent can s an d boxe s an d I know wha t th e bo x is. " But hi s cas e worke r would fix it . "Norma , she' s good people, " he said . Anothe r man , als o i n Chico, wa s tryin g t o ge t o n disabilit y an d havin g a har d time . H e brought hi s lif e histor y o f pain t o the disabilit y process , bu t describe d his reaction t o the proces s a s " I get thi s feelin g I just wan t t o get i n my truck an d ge t u p i n th e mountain s an d stay. " H e wa s taugh t tha t th e bureaucracy woul d no t mak e it eas y fo r him . The distinctiv e featur e o f the manager s i s that the y gai n authorit y fro m th e stat e throug h thei r positions a s expert s an d officials , an d th e languag e o f propert y main tains thos e relations . Manager s o f subsidize d housing , welfar e workers , and lega l advocate s se e themselve s a s helpers . The y understan d th e

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expectations, whil e recipient s ma y kno w onl y "th e signature s o r th e forms the y need/" 77 The pervasive taken-for-grantedness o f property an d th e wa y politic s is arraye d aroun d i t mak e th e publi c understandin g o f thi s constitu tional righ t importan t an d instructiv e fo r th e discussio n o f politica l interests. We ca n se e the manifestation s o f law i n contemporar y strug gles ove r housing . Followin g th e "Listeners ' Actio n o n Homelessnes s and Housing " sponsore d b y radi o statio n WBA I i n Ne w Yor k Cit y i n 1989, activist s proclaime d thei r movemen t a success b y heraldin g th e numbers o f people wh o marche d o r wer e arrested, th e coverag e and th e support amon g law-makers , al l with clea r affirmatio n tha t th e homeles s were withou t property , withou t entitlement , withou t lega l righ t t o housing. 78 The bia s reflectin g th e hierarchie s o f attitude scholarshi p i s evident i n th e languag e o f property . Th e limite d framewor k o f th e 1950s, wit h it s distrus t o f th e citizen , constitute s th e wa y w e spea k about entitlemen t i n the 1990s . In the particularities o f entitlement, atti tude is an instrument fo r ignorin g expectations . Looking a t group s i n term s o f ho w the y articulat e demand s draw s attention to their own identity. This may give depth to our understandin g of political strateg y an d t o ou r pictur e o f law. This dept h amount s t o a critical self-consciousness , an d i t i s no t alway s welcome . Bu t i n tw o respects a degree of self-consciousness i s desirable. First, the academy is a source o f strengt h fo r movement s tha t challeng e th e exercis e o f ra w power. Powe r i s rationalized i n the academy ; th e arguments an d th e evi dence ar e lined up . Rather tha n acced e t o the academy' s clai m o f inno cence, we should not e that its complicity is analogous to that of law. Each have their specialties , bu t scholar s and lawyer s bot h wor k o n particula r problems, suc h a s abortion o r soli d waste , a t the sam e time. Second, th e attention t o th e relationship s betwee n la w an d struggle , o r la w an d change, are in the end mor e supportive tha t undermining . While an individual ga y activis t ma y b e reluctan t t o becom e th e focu s o f academi c inquiry fo r a number o f reasons, no t th e leas t o f which i s the inheren t objectification, th e movemen t a s a whole thrive s o n attentio n fro m th e academic community .

Legal Politic s The politics of law is not simpl y a reaction to legalism, less formal activit y that take s place outside the cour t o r without lawyers . Politics imbricate d

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with la w sometime s feature s it s lega l trappings , a s when Chie f Justic e Warren Burge r gav e his keynot e speec h i n St . Pau l (se e chapter 4) , bu t even then law' s role in politic s may b e difficul t t o see. In the framewor k used here , legalis m i s reconceived a s the basi s fo r a politics o f law tha t looks lik e politics tempere d an d shape d b y lega l forms (eve n where , a s in Burger' s speech , i t i s denied) . Here , I examin e th e epistemologica l debates surroundin g rac e theory an d feminis m t o uncover way s o f recognizing th e law in politics. The constitutive dimensio n o f law on race and th e way the law mask s the constructio n o f rac e i n America n politic s ar e eviden t i n Patrici a Williams's wor k o n property , a s well a s Derrick Bell' s foreword t o th e Harvard Law Review (examinin g th e 198 4 term o f the Suprem e Court) , where h e describe d civi l right s a s "a n inexac t euphemis m fo r racia l law."79 The wor k o f bot h scholar s ha s a mythic qualit y tha t reveal s th e law in parables. Bell draws attention t o the absence of major racia l issue s decided b y th e Suprem e Cour t i n 1984 , bu t instea d o f th e traditiona l doctrinal discussion , th e articl e i s a n exchang e wit h th e imagine d Geneva Crenshaw , a civil rights lawye r i n Mississipp i wh o wa s injure d by a racist attac k i n 1964 . The story, thoug h i t has all the trappings o f a fairy tale , mythic figures, heavenl y bodies , and heroi c exploits , is full o f real bu t little-know n characters , suc h a s William Rober t Ming , Jr. , wh o from 194 7 to 1953 , while at the University o f Chicago, was the first blac k to hold a full-time facult y positio n a t a white law school. With referenc e to matter s o f racial law , its lawyers , an d thei r struggles , th e stor y is , t o use the demu r o f Stanley Fish, "embedde d i n conviction." 80 Conventional jurisprudence i s uncomfortabl e wit h conviction , par ticularly i f i t i s too intens e o r move s i n th e wron g direction . Convic tion may , i n th e extreme , threate n th e consensu s ove r th e rules . Thi s was th e cas e i n th e civi l right s movemen t whe n dissenter s challenge d the premises of Brown v. Board of Education. Th e bodie s in these strug gles ofte n remai n hidden , bu t convictio n ha s a tendency t o cal l atten tion t o th e bodie s behin d th e law . Whil e commitmen t o r convictio n may lea d jurisprudence t o th e politic s o f socia l relations , th e powe r o f critical rac e theor y an d feminis t jurisprudenc e i s their explici t atten tion t o thes e relations . W e sa w i n th e las t chapte r ho w Catharin e MacKinnon offer s a powerful jurisprudentia l analysi s o f th e materia l dimensions o f la w an d th e failur e o f liberalism. 81 I n Feminism Unmodified, sh e present s a view o f wha t la w i s toda y fro m th e perspectiv e o f "gender as a distinct inequality, " parallel to race and clas s inequalities. 82

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Here, an d wit h referenc e t o pornography , MacKinno n take s o n th e politics tha t define s sex , emphasizin g th e dominatio n o f me n an d th e way treating se x as a "difference rathe r tha n a hierarchy" mystifie s th e power relations . The force behin d MacKinnon' s jurisprudence i s its explici t attentio n to the socia l reality o f women's experience. I n he r introductio n t o Feminism Unmodified, "Th e Ar t o f th e Impossible, " sh e propose s tha t "women ge t their clas s status throug h thei r sexua l relations." 83 She also argues that gende r i s a distinct inequality , whic h als o contributes t o th e social embodimen t an d expressio n o f rac e an d clas s inequalities . Th e gender facto r operate s i n th e sam e way tha t "th e masculinit y o f mone y as a form o f power take s nothing fro m it s function a s capital—though i t undermines som e models of economics." 84

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MacKinnon's theme s epitomiz e a politic s buil t o n th e constitutiv e dimensions o f law . Se x i s the ke y t o la w becaus e "[t]h e socia l relatio n between th e sexe s is organized s o that me n ma y dominat e an d thi s rela tion i s sexual—i n fact , i s sex. " Liberalism , th e prevailin g ideolog y behind America n law , holds that "gende r i s basically a difference rathe r than a hierarchy," whic h "hide s th e forc e behin d th e description. " Th e same can b e said o f law in the are a of gender relations . The "difference " celebrated i n la w a s neutral i s hierarchical whe n examine d i n th e con text o f an entire syste m of laws. Moving fro m la w to social life, sh e says, "Pornography turn s gendere d inequalit y int o speec h whic h ha s made i t a right. " Whil e libera l conventio n imagine s th e nee d fo r protecte d speech i n ligh t o f a government hostil e to sexuality , fo r MacKinno n th e state is hostile to women . The constitutiv e relationshi p betwee n idea s an d socia l life i n politic s is highlighted i n a critique o f MacKinnon b y Fish. 85 According t o Fish , her essay s brilliantl y exemplif y wha t h e call s "th e strateg y o f change. " Her method , h e says , i s t o emplo y he r ow n vocabulary , on e "tha t departs fro m ordinar y (o r a s she migh t sa y 'ideologicall y frozen' ) usag e in way s tha t canno t b e ignored." 86 Fo r example , th e phras e "rap e i n ordinary circumstance s . . . i s provocative becaus e i n th e wa y o f think ing MacKinnon wishes to dislodge, rape is defined a s an exceptional an d statistically devian t ac t agains t a background o f mutually agree d upo n sexual transactions. " Makin g rap e " a constitutiv e ingredien t o f every day heterosexua l intercourse , includin g intercours e i n marriage " ma y not dismantl e a n entir e lega l structure , bu t certai n assumption s ar e undermined whe n w e see the law in a new way. 87

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MacKinnon, note s Fish, posits male and femal e way s of knowing. Th e male way o f knowin g i s universalizing an d committe d t o objectivity ; i t "does not comprehend it s own perspectivity, doe s not recognize . . . that the way it apprehends it s world i s a form o f [the world's] subjugation/' 88 In thi s way , sexua l relation s becom e th e foundatio n fo r epistemolog y and fo r law . Thes e observation s sugges t tha t "aperspectivity"—th e claiming o f universality fo r a partial poin t o f view—may b e considere d a centra l featur e o f th e debat e brough t o n b y th e antipornograph y movement. Bu t ther e ar e othe r ways , prio r t o epistemology , i n whic h sexual relations an d la w are linked. Thus , Fis h say s that "MacKinno n i s not, despit e he r ow n pronouncements , exhortin g u s t o a new wa y o f knowing, bu t t o know differen t thing s tha n w e currentl y kno w (abou t rape, pornography , etc. ) in th e sam e (and only ) way w e know anything , by havin g bee n convince d o f it." 89 T o Fish, "aperspectivity " i s " a nam e for th e conditio n o f believin g tha t wha t yo u believ e i s in fac t true , an d that i s a condition on e cannot transcend." 90 Still, Fish does not provide an account o f social relations that counter s MacKinnon's. Fish claims that MacKinno n undermine s he r ow n positio n inadvertently i n discussin g Mar y Daly' s analysis of suttee, " a practice in which Indian widows are supposed to throw themselves upon their dea d husband's funera l pyre s i n grief." 91 While Dal y describe s wome n wh o practice sutte e a s "drugged , pushed , browbeaten , o r otherwis e coerce d by th e disma l an d frightenin g prospec t o f widowhood i n India n soci ety," MacKinnon emphasize s tha t Daly' s attentio n t o the surfac e coer cions fail s t o understan d th e deepe r coercio n tha t lead s "som e wome n who ar e no t drugge d o r pushe d t o fling themselve s o n th e pyr e quit e 'freely.'"92 These , fo r MacKinnon , "ar e suttee' s deepes t victims : wome n who want to die when their husban d dies , who volunteer fo r self-immo lation becaus e the y believ e thei r lif e i s over whe n hi s is." 93 Althoug h Fish praise s th e attentio n MacKinno n give s to will , ther e i s little i n hi s analysis that leads us to see the role of communities in building th e step s to the funeral pyres . To Fish, the power to create the world "i s not a matter of epistemology, of th e producin g o f account s o f ho w w e kno w wha t w e know, " bu t rather " a powe r tha t attend s successfu l persuasio n . . . a power whos e effects ar e always and necessaril y objectifying " becaus e bein g "unde r it s sway (an d everyon e i s at ever y momen t o f hi s o r he r life ) i s to se e th e world fro m a point o f view." 94 According t o Fish, "Wha t i s wrong wit h Indian women from th e feminist poin t of view is not that they are willing

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(in a precisely non-voluntarist sense ) to die for th e belief s that hav e captured them , bu t that they hav e not bee n captured—constituted, formed , made int o wha t the y are—b y th e righ t beliefs." 95 Her e Fis h cloak s hi s radical subjectivit y i n surfac e objectivity . H e doe s no t distinguis h between th e subjectiv e knowin g advocate d b y MacKinno n an d th e so called objectiv e knowin g tha t make s claim s o f universality . B y no t addressing th e variou s source s o f coercion , Fis h doe s wha t th e liberal s do and thereby reveals his value to them. He focuses hi s attention on th e project o f indeterminac y whil e operatin g a t a surface leve l o f conven tionality. He is the embodiment o f detached reason. 96

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The constitutiv e projec t i s gaining ground . Whil e it s roots are in th e tradition o f social scientifi c studie s o f law, the seduction s i n tha t tradi tion continu e t o presen t hazards . Whether referrin g bac k t o th e posi tivism o f poorl y theorize d numbe r crunching , o r t o a n equall y problematic highl y relativize d interpretivism , th e framewor k use d i n this book has required a nurturing defens e fro m friend s an d foe s alike. 97 Some of the ways we have seen victims being made in the process of providing lega l right s represen t thi s constitutiv e approach . Kristi n Bumiller, whos e book The Civil Rights Society called attention to the role of civil rights law in constituting victims , has further develope d the picture o f how law' s form manifest s itsel f i n politics . Bumille r notes , "Th e debate o n rap e la w refor m ha s divide d feminist s betwee n thos e wh o have faith i n the law . . . and those who do not." 98 For those with faith i n the law , the politica l goa l is legislation tha t doe s not stereotyp e th e vic tim. Those who fear th e law see its form a s inherently responsibl e for th e oppression o f wome n an d d o no t believ e i n reform . Wher e rap e case s traditionally tur n o n consen t an d lin k rap e to sex, the feminist respons e has bee n attentio n t o rape as an ac t o f dominatio n an d violence , tha t is , as a crime against women. Law reforms (i.e. , the rape shield law s and th e elimination o f corroboration requirements ) tr y t o mitigate the lega l tactics tha t undermin e th e victim' s credibility . "Real " o r prototypica l rape—a woma n attacke d b y a strange r wit h a letha l weapo n o n th e street—is no t th e trial' s conceptio n (o r a t leas t no t th e defendant's) . Bumiller argue s for a "perspective on the politics of rape that focuse s o n the social construction o f power relations in rape trials," where, sh e says "legal languag e reinforce s existin g definition s o f rape." 99 The symboli c dimension o f rap e i s connecte d t o socia l structure , an d certainl y t o race. 100 Domination o f black s in th e America n Sout h throug h th e imag e of the blac k rapist amounts to rape for white s and repression fo r blacks .

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The forms of law in this book dra w on these sorts of differences, alway s with attentio n t o how peopl e organiz e themselve s wit h referenc e t o th e law. Th e cleares t paralle l wit h thes e epistemologica l debate s i s i n th e antipornography movement , where for a time the law was considered alie n territory an d radical feminist communitie s were constituted i n oppositio n to it. In the struggle to keep the bath s open in San Francisco, where ther e was faith i n the law, a group of entrepreneurs wer e drawn t o the law an d to the belie f in legal right tha t ha d constitute d s o much of gay life for th e previous twent y years . To guarantee th e continuit y o f their enterprise , these entrepreneurs employe d th e courts , as well as the sens e in the com munity tha t right s were something th e oppressed coul d tur n to . The AD R movements i n la w schoo l ar e bot h mor e officially constitute d i n institu tions and less willing to have their institutional position s made explicit . Contemporary socia l theor y domesticate s critiqu e b y developin g a tone o f relativism . Anthropology , o f course , ha s bee n centra l t o thi s process because relativism has been its contribution i n the twentieth cen tury. Modernism i n cultur e generally—in design , i n architecture, i n economic structure—ha s bee n optimisti c an d determinativ e i n th e fashio n pointed ou t b y postmodernists. Modernism i n political and socia l theory, however, ha s not, a t leas t no t i n th e West. Accordin g t o anthropologis t George Marcus , "[0]n e migh t loo k firs t t o th e hesitations , misrecogni tions, an d anxietie s articulate d i n th e discourse s o f problem-solvin g institutions an d thei r nurturin g professiona l discipline s tha t ar e bent o n the technica l contro l o f an alway s unrul y world." 101 Indeed , mas s toxi c torts, suc h as those against asbestos manufacturers, canno t b e reduced t o the quotidian, bu t what is postmodern is necessarily the response to such events. Tha t is , ho w d o w e interpre t th e cataclysmi c event s o f th e moment (o r more accurately fo r socia l science , ho w d o we describ e th e way others have handled thes e events)? This is what Marcu s has done: [T]he internal human relations among family members , the face-to-fac e medium of most anthropological subjects, canno t b e understood withou t also intimately understanding how several different sphere s of specialized activity, paralle l to, discontinuou s i n space , and simultaneou s i n time, with th e day-to-da y interaction s o f family member s als o construct th e family an d it s wealth . Suc h a huma n famil y i s tie d t o it s "unsee n worlds."102 Marcus's sens e that forms—som e lega l an d som e not—are implicate d i n the everyday seem s right. Bu t the modern ma y not b e juxtaposed agains t the everyda y i n th e wa y socia l theorist s hav e proposed . Fo r Marcus ,

153

THE CONSTITUTIO N O F INTEREST S

"Everyday lif e i s the sea t o f orde r i n socia l life , an d upo n thi s orde r i s built i n huma n action , th e virtues , vices , contingencies , dramas , an d themes of life/' 103 In the constitutive analysis of poverty, we face the fact that the poor are who the y ar e becaus e o f the law. I04 The la w o f propert y i s what make s some people poor and som e not. Interpretation o f that law further imbed s poverty i n layers of understanding tha t mas k legal forms. I t helps to take the la w a s given whe n arguin g tha t peopl e ar e poo r becaus e o f lac k o f effort o n thei r behalf . Man y o f the riches t peopl e i n th e worl d ar e ric h through n o effort o f their own , bu t this does not matter to the law. People have wealth throug h property . Famil y is another sourc e of wealth, bu t i t too is a legal construction. The interesting thin g about the "poor " in comparison t o the "family" 105 i s how differen t the y ar e as social categories . "Family" i s a category self-consciousl y buil t an d attende d t o by thos e i n it. We say that we want a family. Whether w e succeed or fail, family i s our construction. Poverty , however , i s a category o f others ; th e condition s described ar e felt b y others as life, not as poverty.

154

All of the movements discusse d i n this boo k result from self-consciou s effort t o tak e coheren t socia l action . I n studyin g th e aspect s o f la w i n social life, I have tried to let movements define themselves while exploring the rol e of law in tha t definition . Thi s perspective relie s o n movement s themselves t o revea l wha t th e la w mean s t o the m throug h publi c dis course. The social reality o f the legal form i s based upo n self-definition — that is , people withi n movement s addressin g eac h other . Thi s bring s u s back t o the ways law operates in communities . When w e see law and ar e conscious o f its commands, th e wa y w e see the comman d i n a stop sign , the law operates only on the surface. La w is much more powerful whe n i t operates i n societ y an d o n ou r consciousness . O f course, the promis e of critical consciousness has been one of the most important claims for movements that woul d stan d outsid e law. 106 By expanding th e reach o f law in theory, I suggest tha t la w ha s always bee n mor e expansiv e i n fac t tha n critical commentators have been inclined t o acknowledge. Law operates at the leve l of consciousness whe n radica l activist s challeng e pornograph y and becom e preoccupied wit h debate s on the First Amendment. La w also operates this way when gays aspire to thwart the state because "they hav e a right," onl y t o becom e entangle d i n a politics that pit s th e movemen t against publi c healt h concerns . La w i s i n politic s whe n thes e sort s o f things happen, and the politics of these things may be the law's politics in all the imperial respects that the rule of law suggests.

Notes

Notes t o Prefac e i. Correspondenc e wit h th e author, sprin g 1995 . 2. Davi d M . Trubek an d Joh n Esser , "'Critica l Empiricism ' i n Ameri can Legal Studies: Paradox, Program , o r Pandora's Box? " Law and Social Inquiry 1 4 (1989): 3-52. Bu t se e Christin e Harringto n an d Barbara Yngvesson's response, "Interpretiv e Sociologica l Research," Law and Social Inquiry 1 5 (1990): 135. 3. Christin e B . Harrington an d Sall y Engl e Merry, "Ideologica l Pro duction: Th e Makin g o f Community Mediation, " Law and Society Review 2 2 (1988): 709-36.

Notes to Chapte r 1 1. I use the terms law and legal phenomena interchangeably t o refer t o the bodie s of laws and th e syste m o f authority tha t enforce s them . I us e the law, wit h th e definit e article , wher e i t i s a n idiomati c practice, suc h a s "the la w on the books " or "th e stron g ar m o f th e law," and refers to a way of doing things. This use is a jurisprudential conventio n mor e commo n i n Americ a tha n i n Englan d an d other commo n la w countries . 2. Alexi s d e Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 4t h ed . (Ne w York: H. G. Langley, 1845) . 3. Jame s Willard Hurst , The Growth of American Law: The Law Makers (Boston: Little, Brown, 1950) , 3. 4. Alexande r Hamilto n e t al. , The Federalist (Ne w York : Rando m House, 1937) . 5. See , for instance , Wilson' s acceptanc e speec h fo r hi s party's nomi nation, Jul y 7 , 1912 : "Big busines s i s not dangerou s becaus e i t i s big, bu t becaus e it s bignes s i s an unwholesom e inflatio n create d by privileges and exemption s whic h i t ought no t to enjoy." Arthu r S. Link, ed . The Papers of Woodrow Wilson (Princeton : Princeto n University Press , 1966—1994). 155

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156

6. Joh n Brigham , "Right , Rag e an d Remedy/ ' Studies in American Political Development 2 (1988). 7. Kar l Klare, "La w Making a s Praxis," Telos 40 (1979): 122. 8. Georgi a Cod e Ann. @ 16-6- 2 (1984 ) provides: "(a ) A person com mits th e offens e o f sodom y whe n h e perform s o r submit s t o an y sexual act involving th e sex organs of one person an d the mouth o r anus of another. . . .(b) A person convicted o f the offense o f sodomy shall b e punished b y imprisonmen t fo r no t les s than on e nor mor e than 2 0 years." 9. Se e Klare, "La w Makin g a s Praxis," for a discussion o f "praxis, " a term fro m critica l theory , whic h underlie s Germa n socia l science' s picture o f law. 10. Roger s Smit h reiterate d thi s perspectiv e a t th e America n Politica l Science Associatio n 199 2 Annual Meeting , Augus t 29-Septembe r 3, 1992 , Chicago , Illinois , wher e h e discusse d law s i n term s o f a model tha t woul d brin g independen t an d dependen t variable s together. 11. Le e Epstein, a t the meetin g cite d i n not e 10 , described makin g la w the dependen t variabl e as a new contribution . 12. Indeed , text s themselve s ma y b e looked a t constitutively , tha t is , with attentio n t o the practices that giv e them meaning . 13. Dougla s Ha y e t al. , Albion's Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth-Century England (New York: Free Press, 1975) . 14. Eleano r Flexner, Century of Struggle: The Women's Rights Movement in the United States (1959 ; reprint, Cambridge : Harvard Universit y Press, 1975) . 15. Se e Josep h Schumpeter , Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy (New York: Harper an d Row , 1942) ; Jacques Donzelot , The Policing of Families (Ne w York: Random House , 1979) ; Samuel Bowle s an d Herbert Gintis , Schooling in Capitalist America (Ne w York: Basi c Books, 1976). 16. Felix Frankfurter an d James M. Landis, The Business of the Supreme Court (New York: Macmillan, 1928) , 307. 17. Fre d Frohock , The Abortion Controversy (Westport , Conn. : Green wood Press , 1983) ; Kristin Luker, Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood (Berkeley: University o f California Press , 1984) . 18. Philli p Cooper , Hard Judicial Choices (London: Oxfor d Universit y Press, 1988) . 19. Ibid. , 347 .

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 1

20. Nea l Milner , "Comparativ e Analysi s o f Pattern s o f Complianc e wit h Supreme Court Decisions: Miranda and the Police in Four Communities," Law and Society Review 5 (1971): 126; Kenneth M. Dolbeare and Phillip Hammond, The School Prayer Decisions: From Court Policy to Local Practice (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971). 21. Charle s A . Johnson an d Bradle y C . Canon, Judicial Policies: Implementation and Impact (Washington , D.C. : Congressional Quarterl y Press, 1984) , 25. 22. Stephe n Wasby , The Impact of the United States Supreme Court (Homewood, 111. : Dorsey Press, 1970) . 23. Stuar t Macaulay , "Non-Contractua l Relation s i n Business : A Preliminary Study, " American Sociological Review 2 8 (1963): 55. 24. Davi d M . Engel, "Cases , Conflict, an d Accommodation : Pattern s o f Legal Interaction i n a Small Community," American Bar Foundation Research Journal 4 (1983), 803-74. 25. Se e in particula r th e wor k o f som e members o f the Amhers t Semi nar i n "Specia l Issue : Law , Ideology , an d Socia l Research, " Legal Studies Forum 9 (1985); David Nelken , "Beyon d th e Stud y o f 'La w and Society'? " American Bar Foundation Research Journal 2 (spring 1986): 323-38. 26. Se e Kare n O'Connor , Women's Organizations' Use of the Courts (Lexington, Mass. : Lexington Books , 1980) , for additiona l exam ples. 27. Mar y Katzenstein , "Marchin g Throug h th e Institutions " (pape r presented a t Amherst College , February 19 , 1990). 28. Thurma n W . Arnold, The Symbols of Government (New Haven: Yale University Press , 1935) . 29. Kar l Llewellyn, The Bramble Bush. 30. Hanna h Pitkin , Wittgenstein and Justice (Berkeley : Universit y o f California Press , 1978) . 31. Josep h R . Gusfield , The Culture of Public Problems: Drinking-Driving and the Symbolic Order (Chicago: University o f Chicago Press , 1981); Murra y J . Edelman , Constructing the Political Spectacle (Chicago: University o f Chicago Press, 1988) . 32. Stuar t Scheingold , The Politics of Rights (Ne w Haven: Yale University Press, 1974) , xi. 33. Isaa c Balbus , The Dialectics of Legal Repression (Ne w York: Russel l Sage, 1973) ; idem, "Commodit y For m and Lega l Form: An Essa y o n the 'Relativ e Autonomy ' o f the Law, " Law and Society Review 11 2

157

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158

(1977): 571; Zenon Bankowsk i an d Geof f Mungham , Images of Law (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1976) ; Bernard Edelman, Ownership of the Image: Elements for a Marxist Theory of Law (London : Routledge and Kega n Paul, 1979) . 34. Ala n Hunt , The Sociological Movement in Law (Philadelphia : Tem ple University Press , 1978). 35. Gusfield , Culture of Public Problems, 141. 36. Ibid. , 143 . 37. Rober t Gordon , "Critica l Lega l Histories," Stanford Law Review 3 6 (1984): 127. 38. Willia m H . Simon , "Legality , Bureaucrac y an d Clas s in th e Welfar e State," Yale Law Journal 92 (1983): 1198 ; Robert Wiesberg , "Dereg ulating Death, " Supreme Court Review (1983) : 303. 39. Gordon , "Critica l Legal Histories," 121. 40. Owe n Fiss, "Free Speech and Socia l Structure" (unpublished manu script, 1985) . 41. Ibid . 42. Sall y Merry , "Concept s o f La w an d Justic e amon g Working-Clas s Americans: Ideology a s Culture," Legal Studies Forum 9 (1985): 67; idem, Getting Justice and Getting Even (Chicago : Universit y o f Chicago Press, 1990) . 43. Johnso n an d Canon , Judicial Policies; Thoma s Dalton , The State Politics of Judicial and Congressional Reform (Westport , Conn. : Greenwood Press , 1985) ; see also John Brigham , "Judicia l Impac t upon Socia l Practices," Legal Studies Forum 9 (1985): 51. 44. 41 3 U.S. 15 (1973). Joseph F. Kobylka, " A Court-Created Contex t fo r Group Litigation : Libertaria n Group s an d Obscenity, " Journal of Politics 49 (1987): 1061. 45. Arye h Neier , Defending My Enemy (New York: Dutton, 1979) . 46. Richar d A . Brisbin, "Antoni n Scalia , William Brennan , an d th e Politics o f Expression : A Stud y o f Lega l Violenc e an d Repression, " American Political Science Review 8 7 (1993) : 912-27 ; se e als o Brigham, "Judicia l Impact" ; idem , Civil Liberties and American Democracy (Washington , D.C. : Congressiona l Quarterl y Press , 1984). 47. Joh n Griffith s a s quote d i n Mar k Galanter , "Justic e i n Man y Rooms: Courts, Privat e Ordering , an d Indigenou s Law, " Journal of Legal Pluralism (and Unofficial Law) 1 9 (1981): 48. 48. Ibid .

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 1

49. Boaventur a d e Sousa Santos , "Th e La w of the Oppressed : Th e Con struction an d Reproductio n o f Legalit y i n Pasargada, " Law and Society Review 1 2 (1977): 5. 50. Pete r Fitzpatrick, "Marxis m an d Lega l Pluralism/' Australian Journal of Law and Society 1 (1983): 45-59. 51. See , e.g. , Laur a Nade r an d Harr y F . Todd , eds. , The Disputing Process: Law in Ten Societies (New York: Columbia University Press , 1978). 52. Sall y Engl e Merry , "Lega l Pluralism : Revie w Essay/ ' Law and Society Review 5 (1988); see also idem, "Anthropology , Law , and Transi tional Processes," Annual Review of Anthropology 2 1 (1992): 357. 53. Bria n Z . Tamanaha, "Th e Foll y o f the 'Socia l Scientific ' Concep t o f Legal Pluralism, " Journal of Law and Society 2 0 (summe r 1993) : 192-217.

54. Boaventur a d e Sous a Santos , Toward a New Common Sense: Law, Science and Politics in the Paradigmatic Transition (Ne w York: Routledge, 1995) . 55. Merry , "Lega l Pluralism/' 869 ; Tamanaha, "Foll y o f the 'Socia l Scientific' Concept, " 192 . 56. Mindi e Lazarus-Blac k an d Susa n Hirsch , eds. , Contested States: Law, Hegemony, and Resistance (New York: Routledge, 1994) . 57. Antoni o Gramsci , "Histor y o f the Subalter n Classes : Methodologi cal Criteria," in Selections from the Prison Notebooks, ed . an d trans . Q. H . Hoar e an d G . N . Smith . Se e als o Ranaji t Guha , "O n Som e Aspects of the Historiography o f Colonial India," Subaltern Studies: Writings on South Asian History and Society 1 (1980). 58. Accordin g t o Kendall Thomas, th e subaltern' s vie w tell s a story o f which constitutiona l histor y "ha s save d al l too littl e o f authenti c record an d trie d t o forget." Fo r Thomas, writin g i n th e traditio n o f critical rac e theory, w e should kno w abou t th e subalter n t o se t th e historical recor d straigh t an d i n orde r t o hea r th e voice s from th e grass roots . Kendal l Thomas , "Roug e e t Noi r Reread : A Popula r Constitutional Histor y o f the Angelo Herndon Case, " Southern California Law Review 6 5 (1992): 2665. 59. Rosemar y J . Coombe, "Th e Propertie s o f Culture and th e Politics of Possessing Identity : Nativ e Claim s i n th e Cultura l Appropriatio n Controversy," Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 5 (1993). 60. Joh n Opie , The Law of the Land: Two Hundred Years of American Farmland Policy (Lincoln : Universit y o f Nebrask a Press , 1987) ;

159

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160

James Willar d Hurst , Law and Markets in United States History (Madison: University o f Wisconsin Press , 1980) . 61. Sall y Fal k Moore , Law as Process (Cambridge: Harvard Universit y Press, 1978) , 57. 62. Ibid . 63. Ibid . 64. Ibid . 65. Philli p Selznick, "Sociolog y o f Law and Natura l Law/' Natural Law Forum 6 (1961): 84-108. 66. Euge n Ehrlich , The Fundamental Principles of the Sociology of Law (Cambridge: Harvard Universit y Press , 1936). 67. Selznick , "Natura l Law/ ' 85. 68. Ibid. , 100 . 69. Balbus , "Commodit y For m and Lega l Form," 571. 70. Bo b Fine, "La w an d Class, " in Bo b Fine et al. , eds., Capitalism and the Rule of Law (London: Hutchinson, 1979) . 71. Adelaid e H. Villmoare, "Issue s of Conceptualization i n the Stud y o f Change in and around Courts : Forms of Law" (paper presented at the Annual Meeting o f the Law and Societ y Association, Toronto, 1982). 72. Doree n McBarnet , "La w an d Capital : The Role of Lega l Form an d Legal Actors, " International Journal of the Sociology of Law 1 2 (1984): 231-38. 73. Ibid. , 231. 74. Ibid. , 232 . 75. "Th e first respons e o f th e ta x avoide r i n justifying activitie s o r complaining abou t measure s take n agains t them , i s to invok e th e rule o f law . Tax avoiders—o r avoider s o f an y law—carefull y an d deliberately operat e i n th e gre y area s o f th e law , i n th e n o man' s land o f practices not specificall y prohibite d b y law" (ibid., 236). 76. Se e Christine B . Harrington, "Creatin g Gap s and Makin g Markets, " Law and Policy 10 (1988): 293-316; Magali Sarfatti Larson , The Rise of Professionalism: A Sociological Analysis (Berkeley : University o f California Press , 1977) . 77. Jennife r Friese n and Ronald K . L. Collins, "Looking Bac k on Muller v. Oregon',' American Bar Association Journal 69 (1983): 472—79. 78. Clemen t Vose , "NAAC P Strategy i n th e Covenan t Cases, " Western Reserve Law Review 7 (winter 1955) : 101-45 ; idem, "Th e Nationa l Consumer's Leagu e an d th e Brandei s Brief, " Midwest Journal of Political Science 1 (1957): 267-90.

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 1

79. Theodor e L . Becker, ed . Political Trials (Indianapolis : Bobbs-Mer rill, 1971) . 80. Ibid. , xi . 81. Th e five part s o f th e boo k ar e "Politica l Trials, " "Politica l Trial s that Becom e Political 'Trials/ " "Politica l 'Trials/ " "'Political ' Tri als," and " A 'Political Trial/ " 82. Becker , Political Trials, xiii . 83. Ibid. , 183 . 84. Anthon y Lewis , Gideon's Trumpet (New York: Random House, 1964). 85. Barbar a Craig , Chada: The Story of an Epic Constitutional Struggle (London: Oxford Universit y Press , 1988) . 86. Stanle y Fish , "Denni s Martine z an d th e Use s of Theory," Yale Law Journal 96 (1987): 1773-1800 . 87. Dic k Hebdige , Subculture: The Meaning of Style (Ne w York : Methuen, 1979) , 128. 88. Loui s Althusser, Lenin and Philosophy (New York: Monthly Review , 1971), 166. 89. Klare , "Law Making a s Practice," 1979 . 90. Ibid . 91. Th e Act, a result o f extended working-clas s struggles , initially rep resented rea l gain s tha t wer e subjecte d t o th e need s o f capita l b y the Court's decisions . 92. Dougla s Hay , "Property , Authorit y an d th e Crimina l Law, " in Ha y et al., Albion's Fatal Tree. 93. Gertrud e Himmelfarb , The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age (New York: Knopf, 1983) . 94. Nelken , "Beyon d th e Stud y o f 'La w and Society'? " 95. Zilla h R . Eisenstein, The Female Body and the Law (Berkeley : Uni versity o f California Press , 1988) ; Catharine MacKinnon , Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law (Cambridge : Harvar d Uni versity Press , 1987) . 96. On e of the challenge s t o a constitutive vie w i s the "man y voices " perspective i n som e variation s o f moder n liberalism . Se e Carri e Menkel-Meadow, "Exclude d Voices : New Voice s in th e Lega l Pro fession," University of Miami Law Review 4 2 (1987): 29-53. 97. I have writte n abou t practice s befor e an d thi s formulatio n ha s a n important plac e in sociology o f law scholarship . 98. Elizabet h C . Stanton, "Declaratio n o f Sentiments," in The First Convention ever Called to Discuss the Civil and Political Rights of

161

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 2

Women (Senec a Falls, N.Y.: n.p., 1848) ; See also Flexner, Century of Struggle. 99. Ga y Health Clinic , "Saf e Sex, " San Francisco, 1983. 100. Marti n Shapiro , Who Guards the Guardians? (Atlanta: University o f Georgia Press , 1989) . 101. Kar l Klare, "Th e Judicia l Deradicalizatio n o f the Wagne r Ac t an d the Origins of Modern Lega l Consciousness, 1937-1941/ ' Minnesota Law Review 6 2 (1978): 265; Willliam Fo r bath, Law and the Shaping of the American Labor Movement (Cambridge : Harvar d Universit y Press, 1991) . 102. Eugen e Genovese , Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (New York: Pantheon Books , 1972) ; Mark V. Tushnet, The NAACP's Legal Strategy against Segregated Education, 1925-1950 (Chape l Hill: University o f North Carolin a Press, 1987) . 103. Davi d Silverma n an d Bria n Torode, The Material Word: Some Theories of Language and Its Limits (London : Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1980). 104. Ibid. , 2 .

162

Notes t o Chapte r 2 1. Anthon y Lewis , Gideon's Trumpet (Ne w York : Rando m House , 1964). 2. Fo r mor e theoretica l discussio n sensitiv e t o the constitutiv e posi tions advance d here , se e Alan Hunt , Explorations in Law and Society: Toward a Constitutive Theory of Law (Ne w York: Routledge , 1993); Am y Bartholome w an d Ala n Hunt , "What' s Wron g wit h Rights?" (pape r presente d a t Rethinkin g Marxis m Conference , Amherst, Massachusetts , Decembe r 3-5 , 1989) . 3. Jos h Gamson , "Silence , Death , an d th e Invisibl e Enemy : AID S Activism an d Socia l Movemen t 'Newness/ " Social Problems 3 6 (1989): 35I~674. Michae l McCan n an d Geral d Houseman , Judging the Constitution: Critical Essays (Boston : Little , Brown , 1989) . This works fo r equal ity i n the importanc e o f "opportunity. " Similarly , Miche l Foucaul t depicted critic s o f sexualit y no t a s a roadbloc k t o th e "powe r mechanism" o f sexua l repressio n bu t "i n fac t par t o f the sam e historical network a s the thing i t denounces" (The History of Sexuality [New York: Random House, 1978]) , 10.

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 2

5. Thi s fac t abou t right s i s conveyed throug h storie s o r "chronicles' ' by Derric k Bel l in hi s reflectio n o n th e civi l right s experienc e i n And We Are Not Saved (Ne w York : Basi c Books , 1987) . It i s als o central t o th e analysi s offere d b y Catharin e MacKinno n i n Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law (Cambridge : Harvar d University Press , 1987) . 6. Foucault , Sexuality. 7. Ev e Kosofsky Sedgwick , The Epistemology of the Closet (Berkeley: University o f California Press , 1990) . 8. Se e Howard Gillman , "Th e Right s Trump" (pape r presente d a t th e American Politica l Scienc e Association Annua l Meeting , Washing ton, D.C. , August 28-Septembe r 2 , 1991 , 1). 9. Critique s of equal protection guarantee s ar e becoming mor e prominent. Se e Bell, And We Are Not Saved; Kristin Bumiller , The Civil Rights Society: The Social Construction of Victims (Baltimore : John s Hopkins Universit y Press , 1988) ; Ala n Freeman , "Legitimizin g Racial Discrimination throug h Antidiscriminatio n Law : A Critica l Review o f Suprem e Cour t Doctrine/ ' Minnesota Law Review 6 2 (1978): 1049-119. 10. Henr y Abraham, Freedom and the Court: Civil Rights and Liberties in the United States, 4t h ed. (Oxford: Oxfor d Universit y Press , 1982). 11. J . Roland Pennock, "Right s and Citizenship, " News: For Teachers of Political Science (Washington , D.C. : America n Politica l Scienc e Association, 1981) . 12. Ti m Kaye, "Natural La w Theory an d Lega l Positivism: Two Sides of the Sam e Practica l Coin? " Journal of Law and Society 1 4 (1987): 303-20. 13. Pennock , "Rights, " 13. 14. Sheldo n Wolin, Politics and Vision (Cambridge: Harvard Universit y Press, i960) , 27. 15. Earnes t Barker, Church, State and Study (London: Methuen, 1930) , 23. 16. Edwar d S . Cor win, The Higher Law Background of American Constitutional Law (Ithaca : Cornell University Press , 1928) , 38. 17. Ibid., 37. 18. Loui s Hartz, The Liberal Tradition in America (Ne w York: Harcourt , Brace, 1955). 19. Richar d Flathman , The Practice of Rights (Cambridge : Cambridg e University Press , 1976) ; John Brigham , Civil Liberties and American Democracy (Washington, D.C. : Congressional Quarterly Books , 1984).

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20. Whe n w e sa y " I hav e a right t o a hearing," w e ar e sayin g some thing abou t the world. Ofte n a claim about a legal part of the worl d is not s o much differen t fro m describin g th e testimony i n a hearing we might hav e attended . 21. Th e Amherst Seminar , eds., "Special Issue: Law and Ideology," Law and Society Review 2 2 (1988). 22. Se e Linda C. McClain, "Atomisti c Man ' Revisited : Liberalism, Con nection, an d Feminis t Jurisprudence, " Southern California Law Review 6 5 (1992): 1171-264. 23. Wesle y Hohfeld , Fundamental Legal Conceptions (New Haven : Yale University Press , 1919). 24. Flathman , Practice of Rights. 25. I n thi s contest , protectio n fo r flag burner s an d defendant s di d no t seem to win man y votes . 26. Mar i Matsuda , "Lookin g t o th e Bottom : Critica l Lega l Studie s an d Reparations," Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 2 2 (1987): 323; Richard Delgado, "The Ethereal Scholar: Does Critical Legal Studies Have What Minorities Want?" Harvard Civil Rights—Civil Liberties Law Review 22 (1987): 301. 27. McClain , "Atomisti c Man' Revisted"; Robert o Alejandro, Hermeneutics, Citizenship, and the Public Sphere (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993) ; Susan Moller Okin, Justice, Gender, and the Family (New York: Basic Books, 1989); see also Charles Taylor, "Atomism, " in Powers, Possessions and Freedom: Essays in Honour ofC. B. Macpherson, ed. Alkis Kontos (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1979). 28. Se e chapter 5 below. 29. Ala n Freeman , "Racism , Right s an d th e Ques t fo r Equalit y o f Opportunity: A Critical Lega l Essay, " Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 2 3 (1988): 295-392. 30. Patrici a Williams , "Alchemica l Notes : Reconstructing Ideal s fro m Deconstructed Rights, " Harvard Civil Rights—Civil Liberties Law Review 2 2 (1987): 401 . 31. Joh n Brigha m and Christine B . Harrington, "Realis m and Its Consequences: A n Inquir y int o Contemporar y Socio-lega l Research, " International Journal of the Sociology of Law 1 7 (1988): 41-62; Mar tin Shapiro , Law and Politics in the Supreme Court (New York: Free Press, 1964) . 32. Sanfor d Levinson , Constitutional Faith (Princeton : Princeto n Uni versity Press , 1989) .

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33. Willia m Wiecek , Equal Justice under Law: Constitutional Development, 1835-1875 (Ne w York: Harper an d Row , 1982) . 34. Joh n P . Roche , "Th e Foundin g Fathers : A Refor m Caucu s i n Action," American Political Science Review 5 5 (1961): 67-68. 35. Th e women's movement in the United State s began at least with th e Revolution's rhetori c o f equality. I t wa s stimulate d an d supporte d in par t b y effort s t o en d slaver y an d gre w ou t o f the abolitionis t societies forme d i n th e 1830s . Attention t o women' s educatio n i n New Englan d i n th e mid-i8oo s wa s another stimulus . The root s of contemporary feminis m ca n b e located i n the unite d fron t eviden t in th e progra m pu t fort h b y th e Grimk e sisters , wh o brough t th e issue of women's rights to the abolitionist struggle . 36. Eleano r Flexner, Century of Struggle: The Women's Rights Movement in the United States (1959 ; reprint, Cambridge : Harvard Universit y Press, 1975) . In 185 4 Massachusetts responde d t o part o f the claim s and passe d the married woman' s property act . 37. Arnol d Paul , Conservative Crisis and the Rule of Law, 1887-1895 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press , 1969) . 38. A traditional perspectiv e o n th e mobilizatio n o f politics to chang e law is presented i n Richard Kluger , Simple Justice (Ne w York: Random House, 1976) . For an analysis from withi n the civil rights movement that sees it at least in part as a construction of the law, see Mark V. Tushnet, The NAACP'S Legal Strategy against Segregated Education, 1925-1950 (Chape l Hill: University o f North Carolina Press, 1987). 39. Stuar t Scheingold , The Politics of Rights (Ne w Haven: Yale Univer sity Press, 1974) , 83. 40. Squatte r claim s differ fro m th e hopes of housing activists. We do not hear th e homeles s challengin g propert y right s becaus e thei r nam e says they do not have them. The movement for housing draws instead from sympath y for the plight of those without decen t shelter . 41. Kristi n Luker , Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood (Berkeley : University o f California Press , 1984) ; Faye D. Ginsburg, Contested Lives: The Abortion Debate in an American Community (Berkeley : University o f California Press , 1989) . 42. Clau s Offe, "Ne w Socia l Movements: Challenging th e Boundaries of Institutional Politics, " Social Research 52 (1985): 817-68. 43. Blanc a G . Silvestrini , "'Th e Worl d W e Ente r Whe n Claimin g Rights': Latinos and th e Quest for Culture " (paper presente d t o th e Amherst Seminar , Amherst , Massachusetts , 1991) , 1.

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44. Tushnet , The NAACP'S Legal Strategy; Kluger, Simple Justice. 45. Se e Bell, And We Are Not Saved; Williams, "Alchemica l Notes/ ' 46. Michae l McCann, Rights at Work: Pay Equity Reform and the Politics of Legal Mobilization (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994). 47. Bumiller , Civil Rights Society. 48. Ala n Freeman , "Legitimizin g Racia l Discriminatio n throug h Antidiscrimination Law : A Critical Review o f Supreme Cour t Doc trine/' Minnesota Law Review 6 2 (1978): 1049. 49. Fo r instance, Gaetan Dugas, an airline steward, average d 25 0 sexual liaisons pe r yea r accordin g t o Rand y Shilts , And the Band Played On: People, Politics and the AIDS Epidemic (Ne w York: St. Martin' s Press, 1987) . A revie w o f Shilts' s boo k i n th e New York Times, October 7 , 1987 , also summarized th e book' s findings tha t " a slo w government response , lac k o f attention fro m th e pres s an d th e ini tial failur e o f th e ga y communit y t o accep t lif e styl e changes " allowed AID S to rage out o f control .

166

50. Margare t Cruikshank , The Gay and Lesbian Liberation Movement (New York: Routledge, 1992) . 51. Th e chronicl e o f thes e struggle s a t th e tim e wa s presente d i n "AIDS Media : Counter-Representations, " Ne w America n Fil m an d Video Series, Whitney Museu m o f American Art , Januar y 15-Feb ruary 5 , 1989 . 52. Bruc e Boone , "Ga y Languag e a s Politica l Praxis : Th e Poetr y o f Frank O'Hara, " Social Text 1 (winter 1979) : 59-92. 53. Ibid. , 76 . According t o Boone , "[I] f bars , baths , and othe r institu tions brought gays together, that much was certainly to the good. . . . But these sam e institutions als o exploited ga y men bot h financially and sexually . An d mos t important o f all, gay men characteristicall y interiorized the commodity relation thus given as the defining mean ing of sexuality itself . Thus promiscuity, self-rejection , an d th e reifi cation of the sexual experience as a series of 'numbers' or 'tricks' . . . often brough t th e commodity relatio n to the center o f gay self-expe rience" (79-80). 54. Davi d F . Greenberg, The Construction of Homosexuality (Chicago : University o f Chicago Press, 1988) , 458. 55. Thi s group , wit h it s allianc e o f gay s an d lesbians , seem s t o b e a union in law—an alliance based on the shared situatio n of minority sexual orientation and the divergent life styles that accompany tha t orientation.

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56. Fo r a discussion o f the impac t AID S ha d o n th e smal l designer s i n the fashion industry , se e Melinda Katz , "La w in the Private Sector : Small Designer s an d Civi l Rights " (Honor s Thesis , Universit y o f Massachusetts, Amherst , 1987) . 57. I n Novembe r 1989 , afte r tw o decade s o f effort , Massachusett s became th e secon d stat e t o pas s a law prohibitin g discriminatio n against homosexual s i n employment , housing , credit , an d publi c accommodation. B y tha t time , eight y municipalitie s ha d simila r measures. While eleve n state s had executiv e order s o r civi l servic e rules tha t barre d discrimination , Wisconsi n wa s th e onl y othe r state wit h comprehensiv e legislation . " A Gay Rights La w Is Voted in Massachusetts," New York Times, Novembe r 1 , 1989. 58. A constitutiona l challeng e t o Georgia' s la w agains t sodomy , th e Supreme Cour t decisio n wa s grounde d i n th e privac y doctrine s developed i n the late 1960s . Justice Byro n White distinguishe d ga y rights fro m thos e o f married persons , holdin g th e latte r t o b e mor e expansive. Bowers v. Hardwick 47 8 U.S. 186 (1986). 59. Joh n Brigham , The Cult of the Court (Philadelphia: Templ e Univer sity Press, 1987) , 214. 60. Shilts , And the Band Played On, 352-53; see also Gary Schweikhart , "Shilts Responds to Critics," Sentinel 29 (March 1984) : 1. 61. I n a memorandum entitle d " A Strategy fo r th e Remaining Months " circulated i n th e Reaga n Justic e Departmen t durin g th e sprin g o f 1988, Willia m Bradfor d Reynold s urge d official s t o "polariz e th e debate" t o "kee p th e debat e o n ou r terms. " For example , i t urge d officials t o treat AID S no t a s a civil rights o r privacy issu e bu t "on e of publi c healt h an d safety. " Fre d Strasser , "Cour t Face s Chal lenges," National Law Journal, March 21 , 1988, 5-7 . 62. Kati e Leishman , "Ho w Sa n Francisco Cope d wit h AIDS, " Atlantic, October 1985 , 24. 63. Marily n Thornto n Williams , "NYC' S Publi c Baths : A Case Study i n Urban Progressiv e Reform, " Journal of Urban History 7 (1980) : 49—81; Martin Hoffman , The Gay World: Male Homosexuality and the Social Construction of Evil (Ne w York: Basic Books, 1968) . Hoff man als o offer s a numbe r o f speculation s abou t th e transitor y nature o f gay relationships that hav e come into disrepute . 64. Shilts , And the Band Played On, 19. 65. Ibid. , 20 . 66. O f the largest gay bathhouse i n the world, th e Bulldo g Baths , Shilts

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writes, "Decorate d i n San Quentin motif. . . 'two-story priso n i s so incredibly rea l (real cells, real bars, real toilets . . . ) that whe n yo u see a guar d standin g o n th e secon d tie r lookin g dow n a t you , you're ready t o kneel down' " (ibid. , 23). 67. "Th e sprawlin g se x palace s reminde d Littlejoh n o f ho w fa r th e city's se x industr y ha d com e sinc e h e ha d move d t o S.F . in 1962 . His first hom e in S.F. had bee n the Embarcadero YMCA, a precursor to th e moder n bathhouse . Afte r Littlejoh n helpe d organiz e th e city's pioneerin g ga y group , th e Societ y o f Individua l Rights , i n 1964, h e ha d opene d on e o f th e city' s first privat e se x clubs . H e took som e credi t a s on e o f th e businessme n wh o introduce d a whole generatio n o f gay Sa n Franciscan s t o th e joys o f org y sex " (ibid., 431).

168

68. Lawrenc e R . Murphy , Perverts by Official Order (New York: Har rington Par k Press, 1988) . 69. Davi d G . Ostrow, Biobehavioral Control of AIDS (Ne w York: Irving ton Publishers, 1987) , 102. 70. Ibid. , 19 . 71. Shilts , And the Band Played On, 133. 72. Campbell , a former chairma n o f the boar d o f the National Gay Task Force, carried a great deal of clout in the gay community. Ibid., 180 . 73. "Privately , Clev e favored settin g u p informationa l picket s outsid e bathhouses t o let patrons kno w the y migh t b e risking thei r live s in the se x palaces . Bu t even hint s toward suc h actio n wer e me t wit h fierce resistance b y other s wh o stil l viewed bathhouse s a s symbol s of the sexual liberation gays had fought s o long to gain" (ibid., 180) . 74. Accordin g t o Shilts , describin g Pau l Volberding's epiphany , "Th e bathhouses weren' t ope n becaus e th e owner s didn' t understan d they wer e spreading deat h . . . [they] were open becaus e they wer e still making money. " Shilts, 422. 75. T o Foucault sex is repressed becaus e "i t is incompatible with a general and intensiv e wor k imperative. " He says of the "economi c fac tor" tha t th e "essentia l thing" is recognizing " a discours e in whic h sex, th e proclamatio n o f a new da y t o come , an d th e promis e o f a certain felicity ar e linked together " [History of Sexuality, 6-7) . 76. Playe d b y Lily Tomlin in the movie . 77. Shilts , And the Band Played On, 154. 78. Michae l Calle n an d Richar d Berkowitz , quote d fro m a n articl e i n the New York Native, said , "If going to the bath s is really a game of

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 2

Russian roulette , the n th e advic e mus t b e t o throw th e gu n away , not merel y play less often" (ibid. , 210). 79. Ibid. , 259 . 80. Norri s G. Lang, "Homophobia and the AIDS Phenomenon," in Culture and Aids, ed . Douglas A. Feldman (New York: Praeger, 1991) , 177. 81. Shilts , And the Band Played On, 305. 82. Ibid. , 305 , 316, 318. 83. "A n owner o f a bathhouse too k a doctor aside , 'We'r e bot h i n it fo r the same thing,' h e said. 'Money . We make money a t one end whe n they com e to th e baths . You make mone y fro m the m o n th e othe r side whe n the y com e here. ' Pau l Volberdin g [th e doctor ] wa s speechless" (ibid., 422). 84. Susa n Milstein , "S. R Goe s t o Cour t ove r Baths, " San Francisco Chronicle, Octobe r 11 , 1984. 85. Shilts , And the Band Played On, 489. 86. A t a conference i n Vancouver, Britis h Columbia, in March 1983 , the new theories of AID S transmission wer e met with insistence b y rad icals "tha t al l this attentio n t o the U.S . disease woul d foste r homo phobia," an d ange r fro m ga y bathhous e owner s "a t th e loca l newspaper fo r runnin g a health page, " whic h the y sai d obsesse d about " a handfu l o f sic k peopl e i n th e Unite d States " an d tha t i t "was bad fo r business. " Ibid., 247 . 87. "Th e Ba y Area Physician s fo r Huma n Right s maintaine d tha t clo sure woul d lea d t o mor e case s o f AIDS , no t fewer . I n th e end , th e only ga y grou p t o suppor t Silverma n wa s th e Harve y Mil k Ga y Democratic Club " (ibid., 490). 88. Ibid . 89. B y the time the measure s were bein g pu t i n place in Sa n Francisco, "The debat e was rapidly growin g moot . . . . Only three of the city' s eleven bathhouse s wer e still in business " (ibid., 523) . 90. Charle s C . Hendy , "Othe r AiDS-Hi t Citie s Unlikel y t o Clos e Se x Clubs," San Francisco Examiner, Octobe r 14 , 1984 . Shilt s writes , "The righ t win g wa s beginnin g t o dra w battl e line s around issue s of promiscuity an d bathhouses . Rather than defin e their own battl e lines, many gays adopted thes e issues as their front lin e of defense " (And the Band Played On, 312). 91. Milstein , "S. R Goe s to Court. " 92. Susa n Milstein , "Judg e Order s Bathhouse s i n S.F . t o Clos e Tem porarily," San Francisco Chronicle, Octobe r 16 , 1984.

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170

93. "Cuom o Pane l Propose s Rule s t o Cur b AID S a t Bathhouses, " New York Times, Octobe r 10 , 1985. 94. "Bathhous e Curb s Calle d Hel p i n Coas t AID S Fight, " New York Times, October 24 , 1985. 95. Russel l Lewis , "Th e Sa n Dieg o Bathhous e Controversy, " Sappho Speaks (April 1986) : 1. 96. Th e New York Times editorialize d o n Novembe r 10 , 1985 , tha t although a get-tough polic y towar d th e bath s an d "othe r commer cial establishments tha t persis t i n fosterin g 'high-ris k sexua l activ ity' associate d wit h th e sprea d o f A I D S " wa s " a clos e call, " it wa s justified du e t o th e failur e o f voluntar y change s i n behavio r t o respond t o "thi s bewilderin g disease. " 97. "Lette r t o the Editor, " Gayzette, San Diego, February 7 , 1986 . 98. Ja y M . Kohorn, "Petitio n fo r Extraordinar y Relief : If the LaRouch e AIDS Initiativ e Had Passe d i n California, " Review of Law and Social Change 15 (1986-87): 477-512. 99. "Cit y Shut s a Bathhous e a s Sit e o f 'Unsaf e Sex/ " The New York Times, Decembe r 7 , 1985. 100. Phili p Weiss , "Insid e a Bathhouse, " New Republic, Decembe r 2 , 1985, 12-13 . 101. New York v. New St. Mark's Baths, 49 7 N.Y.S. 2d 97 9 (1986). 102. Lil a Abu-Loghud, "Th e Romanc e o f Resistance: Tracin g Transfor mations o f Power throug h Bedoui n Women, " American Ethnologist 17, no. 1 (1990): 41-55. 103. Scheingold , Rights, 83 . 104. Blac k lega l scholar s demur . Fo r Patrici a Williams , "mos t black s have no t turne d awa y fro m th e pursui t o f rights eve n i f what CL S scholars sa y abou t rights—tha t the y ar e contradictory , indetermi nate, reifie d an d marginall y decisiv e i n socia l behavior—i s so. " Williams, "Alchemica l Notes," 404. 105. Thoma s L . Haskell, "Th e Curiou s Persistenc e o f Rights Talk i n th e Age of Interpretation/" Journal of American History 7 4 (1987). 106. Ibid. , 1 .

107. Le o Strauss , Natural Right and History (Chicago : Universit y o f Chicago Press , 1949) , argue s tha t afte r Worl d Wa r I I th e Unite d States had the "yoke " of German historicist thought impose d o n it s tradition o f natural right, particularl y i n the socia l sciences. 108. "Th e languag e o f right s no w dominate s politica l debat e i n th e United States " (Ronal d Dworkin , Taking Rights Seriously [Cam -

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 3

bridge: Harvard Universit y Press , 1977] , 184). Recall the stor y tol d by Cliffor d Geert z abou t th e Englishma n i n Indi a who , "havin g been tol d tha t th e worl d reste d o n th e bac k o f an elephan t whic h rested i n turn o n the bac k o f a turtle, aske d . . . what di d the turtl e rest on ? Another turtle . An d tha t turtle ? Ah , Sahib , after tha t i t i s turtles al l the wa y down' " (The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays [Ne w York: Basic Books, 1973] , 28-29). 109. Accordin g t o Haskell , Nietzsche' s respons e t o thi s conventiona l observation i s a descriptio n o f rights a s " a puffe d u p for m o f th e will to power" ("Persistence, " 15) . n o . Ibid. , 16 . i n . Ibid. , 28 . 112. Lucind a Furlong , "AID S Media : Counter-Representations, " Whit ney Museu m o f America n Art : Ne w America n Fil m an d Vide o Series, 1989 , 1 ; see also Paula A. Treichler, "A n Epidemic o f Signifi cation," October 43 (1987): 31 . 113. Simo n Watney, Policing Desire: Pornography, AIDS, and the Media, 2d ed. (Minneapolis : University o f Minnesota Press , 1987) . 114. Bumiller , Civil Rights Society. 115. On e o f th e reason s ma y b e th e ver y propensit y fo r mystificatio n and innocenc e associate d wit h right s tha t I will explore i n relatio n to other movements . 116. Foucault, Sexuality, 8-9 . 117. Pete r Goodrich , Languages of Law: From Logics of Memory to Nomadic Masks (London : Weidenfeld an d Nicholson , 1990) , 108. 118. Ibid., 109-10 .

Notes t o Chapte r 3 1. Thi s commen t t o Derric k Bel l was reported b y Bel l to Bil l Rose of the Universit y o f Massachusett s a t a receptio n give n fo r Bel l a t Western Ne w Englan d Colleg e School of Law in 1990 . 2. Bo k had just turne d dow n a tenured facult y appointmen t fo r Davi d Trubek, a schola r identifie d wit h CLS , and uphel d th e denia l o f tenure to Clair Dalton, anothe r "crit. " 3. Th e la w an d economic s movement , alon g wit h a more traditiona l orientation t o th e though t o f th e foundin g generation , provide d the basi s for Bork' s conservatism . 4. Share d practice s dra w attentio n t o debate s i n th e socia l science s

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172

over "neo-institutionalism, " i n which this study ma y be placed a s a description o f th e wa y institution s structur e politics . Se e als o Rogers M. Smith , "Politica l Jurisprudence , th e Ne w Institutional ism, an d th e Futur e o f Publi c Law, " American Political Science Review 8 2 (1988): 89-108; and Susa n Burgess , "Beyon d Instrumen tal Politics: The New Institutionalism , Lega l Rhetoric, an d Judicia l Supremacy," Polity 2 5 (spring 1993) : 445-59. 5. Se e Am y Kaplan , The Social Construction of American Realism (Chicago: University o f Chicago Press, 1988) . 6. Yve s Dezalay, "Fro m Mediation to Pure Law: Practice and Scholarl y Representation withi n th e Lega l Sphere," International Journal of the Sociology of Law 1 4 (1986): 89-107. 7. Pete r Goodrich , Languages of Law: From Logics of Memory to Nomadic Masks (London : Weidenfeld an d Nicolson , 1990) , 90. 8. I n Garr y Marshall' s fil m Pretty Woman, th e kindl y manage r o f a hotel whos e job i s to mediat e betwee n th e working-clas s staf f an d the upper-class clientel e become s the interpreter o f class identifier s for a Lo s Angele s Cinderell a wh o i s elevate d fro m prostitut e t o lover after he r transformation int o an acceptable romantic figure . 9. Gar y Peller , "Th e Metaphysic s o f America n Law, " California Law Review 7 3 (1985): 1157. See also Pierre Bourdieu, Outline of a Theory of Practice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press , 1977) ; Barbara Yngvesson, Virtuous Citizens, Disruptive Subjects (New York: Routledge, 1993) . 10. Thes e rule s no t onl y maintai n th e plac e o f those i n th e economi c elite, the y als o for m an d maintai n th e identit y o f othe r groups , whether organize d aroun d incom e (e.g., union members) , ethnicity , or sexua l orientation , a s in th e cas e o f the lif e style s w e kno w a s gay or straight . 11. Mar y Jo e Frug, Postmodern Legal Feminism (Ne w York: Routledge , 1992), i n . 12. Ke n Emerson, "Whe n Lega l Titans Clash, " New York Times Magazine, April 23, 1990, 25-31 . 13. Rolan d Barthes , The Eiffel Tower and Other Mythologies, trans . Richard Howar d (Ne w York: Hill and Wang, 1979) . 14. Christin e B . Harrington, "Creatin g Gap s an d Makin g Markets, " Law and Policy 10 (1988): 293-316. 15. Rober t Gordon , "'Th e Idea l an d th e Actua l i n th e Law' : Fantasie s and Practice s o f Ne w York Cit y Lawyers , 1870-1910, " in The New

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 3

High Priests: Lawyers in Post—Civil War America, ed . Gerar d W . Gawalt (Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press , 1984) . 16. Rober t Gordon , "Lawyer s a s the America n Aristocracy, " Holme s Lectures, Harvar d La w School , Cambridge , Massachusetts , 1985 ; idem, "Th e Ideal and th e Actual"; idem , "Lega l Thought an d Lega l Practice i n the Ag e of American Enterprise , 1870-1920, " in Professions and Professional Ideologies in America, ed . Geral d L . Gelso n (Chapel Hill: University o f North Carolin a Press, 1983) . 17. Gordon , "Th e Ideal and the Actual. " 18. Hilar y Putnam , The Many Faces of Realism (L a Salle , 111. : Open Court, 1987) . 19. Emerson , "Lega l Titans," 27. 20. Areed a teache s antitrust , an d hi s traditionalis m i s associated wit h wealth an d powe r agains t th e challenge s o f the unwashe d descen dants of realism. 21. Rober t Stevens , Law School: Legal Education in America from the 1850s to the 1980s (Chapel Hill: University o f North Carolin a Press, 1983). 22. Ibid. , 73-91 . 23. Ibid. , 21 .

24. Ibid. , 20 ; Burton J . Bledstein , The Culture of Professionalism (Ne w York: Norton, 1976) ; Magali Sarfatti Larson , The Rise of Professionalism: A Sociological Analysis (Berkeley : Universit y o f Californi a Press, 1977) . 25. Stevens , Law School, xv . 26. Th e University o f Pennsylvania wa s at least one exception . 27. Brigha m an d Harrington , "Realis m an d It s Consequences : A n Inquiry int o Contemporar y Socio-lega l Research, " International Journal of the Sociology of Law 1 7 (1988): 41-62. 28. Stevens , Law School, 131 . 29. Kar l Llewellyn, The Bramble Bush (New York: Oceana Publications , 1951). 30. Jerom e Frank , Law and the Modern Mind (Ne w York : Coward McCann, 1936) . 31. Walte r F. Murphy an d C . Herman Pritchett , Courts, Judges, and Politics: An Introduction to the Judicial Process (Ne w York : Rando m House, 1979) , 6. Political scientists , i n particular, amon g socia l sci entists trace their lineage to realism. The work o f the judicial behav ior movement wa s an outgrowth o f Pound's influence an d relate d t o

173

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174

realism i n the la w schools . Thus, i t is not to o surprisin g tha t whe n looking bac k on their roots political scientists are not as attentive t o the development o f realism as a legal ideology i n its own right . 32. Brigha m and Harrington , "Realis m and It s Consequences," 55. 33. Harr y Stumpf , American Judicial Politics (Sa n Diego : Harcour t Brace Jovanovich, 1987) , 37. "[T]hes e notion s hav e bee n common place in politica l scienc e since Peltason" (Brigha m and Harrington , "Realism," 55). 34. Willia m Twining , Karl Llewellyn and the Realist Movement (Nor man: University o f Oklahoma Press , 1973) . 35. Th e presentatio n her e i s a broad swee p tha t doe s no t adequatel y engage wit h importan t debate s generate d b y scholar s suc h a s Twining, Stevens , Kalman, an d Joh n Henr y Schlegel , whose recen t book, American Legal Realism and Empirical Social Science (Chapel Hill: University o f North Carolin a Press, 1995) , suggests that w e see realism not a s a juriprudence bu t a s a way of life . 36. Jerom e Frank , Courts on Trial (Princeton : Princeto n Universit y Press, 1949) . 37. Norma n L. Rosenberg has proposed tha t contemporar y realis m is in "retreat" fro m th e critica l realism of the earlier period . H e portray s Anthony Lewis' s Gideon's Trumpet (Ne w York : Rando m House , 1964) as a vivid exampl e o f a sanitized realis m tha t introduce s ele ments o f practice , formerl y unseen , t o th e public . Rosenberg , "Gideon's Trumpet: Soundin g th e Retrea t fro m Lega l Realism," i n Recasting America: Culture and Politics in the Age of Cold War, ed . Lary May (Chicago: University o f Chicago Press, 1989) . 38. Bruc e Ackerman , Reconstructing American Law (Cambridge : Har vard University Press , 1984) . 39. Laur a Kalman , Legal Realism at Yale, 1927-1960 (Chape l Hill: University o f North Carolin a Press, 1986) . 40. Peller , "Metaphysics. " 41. Brigha m an d Harrington , "Realis m an d It s Consequences, " 41 . Describing thi s relationshi p bega n a s a joint projec t wit h Harring ton, and th e consequence s for socia l science research fro m dispute s processing t o judicial behavio r i s tied t o that project . 42. Ibid. , 42 . The philosophical base s of this vie w hav e become associ ated wit h th e relativism an d pragmatis m o f Richard Rorty , Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature (Princeton : Princeto n Universit y Press, 1979) .

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 3

43. Brigha m and Harrington , "Realis m and It s Consequences/' 42. 44. Davi d B . Wilkins , "Lega l Realis m fo r Lawyers, " Harvard Law Review 10 4 (1990): 468-524. 45. Constitutiona l doctrine s announce d b y thes e courts , particularl y the federa l court s o f appea l an d th e Suprem e Court , hav e al l bu t supplanted th e tex t itself , muc h les s publi c understandings , a s sources o f law. Se e John Brigham , The Cult of the Court (Philadel phia: Temple University Press , 1987) . 46. Whil e th e traditio n o f judicial centralis m goe s bac k a t leas t t o th e early par t o f this centur y an d i s evident i n th e wor k o f Edward S . Corwin, th e sourc e fo r modern , politicall y sophisticate d attentio n to the Supreme Court is the work of C. Herman Pritchett. This work led t o the lega l manifestatio n o f the behavioral revolutio n wit h it s attention t o th e attitude s o f judges . Brigha m an d Harrington , "Realism and It s Consequences," 46. 47. Schlege l depict s suc h a narrow slic e o f academi c activit y o n la w that h e misses the overridin g similaritie s betwee n realis t principle s and socia l research i n other part s of the academy . 48. Thi s movement, i n the positive tradition, ha s offered tw o divergen t sorts o f insight , har d fac t an d indeterminat e theory . I n th e las t decade theor y ha s bee n dominant , makin g la w an d societ y mor e attractive to CLS than la w and economics . 49. Robert o M . Unger , The Critical Legal Studies Movement (Cam bridge: Harvard Universit y Press , 1986) . 50. "Mr . Langdell' s idea l i n th e law , the en d o f al l his striving , i s th e elegantia juris o r logical integrity o f the syste m a s a system. H e is, perhaps, th e greates t livin g lega l theologian. " Olive r Wendel l Holmes, Jr. , "Revie w o f A Selection of Cases on the Law of Contracts," American Law School Review 23 3 (1880). 51. "Th e first principl e of legal community i s theocratic. It is the attribu tion of an originary status and authority to the speech of the law. Legal discourse and the texts through which it gains its positive formulation s are simpl y representation s o f a primary speec h tha t pre-exist s an d authorizes the legal textual community." Goodrich, Languages, 108-9 . 52. Unger , Critical Legal Studies Movement, 3 . 53. Loui s Althusser, Lenin and Philosophy (New York: Monthly Revie w Press, 1971) . 54. Dunca n Kennedy, "Form and Substance in Private Law Adjudication, " Harvard Law Review 89 (1976): 1685; the constitutive dimension s can

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176

be seen in the work of critical race theorists and feminists, wher e the movements against sexua l harassment an d violen t pornograph y an d the struggle to preserve antidiscrimination la w showed the influenc e of legal form in some of our most progressive political efforts . 55. Davi d Kairys , ed., The Politics of Law (Ne w York: Pantheon, 1982) ; "Critical Lega l Studie s Symposium/ ' Stanford Law Review 3 6 (1984); Mark Kelman , A Guide to Critical Legal Studies (Cambridge : Harvard Universit y Press , 1987) . 56. Whil e there is some attention t o the movement i n the Stanford Law Review symposium , whic h w e wil l tur n t o shortly , The Politics of Law paid relatively littl e attention t o law and economics . 57. O f 10 3 index citation s to other scholars , 8 are to women, an d with out th e pornograph y issu e an d "difference " ther e woul d onl y b e one or two. 58. Thi s wa s no t tru e o f the initia l CL S conference i n Madison , Wis consin, and the volume edited a few year s later b y Kairys, himself a practicing Guil d lawyer . 59. Sanfor d Levinson , Constitutional Faith (Princeton : Princeto n Uni versity Press , 1988) . 60. Davi d Mamet, Writing in Restaurants (Ne w York: Viking, 1986) . 61. Levinson , Constitutional Faith, 7 . 62. Pau l Leicester Ford, ed., Writings of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 1 0 (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons , 1899) , 43. 63. Jaco b Cooke, ed., The Federalist (Cleveland: Meridian Books , 1961), 340. 64. Levinson , Constitutional Faith, 155 . 65. Ibid. , 158 . 66.Ibid. 67. Alla n C . Hutchinson an d Patric k J . Monahan , "Law , Politic s an d Critical Lega l Scholars : The Unfoldin g Dram a o f America n Lega l Thought," Stanford Law Review 3 6 (1984): 199. 68. See , e.g. , Richar d Epstein , "Judicia l Review : Reckonin g o n Tw o Kinds o f Error," i n Economic Liberties and the Judiciary, ed . Jame s A. Dor n an d Henr y G . Mann e (Fairfax , Va. : Cat o Institut e an d George Mason University Press , 1987) . 69. See , e.g. , Richar d A . Posner , Economic Analysis of Law, 2 d ed . (Boston: Little, Brown, 1977) . 70. Guid o Calabresi and Phili p Bobbitt , Tragic Choices (New York: Norton, 1978) .

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 3

71. Richar d A . Posner , " A Statistical Stud y o f Antitrust La w Enforce ment," Journal of Law and Economics 1 3 (1970) : 365-419 ; idem , Antitrust Law: An Economic Perspective (Chicago : Universit y o f Chicago Press, 1976). 72. Richar d Epstein , Takings (Cambridge : Harvar d Universit y Press , 1985); Bernar d Siegan , Economic Liberties and the Constitution (Chicago: University o f Chicago Press, 1980) ; Kate Stith, "Govern ment Interest s i n Crimina l Law, " Albany Law Review 5 5 (1992) : 679-87. 73. R . H. Coase, "Th e Problem o f Social Cost," Journal of Law and Economics 3 (i960): 1. 74. Lewi s Kornhauser, "Th e General Image of Authority," Stanford Law Review 3 6 (1984): 349-89. 75. Mar k Kelman , "Choic e an d Utility, " University of Wisconsin Law Review (1979) : 769; idem, "Consumptio n Theory , Productio n The ory, an d Ideolog y i n th e Coas e Theorem," Southern California Law Review 5 2 (1979): 669; Tom Heller, "Th e Importanc e o f Normativ e Decision-Making: The Limitations of Legal Economics as a Basis for a Liberal Jurisprudence—As Illustrate d b y the Regulatio n o f Vacation Hom e Development, " Southern California Law Review 5 3 (1980): 1215 ; Duncan Kennedy , "Cost-Benefi t Analysi s o f Entitle ment Problems: A Critique," Stanford Law Review 3 3 (1981): 387. 76. Kornhauser , "Genera l Image," 352. 77. Brigha m and Harrington , "Realis m and It s Consequences. " 78. Bot h CL S and la w an d economic s hav e claime d t o b e leadin g th e way to a "post-realist" lega l scholarship. Se e Mark Tushnet , "Post Realist Lega l Scholarship, " Wisconsin Law Review (1980) : 1383-1401; Jason Scot t Johnston, "Law , Economics, an d Post-Real ist Explanation," Law and Society Review 2 4 (1990): 1217-54. 79. Posne r criticize d thi s mov e an d other s lik e it , arguin g tha t whil e the method s o f economi c scienc e simpl y reflec t th e tru e natur e o f the law , feminism an d literar y metho d wer e unhelpfu l interloper s into legal discourse . "Th e Declin e of Law as an Autonomou s Disci pline: 1962-1987, " Harvard Law Review 10 0 (1987): 761. 80. Emerson , "Lega l Titans," 66. Emerson's article also calls attention t o the "lawye r a s janitor" metapho r share d b y bot h Kenned y an d Charles Fried . 81. Th e constitutiv e alternativ e t o lega l realism , a modern, relationa l political economy , allows us to assess the impact an d consequence s

177

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of realis m a s a law schoo l ideology . Harringto n an d Brigham , "Real ism an d It s Consequences/ ' 82. Austi n Sara t an d Willia m L . F . Felstiner, "Lega l Realis m i n Lawyer Client Communications/ ' AB F Working Pape r #8723 . 83. Willia m L . F . Felstiner an d Austi n Sarat , "La w an d Strateg y i n th e Divorce Lawyer' s Office, " Law and Society Review 2 0 (1986): 93-134 . 84. Ibid. , 127 . 85. Ibid . I n addition , t h e scholarshi p continue s t o p r o m o t e a " g a p " framework i n whic h th e ideal , i n thi s cas e o f appellat e doctrine , i s "preached" an d th e realit y o f lega l practic e i s offered a s "la w a s it i s experienced" (ibid. , 132) . 86. Peller , "Metaphysics, " 1153 . 87. Ibid. , 1154 . Pelle r adds , "[T]h e presen t situatio n i s . . . the resul t o f political an d existentia l choice s t o tam e realis m an d t o continu e th e construction o f th e metaphysic s o f libera l authority , th e claim s t o impersonality an d impartiality " (ibid. , 1260) . 88. Ibid. , 1263 . 89. Ibid. , 1265 . 90. Brigha m an d Harrington , "Realis m an d It s Consequences. " 91. Bell , And We Are Not Saved, 1 . 178

92. Ibid. , 5 . 93. Kimberl e Crenshaw , "Fro m Celebratio n t o Tribulation : Th e Consti tution Goe s t o Trial, " Harvard Law

Review 10 1 (1988) , q u o t e d i n

Bell, And We Are Not Saved, 7 . 94. Ibid. , 41 . 95. Ibid. , 6 0 - 6 1 . 96. Pete r Fitzpatrick , "Racis m an d th e Innocenc e o f Law, " Journal of Law and Society 1 4 (1987): 121. 97. Ala n Hunt , Explorations in

Law and Society: Toward a Constitutive

Theory of Law (Ne w York: Routledge , 1993) .

Notes t o Chapte r 4 1. Susa n Leeso n assure d m e o f thi s qualit y an d describe d dispute s a s "always havin g bee n a r o u n d " i n commentin g o n a pane l a t t h e Western Politica l Scienc e Associatio n i n Minneapolis , Minnesota , in 1986 . 2. Ma x Gluckman , The Judicial Process among the Barotse of Northern Rhodesia (Manchester : Mancheste r Universit y Press , 1955) ; P . H .

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 4

Gulliver, Social Control in an African Society (London : Routledg e and Kega n Paul , 1963) ; Karl Llewellyn an d Edwar d A . Hoebel, The Cheyenne Way (Norman: University o f Oklahoma Press, 1941). 3. Wilhel m Aubert, "Competitio n an d Dissensus : Two Types of Confl ict an d o f Conflic t Resolution/ ' Journal of Conflict Resolution 7 (1963): 26. 4. Mauree n Cai n an d Kalma n Kulcsar , "Thinkin g Disputes : A n Essa y on the Origin s of the Disput e Industry," Law and Society Review 1 6 (1981-82): 375-402. 5. Th e concep t o f "ideology " i s used her e afte r th e fashio n suggeste d by Ala n Hunt , "Th e Ideolog y o f Law," Law and Society Review 1 9 (1985): 11 , and develope d b y th e Amhers t Seminar , "Specia l Issue : Law and Ideology, " Law and Society Review 2 2 (1988). 6. Richar d L . Abel, " A Comparative Theor y o f Dispute Institution s i n Society," Law and Society Review 8 (1974): 217. 7. Cai n an d Kulcsa r als o sugges t tha t i n th e ideolog y o f dispute s th e parties ar e see n a s qualitativel y identical—lik e th e consumer s i n the marketplace , the y ar e interchangeable excep t fo r quantitativ e differences, suc h as more money o r more power—and tha t the con ceptual practic e o f identifyin g dispute s provide s a comparativ e foundation. "Disput e Industry, " 380 . 8. The y ar e also adhered t o in a manner Cai n and Kulcsa r cal l ideological idealism. 9. Se e Richard L . Abel, ed. , Politics of Informal Justice, vol . 1 (New York: Academi c Press , 1982) , with th e "Specia l Issu e o n Disput e Resolution" o f the Law and Society Review 1 5 (1980-81) on disput ing. 10. Angel a Y. Davis, Women, Race and Class (New York: Vintage, 1983) . 11. Pete r Fitzpatrick , The Mythology of Modern Law (London : Rout ledge, 1992) . 12. Pete r Goodrich , Languages of Law: From Logics of Memory to Nomadic Masks (London : Weidenfel d an d Nicolson , 1990) , 90 . Goodrich adds , "Withou t th e interpreters , i n othe r words , justic e would hav e no tongue." 13. Rosco e Pound , "Th e Cause s o f Popula r Dissatisfactio n wit h th e Administration o f Justice, " American Bar Association Reports 2 9 (1906): 395. 14. M y wor k o n thes e topics draw s heavily fro m Christin e B . Harrington, wh o introduce d m e to the fiel d an d wit h who m I continue t o

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share th e inquir y int o thi s movement . Se e he r Shadow Justice (Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press , 1985) . 15. Roge r Fishe r an d Willia m Ury , Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In (Ne w York: Penguin, 1983) . 16. Fo r discussio n o f practitione r rejectio n o f this theoretica l orienta tion, se e Christine B . Harrington, '"Bundle s o f Input': Negotiatin g the Nation' s First Nuclea r Wast e Dump— A Profil e o f Howard Bell man" (pape r fo r th e Harvar d Progra m o n Negotiation , 1991) , reprinted a s "Howard Bellman : Using 'Bundle s of Input' t o Negotiate an d Environmenta l Dispute, " i n When Talk Works: Profiles of Mediators, ed . Debora h Kol b (Sa n Francisco : Jossey-Bass , 1994) , 105-47.

180

17. Harrington , "Bundle s o f Input," 37. 18. Christin e B . Harrington, "Delegalizatio n Refor m Movements : A Historical Analysis, " i n The Politics of Informal Justice, vol . 1 , ed . Richard L . Abel (New York: Academic Press, 1982) . 19. Ibid. , 36 . 20. Ibid. , 39 . 21. Jame s Weinstein , The Corporate Ideal and the Liberal State 1900-1918 (Boston : Beacon Press, 1968) . 22. Ibid. , xiii . 23. Ibid. , 11. 24. Ibid. , 18 . 25. Ibid. , 48. 26. Ives v. South Buffalo Railroad Co., 201 NY 271 (1911). 27. Se e Leonard D . White, The City Manager (Chicago : Universit y o f Chicago Press, 1927) . 28. Gran t McConnell , Private Power and American Democracy (Ne w York: Knopf, 1966) . 29. Harrington , Shadow Justice, 41. 30. Am y Bridges , A City in the Republic (Cambridge : Cambridg e Uni versity Press, 1984) . 31. Harrington , Shadow Justice, 44. 32. D . Marie Provine , Judging Credentials: Nonlawyer Judges and the Politics of Professionalism (Chicago : University o f Chicag o Press , 1986). 33. Mar k Kelman , A Guide to Critical Legal Studies (Cambridge : Har vard Universit y Press , 1987) ; Richard A . Posner, Antitrust Law: An Economic Perspective (Chicago: University o f Chicago Press, 1976) .

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 4

34. Kelman , Guide, 3. 35. Ibid . 36. Ibid. , 247 . 37. No r d o th e gentr y introduce d int o lega l theor y b y Dougla s Ha y and E . P. Thompson, becaus e ultimately thei r grace under th e Blac k Acts is seen a s an aspec t o f legal power an d syste m stabilit y rathe r than benevolence . Dougla s Ha y e t al. , Albion's Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth-Century England (Ne w York: Free Press , 1975)38. Laur a Nade r describe d th e limitation s o f wha t sh e calle d "binar y thinking" i n th e la w reform literature . Se e "The Recurren t Dialec tic betwee n Legalit y an d It s Alternatives : Th e Limitation s o f Binary Thinking, " University of Pennsylvania Law Review 13 2 (1984): 621. 39. Fo r an interesting accoun t o f this problem an d a n alternative to th e traditional framewor k pittin g informalis m agains t rights , se e Craig A. McEwen , Lyn n Mather , an d Richar d J . Maiman , "Lawyers , Mediation, an d th e Managemen t o f Divorc e Practice, " Law and Society Review 2 8 (1994): 149-86. 40. Se e Sally Merr y an d Christin e B . Harrington, "Ideologica l Produc tion," Law and Society Review 2 2 (1988): 709-35. 41. Th e address wa s published i n American Bar Association Reports 2 9 (1906), 395; an abridged versio n appeared i n American Bar Association Journal 57 (1971): 348. 42. Arthu r L . Harding, "Professo r Poun d Make s History, " i n Harding , ed. The Administration of Justice in Retrospect, ed . Arthu r L . Hard ing (Dallas : Southern Methodis t Universit y Press , 1957) . 43. Rosco e Pound, "Th e Decadence of Equity," Columbia Law Review 5 (1905): 20 .

44. Muller v. Oregon, 20 8 U.S. 412 (1908). 45. Joh n Henr y Schlegel , American Legal Realism and Empirical Social Science (Chape l Hill : Universit y o f Nort h Carolin a Press , 1995) . Schlegel say s very littl e about Pound . 46. Harding , "History, " 8 . 47. Joh n Wigmore , introductio n t o Roscoe Pound . . . The Causes of Popular Dissatisfaction with the Administration of Justice (Chicago : American Judicatur e Society , n.d.). 48. Warre n Burger , "Agend a fo r 200 0 A.D.— A Nee d fo r Systemati c Anticipation," Federal Rules Decisions 70 (1976): 23-35.

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182

49. Ibid . 50. Pound' s exampl e o f tinkerin g wa s eliminatin g la w Lati n an d French. Burger' s example s include d th e Administrativ e Procedur e Act and th e merge r o f law and equity . 51. Burger , "Agenda, " 32. 52. Ibid . 53. Lik e Sander' s wor k i n general , an d tha t o f hi s colleague s Roge r Fisher an d Larr y Susskind , th e speec h indicate s newe r dimension s of informalism. Fran k Sander , "Varietie s o f Dispute Processing, " i n Neighborhood Justice, ed. Malcolm Feeley and Roman Tomasic (New York: Longman, 1982) . 54. Harrington , Shadow Justice, 52 . 55. Christin e B . Harrington, "A n Overview o f the Disput e Resolutio n Field" (report t o the Ford Foundation, Ma y 1986) , 4. 56. Rober t H . Mnooki n an d Lewi s Kornhauser , "Bargainin g i n th e Shadow o f th e Law : Th e Cas e o f Divorce, " Yale Law Journal 8 8 (1979): 950. 57. Lo n Fuller, "Mediation—It s Form s an d Functions, " Southern California Law Review 4 4 (1971): 353. 58. Fran k Sander , "Successfu l Technique s fo r Mediatin g Famil y Breakup," Mediation Quarterly 2 (1983): 354-63. 59. Ibid. , 355. 60. Lega l InfoTrac reporte d review s in all the majo r la w journals, four teen i n all . Se e reviews b y Simo n Roberts , Modern Law Review 5 3 (1990); Barbara Yngvesson, Law and Social Inquiry 1 3 (1988); Sally Engle Merry, Harvard Law Review 10 0 (1987). 61. Sponsor s als o included th e Academ y o f Family Mediators , Ameri can Arbitratio n Association , AB A Special Committe e o n Disput e Resolution, America n Sociologica l Associatio n Sectio n o n Peac e and Wa r t o Wayne Stat e University's Cente r fo r Peac e and Conflic t Studies, an d Woodbur y College' s Washington Count y Mediatio n Project, fo r a total of fifty sponsors . 62. Lenor e J. Weitzman, Herber t Jacob , and Mar y An n Glendon , "Th e Divorce Revolution," New York Times, Novembe r 7 , 1985 , III 1:3 . 63. "Issue s t o Conside r Regardin g Mediatio n o f Custod y Disputes, " Family La w Projec t Conferenc e o n Wome n an d Famil y Law , Ne w York University, Januar y 16 , 1984, 6. 64. Fo r a discussion o f some of the scholarshi p o n violenc e i n th e con text o f domestic dispute s an d feminism , se e Jo Dixon, "Th e Nexu s

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 4

of Sex, Spousal Violence, and the State," Law and Society Review 2 9 (1995): 359-76. 65. Howar d S . Erlanger, Elizabet h Chambliss , an d Marygol d S . Melli, "Participation an d Flexibilit y i n Informal Processes : Cautions fro m the Divorce Context," Law and Society Review 2 1 (1987): 585. 66. See , e.g., Trin a Grillo , "Th e Mediatio n Alternative : Proces s Dan gers for Women," Yale Law Journal 100 (1991): 1545. 67. Richar d A . Posner , "Th e Ethica l Significanc e o f Fre e Choice : A Reply t o Professor West, " Harvard Law Review 9 9 (1986): 1431. 68. Harrington , "Bundle s o f Input," 37 . 69. Joe l Handler , The Conditions of Discretion: Autonomy, Community, Bureaucracy (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1986) . 70. Joe l Handler , "Dependen t People , th e State , an d th e Modern/Pos t Modern Searc h fo r a Dialogic Community, " UCLA Law Review 3 5 (1988): 999. 71. Ibid. , 1031 .

72. Ibid . 73. Christin e B . Harrington, "Delegalizatio n Refor m Movements : A Historical Analysis, " in The Politics of Informal Justice, ed . Richar d L. Abel (New York: Academic Press , 1982) . 74. Carri e Menkel-Meadow, "Towar d Another View of Legal Negotiation: The Structure of Problem-Solving," UCLA Law Review 31 (1984): 754. 75. Handler , "Dependen t People, " 1033. 76. Pierr e Bourdieu , Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, trans . Richar d Nic e (Cambridge : Harvar d Universit y Press , 1984), 3. 77. Owe n M . Fiss , "Agains t Settlement, " Yale Lavj Journal 9 3 (1984): 1073-90. 78. Dere k Bok , " A Flawe d System, " Harvard Magazine, May-Jun e 1983, 38. 79. Fiss , "Against Settlement," 1075 . 80. Boaventur a d e Sous a Santos , "Law : A Ma p o f Misreading, " i n Toward a New Common Sense (New York: Routledge, 1995) , 473. 81. Stuar t Macauley , "Image s o f Law in Everyda y Life : The Lesson s of School, Entertainmen t an d Spectato r Sports, " Law and Society Review 2 1 (1987): 185. 82. Santos , "Map, " 473. 83. Thi s poin t ha s bee n drive n hom e in scholarshi p i n the las t decade . In Laure n B . Edelman , Howar d S . Erlanger , an d Joh n Lande ,

183

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184

"Internal Dispute Resolution: The Transformation o f Civil Rights in the Workplace/' Law and Society Review 2 7 (1993): 497-534, "inter nal disput e resolution " refer s t o effort s withi n firm s t o dea l wit h rights grievances . The findings ar e that remedia l processe s suc h a s these "ten d t o recas t discriminatio n claim s a s typical manageria l problems . . . [possibly] underminin g lega l rights b y deemphasiz ing and depoliticizin g workplac e discrimination. " 84. Miche l Foucault , Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (New York: Vintage, 1977) ; David Garland , Punishment in Modern Society: A Study in Social Theory (Chicago : University o f Chicag o Press, 1990) ; Dario Melossi, The State of Social Control (New York: St. Martin's, 1990) . 85. Cai n and Kulcsar , "Dispute s Industry. " 86. Yousse f Cohen , The Manipulation of Consent: The State and Working-Class Consciousness in Brazil (Pittsburgh : Universit y o f Pitts burgh Press , 1989) , 73. 87. Samue l Bowle s and Herber t Gintis , Schooling in Capitalist America (New York: Basic Books, 1976). 88. Joh n Brigham , "Ba d Attitudes : Th e Consequence s o f Surve y Research fo r Constitutiona l Practice, " Review of Politics 5 2 (1990): 582-602. 89. Nanc y Frase r i s mor e critica l o f th e struggl e betwee n right s an d needs discourse . See Unruly Practices: Power, Discourse, and Gender in Contemporary Social Theory. (Minneapolis : Universit y o f Min nesota Press, 1989) .

Notes to Chapte r 5 1. In hi s discussio n o f th e processe s o f readin g th e law , Pete r Goodrich describe s thi s situatio n i n terms o f differentiation : "the y speak 'i n th e nam e o f th e fathe r o r o f the law , an d th e sexis m o r asymmetry o f such speech is therefore no t a matter of the male gender o f representation, o r the language—the persona l pronouns—o f causality, bu t o f the constructio n o f sexuality, o f differentiation, a s such." Peter Goodrich, Languages of Law: From Logics of Memory to Nomadic Masks (London : Weidenfeld an d Nicolson , 1990) , 287. 2. Catharin e MacKinnon , "No t a Moral Issue, " in Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law (Cambridge : Harvar d Universit y Press, 1987) .

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 5

3. W . E. B. Du Bois , John Brown (Philadelphia : Georg e W. Jacobs an d Co., 1909) , 81. 4. Joh n L . Comaroff an d Simo n Roberts, Rules and Processes: The Cultural Logic of Dispute in an African Context (Chicago: University o f Chicago Press, 1981) . 5. Elizabet h Young-Bruehl, Mind and the Body Politic (New York: Routledge, 1989) ; Zillah Eisenstein, The Female Body and the Law (Berkeley: University o f California Press , 1988) ; Susan Sontag , AIDS and Its Metaphors (New York: Farrar, Straus s and Giroux , 1989) . 6. Kat e Millet, Sexual Politics (New York: Avon, 1969) , 58. 7. Th e movements agains t domesti c violenc e an d rap e shar e a n ideo logical structur e wit h th e antipornograph y movemen t an d wil l b e developed her e i n conjunctio n wit h th e effor t t o limi t acces s t o pornography. 8. Andre a Dworkin , "Pornography : Th e Ne w Terrorism, " i n Letters from a War Zone (London: Seeker and Warburg, 1988) , 198. 9. A button a t the Lesbian and Ga y Pride Rally, Northampton, Massa chusetts, Ma y 5 , 1990 , read: "Pornograph y i s the Theory , Rap e i s the Practice. " 10. I n her article "Law, Boundaries, and the Bounded Self " (in Law and the Order of Culture, ed . Rober t Pos t [Berkeley : Universit y o f California Press , 1991]) , Jennifer Nedelsk y look s to the feminis t autho r Starhawk a s an exampl e o f an "alternativ e framewor k fo r thinkin g about politica l actio n an d persona l psychologica l transformation " (173). Starhawk' s interes t i n witchcraf t an d it s contributio n t o women's spirituality reflect s th e otherness of the community tha t i s central t o thi s discussio n o f th e oppositiona l forc e o f rage . Se e Starhawk, Dreaming the Dark: Magic, Sex, and Politics (Boston : Beacon Press, 1982) . 11. Se e Ego n Bittner , "Radicalis m an d th e Organizatio n o f Radica l Movements," American Sociological Review 2 8 (1963): 928-40. 12. Sontag , AIDS, 6 . 13. Ibid . 14. " 'You don't fee l i n the mood for it , I suppose,' say s he, and the n h e adds: 'that' s fine becaus e no w I' m goin g t o war m yo u u p a bit / With tha t h e u p an d tie s he r t o th e bedstead , gag s her , an d the n goes for th e razo r strop . O n the wa y t o th e bathroom , h e grab s a bottle o f mustard fro m th e kitchen . H e come s bac k wit h th e razo r strop an d h e belt s th e pis s ou t o f her . An d afte r tha t h e rub s th e

185

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 5

mustard int o th e ra w welts . 'Tha t ough t t o kee p yo u war m fo r to n i g h t / h e says. " H e n r y Miller , Sexus (Ne w York : Grove , 1965) , quoted i n Millett , Sexual Politics, 9 . 15. Zilla h Eisenstein , Feminism and

Sexual Equality

(Ne

w York :

Monthly Revie w Press , 1984) . 16. Se e als o J . Vega , "Coercio n an d Consent : Classica l Libera l Concept s in Text s o n Sexua l Violence, " International Journal

of the Sociology

of Law 1 6 (1988): 75-89 . 17. J o h n Brigham , "Right , Rag e an d Remedy, " Studies in Political Development 2

American

(1987): 303-16 .

18. Owe n Fiss , "Fre e Speec h an d Socia l Structure " (unpublishe d manu script, 1985) . 19. Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 31 5 U.S. 56 8 (1942) . 20. Commonwealth v.

Holmes, 1 7 Mass. 33 6 (1821) . Othe r "eroti c clas -

sics" includ e The Arabian Nights, Tom Jones, Boccaccio' s Decameron, Rousseau's Confessions, an d Ovid' s Art of Love. 21. U.S. v. Kennerley, 20 9 F . 11 9 (1913). 22. Butler v. Michigan, 35 2 U.S . 380 (1957) . 23. U.S. v. Ulysses, 5 F. Supp. 18 2 (1933) . 24. U.S. v. Roth, 23 7 F . 2d 79 6 (1956) . 186

25. Holmby Productions v. Vaughan, 35 0 U.S . 87 0 (1955) ; se e als o Winters v. New York, 33 3 U.S . 50 7 (1948) , whic h invalidate d par t o f a New Yor k obscenit y statut e b u t di d no t us e t h e a r g u m e n t o f t h e sort tha t wa s t o com e i n Roth. 26. Roth, 481 . 27. Ibid. , 484 . 28. Ibid . 29. Jacobellis v. Ohio, 37 8 U.S . 18 4 (1964) . 30. 38 3 U S 413 (1966) . 31. Miller v. California, 41 3 U.S. 1 5 (1973). 32. Paris Adult Theater v. Slaton, 41 3 U.S. 49 (1973) . 33. Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville, 4 3 L W 480 9 (1975) ; Young v. American Mini Theatres, 42 7 U S 5 0 (1976) . 34. Se e Kathlee n Barry , Female Sexual Slavery (Englewoo d Cliffs , N.J. : Prentice-Hall, 1979) . 35. Joe l Grossman , "Th e Firs t Amendmen t an d th e Ne w Anti-Pornog raphy Statutes, " News for Teachers of Political Science 4 5 (1985) : 16 . 36. Donal d Downs , The New Politics of Pornography (Chicago : Univer sity o f Chicag o Press , 1989) , 155 .

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 5

37. American Booksellers Association v. Hudnut, 5 8 R Supp . 131 6 (1984). 38. A propose d ordinanc e fo r Cambridge , Massachusetts , modele d after th e Minneapolis an d Indianapoli s ordinances , wa s defeated i n November 198 5 by a vote of 13,03 1 to 9,419. 39. Dworkin , "Pornography/ ' 40. Ibid. , 198 . 41. Ibid . 42. Ibid. , 199 . 43. Ibid. , 200 . 44. "Colloquium , Violen t Pornography : Degradatio n o f Women versu s Right o f Fre e Speech/ ' New York University Review of Law and Social Change 8 (1978-79). 45. Dworkin , "Pornography, " 218. 46. Mar k Kessler, "Lega l Discourse and Politica l Intolerance: The Ideology o f Clea r an d Presen t Danger, " Law and Society Review 2 7 (1993): 559-98. 47. Dworkin , "Pornography, " 215. 48. Se e Judy Fudge , "Th e Effec t o f Entrenchin g a Bill of Rights upo n Political Discourse : Feminis t Demand s an d Sexua l Violenc e i n Canada," International Journal of the Sociology of Law 1 7 (1989): 445-63. 49. Dworkin , "Pornography, " 216 . 50. Jea n Elshtain, "Th e New Porn Wars," Nation, Jun e 25 , 1984, 15-20. 51. Donal d Downs , The New Politics of Pornography (Chicago: Univer sity o f Chicag o Press, 1989) ; Richard Randall , Freedom and Taboo (Berkeley: University o f California Press , 1989) . 52. Randall , Freedom and Taboo, 5. 53. Ibid. , 265. 54. Ibid. , 228 . 55. Ibid. , 241. 56. Ibid. , 133-34 . 57. Downs , New Politics, 195 . 58. MacKinnon' s letter wa s in response to a review b y Franklin E . Zimring tha t appeare d i n the New York Times, Januar y 28 , 1990. 59. Tha t is , if we are to get beyon d th e censorshi p issue . 60. Durin g th e questio n perio d afte r a speech i n Amhers t i n Februar y 1990, MacKinno n answere d th e "perennia l firs t question " abou t lesbian pornograph y wit h a n extraordinar y discussio n o f th e

187

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 5

188

images constructed b y the pornographer. This is something Randal l tells us about . 61. Pierr e Bourdieu , "Th e Forc e o f Law : Towar d a Sociolog y o f th e Juridical Field," Hastings Law Journal 38 (1987): 201. 62. Catharin e MacKinnon , "Liberalis m an d th e Deat h o f Feminism," i n The Sexual Liberals and the Attack on Feminism, ed . Dorche n Leid holdt and Janic e G. Raymond (Ne w York: Pergamon Press, 1990) . 63. Dworkin , "Pornography, " 201. 64. Ibid. , 201. 65. Susa n Brownmiller , Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape (New York: Penguin, 1975) . 66. Fiss , "Free Speech," 26. 67. Nedelsky , "Boundaries, " 174 . 68. Carol e S . Vance, Pleasure and Danger: Exploring Female Sexuality (Boston: Routledge and Kega n Paul, 1984) ; Ann Ferguson, "Th e Sex Debate i n th e Women' s Movement : A Socialist-Feminis t View " (unpublished manuscript , 1980) ; see also idem, Blood at the Root: Motherhood, Sexuality and Male Dominance (London : Pandora , 1989). 69. Th e constitutiv e relationshi p betwee n idea s an d socia l life i n poli tics i s brough t ou t i n th e critiqu e o f MacKinnon discusse d i n th e next chapter . Stanle y Fish, "Going Down the Anti-Formalist Road, " paper presente d t o the Amhers t Semina r o n Lega l Ideology, Febru ary 24 , 1989 , an d reprinte d i n Doing What Comes Naturally: Change, Rhetoric, and the Practice of Theory in Literary and Legal Studies (Durham, N.C. : Duke University Press , 1989) . 70. "Yo u can tell you ar e bein g principle d b y th e degre e to which yo u abhor wha t yo u allow. " Catharin e MacKinnon , Only Words (Cam bridge: Harvard Universit y Press , 1993) , 75. 71. A s part o f a tactical discussio n title d "Beyon d Pornography, " Jes sica LaMontagn e criticize d th e antipornograph y movemen t i n th e journal Left Field, March 1990 , published b y graduat e student s a t the University o f Massachusetts, Amherst . 72. Brie f Amici Curiae of Feminist Anti-Censorshi p Tas k Force et al., in American Booksellers v. Hudnut, Journal of Law Reform 21 (1988): 69; see also Dorchen Leidholt and Janic e G. Raymond, The Sexual Liberals and the Attack on Feminism (New York: Pergamon Press, 1990). 73. Fiss , "Free Speech," 1 . 74. Ibid. , 21.

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 6

75. Ibid . 76. Janic e Raymond , A Passion for Friends (Boston : Beaco n Press , 1986). 77. Mar y Daly , "Be-Witching : Re-Callin g th e Archimagica l Power s o f Women," in Leidholdt an d Raymond , Sexual Liberals, 212. 78. Fo r example , "Th e man-date d worl d i s clockocracy—th e societ y that i s dead se t b y th e clock s an d calendar s o f fathered time . It i s marked b y measurement s tha t tic k of f women' s Lifetimes/Lifeline s in tid y tidbits . Clockocrac y i s marked b y male-ordere d monoton y that break s Biorhythms , preparin g th e wa y fo r th e fullnes s o f fathered time , that is , doomsday." Ibid., 219 . 79. Se e Kristin Luker , Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood (Berke ley: University o f California Press , 1984) . 80. Downs , New Politics, 155 .

Notes t o Chapte r 6 1. Antoni o Gramsci , "Th e Intellectuals, " i n Selections from the Prison Notebooks (Ne w York: International Publishers , 1971) . 2. Magal i Sarfatt i Larson , The Rise of Professionalism: A Sociological Analysis (Berkeley : University o f California Press , 1977). 3. Kristi n Bumiller , The Civil Rights Society: The Social Construction of Victims (Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press , 1988) . 4. Fo r the lin k betwee n reaso n an d intellectua l influence , se e Gram sci, Notebooks, 257-64 . 5. Joh n Brigham, "Bad Attitudes: The Consequences of Survey Research for Constitutional Practice," Review of Politics 52 (1990): 582-602. 6. Hygienic s wa s an earlie r movemen t t o make cleanlines s a standar d of social acceptability . 7. California' s initiativ e against th e Rumford Fai r Housing statut e wa s later overturned b y the U.S. Supreme Court . 8. Subsequen t t o the period unde r study , the militia movement linke d to the bombin g o f a federal buildin g i n Oklahom a Cit y in 199 5 fur ther supporte d thi s sens e of rage. 9. Se e Sidney Tarrow, Power in Movement: Social Movements, Collective Action and Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press , 1994) . 10. Enriqu e Larana , Han k Johnston , an d Josep h R . Gusfield , New Social Movements: From Ideology to Identity (Philadelphia : Templ e University Press , 1994) .

189

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 6

190

I I . Ibid. , 3. 12. Ibid. , 8 . 13. Pau l Burstein , "Lega l Mobilizatio n a s a Socia l Movemen t Tactic : The Struggl e fo r Equa l Employmen t Opportunity/ ' American Journal of Sociology 96 (1991): 1201-25. 14. Michae l McCann , Rights at Work: Pay Equity Reform and the Politics of Legal Mobilization (Chicago : Universit y o f Chicag o Press , 1994). 15. Stuar t Scheingold , The Politics of Rights (Ne w Haven : Yale University Press , 1974). 16. McCann , Rights at Work, 279 . 17. Mar k Tushnet, The NAACP's Legal Strategy against Segregated Education, 1925-1950 (Chape l Hill: University o f North Carolin a Press , 1987). 18. County of Washington, Oregon v. Gunther, 452 U.S. 161 (1982). 19. AFSCME v. State of Washington, 770 F . 2 d 140 1 (9t h Cir . 1985 ) rev'g 57 8 F. Supp. 846 (D. Wash. 1983) . 20. McCann , Rights at Work, 285 . 21. Ibid . 22. Gramsc i argue d tha t politica l scienc e decline d whe n "[pjolitic s became synonymou s wit h parliamentar y politics. " H e proposed a "science of the State," the State being "th e entire complex of practical and theoretica l activitie s wit h whic h th e rulin g clas s not onl y justifies an d maintains its dominance, bu t manages to win the active consent o f those over whom it rules." Gramsci, Notebooks, 243-53. 23. Gramsc i describe s Machiavell i a s asserting th e "necessit y fo r th e State to b e ruled b y law , b y fixed principles , whic h virtuou s citi zens can follow i n certainty o f not bein g destroye d b y the blow s of blind fate. " B y this mechanism , th e Italia n medieva l bourgeoisi e might "pas s fro m th e corporat e t o th e politica l phase " b y freein g itself fro m "th e medieva l cosmopolita n conceptio n represente d b y the Pope , th e clerg y an d als o b y th e la y intellectuals. " Gramsci , Notebooks, 257-64 . 24. Miche l Foucault , Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (New York: Vintage, 1979) ; but se e Alan Hunt , Explorations in Law and Society: Toward a Constitutive Theory of Law (Ne w York: Rout ledge, 1993) . 25. "On e see s bette r th e natur e o f stat e bureaucrac y i n it s relatio n t o movements tha n i n it s ow n terms. " Alain Touraine , The Voice and

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 6

the Eye: An Analysis of Social Movements (Cambridge : Cambridg e University Press , 1981) , 26. 26. Ibid. , 25-29 . 27. Kar l Klare, "La w Making a s Praxis/' Telos 40 (1979): 122. 28. Se e Joh n Brigham , Property and the Politics of Entitlement (Philadelphia: Temple University Press , 1990) . 29. Samue l Stouffer , Communism, Conformity, and Civil Liberties (Ne w York: Doubleday, 1955) , 15. 30. Th e attitud e framewor k parallel s th e constraine d choice s epito mized b y votin g i n most Western societies . 31. Stouffer , Communism, 274 . 32. Ibid. , 236 . 33. Bu t se e Benjami n Ginsberg , The Captive Public: How Mass Opinion Promotes State Power (New York: Basic Books, 1986). 34. Se e Herbert McClosky , "Consensu s an d Ideolog y i n America n Poli tics/' American Political Science Review 5 8 (1964): 361-82. 35. Alid a Bril l an d Herber t McClosky , Dimensions of Tolerance: What Americans Believe about Civil Liberties (Ne w York : Russel l Sage , 1983). 36. Jame s L. Gibson an d Richar d D . Bingham, "Skokie , Nazis , and th e Elitist Theor y o f Democracy, " Western Political Quarterly 3 3 (1985): 12. 37. Joh n Sullivan , Jame s Piereson, an d Georg e Marcus, Political Tolerance and American Democracy (Chicago : Universit y o f Chicag o Press, 1982) . Fo r thes e authors , "Thoug h on e ma y b y definitio n link toleranc e an d democracy , a s a practical matte r th e two may b e at odds" (8). 38. Ibid. , 251. 39. Jennife r Hochschild , Political Tolerance and American Democracy (Chicago: University o f Chicago Press, 1982) , 29. 40. Ibid. , 150 . 41. W . Lance Bennett , Public Opinion in American Politics (Ne w York: Harcourt, Brace , Jovanovich , 1980) , 124 ; Frances Fo x Pive n an d Richard A . Cloward , Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Public Welfare (New York: Vintage, 1971) , 169. 42. J . Anthony Lukas , Common Ground (New York: Knopf, 1985) ; Mark E. Kann, Middle Class Radicalism in Santa Monica (Philadelphia : Temple University Press , 1986) ; Murray Levin , Talk Radio (Lexing ton, Mass. : Lexington Books , 1987) .

191

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 6

192

43. Mar k Kesselman , "Conflictua l Evolutio n o f American Politica l Sci ence/' in Public Values and Private Power in American Politics, ed J. David Greenstone (Chicago : University o f Chicago Press, 1982) , 39. 44. Ibid . 45. Pete r B . Evans, Dietric h Rueschemeyer , an d Thed a Skocpol , Bringing the State Back In (New York: Cambridge University Press , 1985). 46. Yousse f Cohen , The Manipulation of Consent: The State and Working-Class Consciousness in Brazil (Pittsburgh : Universit y o f Pitts burgh Press , 1989) . 47. Ibid. , 9 . 48. Se e Kann, Middle Class Radicalism, fo r a n unusua l perspectiv e o n this point . 49. Stephe n Skowronek , Building the New American State (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press , 1982) . 50. Stephe n Skowronek, The Politics Presidents Make: Leadership from John Adams to George Bush (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994). 51. Ibid . 52. Joh n Brigham , The Cult of the Court (Philadelphia: Temple Univer sity Press, 1987) , 208-17. 53. Michae l Mandel , The Charter of Rights and the Legalization of Politics in Canada (Toronto: Wall and Thompson, 1989) . 54. Jud y Fudge , "Th e Effec t o f Entrenching a Bill of Rights upon Polit ical Discourse: Feminist Demand s and Sexua l Violence i n Canada, " International Journal of the Sociology of Law 1 7 (1989): 446. 55. Ibid. , 458-59 56. Richar d Morgan , Disabling America (Ne w York: Basic Books, 1984). 57. Ibid. , 5 . 58. Davi d Adaman y an d Joe l Grossman , "Suppor t fo r th e Suprem e Court as a National Policy Maker," Law and Policy 5 (1983): 405-37. 59. Ibid. , 409 . 60. Ibid. , 434. 61. Davi d Barnum , "Decisio n Makin g i n a Constitutional Democracy, " Journal of Politics 47 (1982): 480-508. 62. Gibso n and Bingham , "Skokie, " 191. 63. Ibid . 64. Joe l Grossma n pointe d thi s ou t t o m e i n comment s o n a n earlie r draft o f this chapter . 65. Laurenc e Tribe , American Constitutional Law, 2 d ed . (Ne w York: Foundation Press , 1988) , 1063.

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 6

66. Ibid. , 1080 . 67. Brigham , Cult, 214. 68. Se e also Charles A. Johnson an d Bradle y C. Canon, Judicial Policies: Implementation and Impact (Washington , D.C. : Congressional Quar terly Press , 1984) , for attentio n t o the authoritativ e population s o f "interpreters an d implementers " wh o lin k elit e position s t o th e Supreme Court . 69. Rober t Nagel , Constitutional Cultures (Berkeley: Universit y o f California Press , 1989) , 1. 70. E . P . Thompson, Whigs and Hunters. Ne w York : Vintag e Books , 197571. Jame s Willar d Hurst , Law and Markets in United States History (Madison: Universit y o f Wisconsin Press , 1980) . See discussion i n chapter 1 above. 72. Se e Peter Fitzpatrick , "Racis m an d th e Innocenc e o f Law, " Journal of Law and Society 14 (1987): 119-32. 73. Se e Alle n Feldman , Formations of Violence: The Narrative of the Body and Political Terror in Northern Ireland (Chicago : Universit y of Chicago Press, 1991) ; Michael J . Piore, Birds of Passage: Migrant Labor and Industrial Societies (Cambridge : Cambridg e Universit y Press, 1979) . 74. Richar d M . Elman , The Poorhouse State: The American Way of Life on Public Assistance (Ne w York: Pantheon, 1966) , 77. 75. Ibid. , 11. 76. "Praxis " was describe d i n terms o f the seemin g irrationalit y o f th e legal system i n th e lat e Middle Ages . An accoun t b y Dougla s Hay, interpreting attempt s to put the legal system on a more secure foot ing b y makin g punishmen t sur e an d efficient , point s ou t th e advantage o f the pardons , th e grac e controlled b y th e gentry , a s an affirmation o f thei r hegemony . Dougla s Ha y e t al. , Albion's Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth-Century England (Ne w York: Free Press, 1975) . 77. Interview s conducte d b y the author a t Chico Legal Internship Cen ter, Chico , Calif., July 1988 . 78. Flye r date d Februar y 2 , 1989 , "Listener s Actio n o n Homelessnes s and Housing, " on file wit h th e author . 79. Patrici a J . Williams, Notes of a Law Professor (Cambridge: Harvar d University Press , 1991) ; Derrick Bell , "Foreword : Th e Civi l Right s Chronicles," Harvard Law Review (1985) : 4-83.

193

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 6

80. Stanle y Fish , Doing What Comes Naturally: Change, Rhetoric, and the Practice of Theory in Literary and Legal Studies (Durham , N.C. : Duke University Press , 1989) . 81. Catharin e MacKinnon, Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law (Cambridge : Harvard Universit y Press , 1987) , intro., chaps . 3, 1, 11 . 82. Ibid. , 2 .

194

83. Ibid. , 3. 84. Ibid. , 2 . 85. Stanle y Fish , "Goin g Dow n th e Anti-Formalis t Road " (pape r pre sented t o th e Amhers t Semina r o n Lega l Ideology , Februar y 24 , 1989; publishe d a s the introductio n t o Doing What Comes Naturally. 86. Ibid , 17 . 87. Ibid . 88. Catharin e MacKinnon , "Feminism , Marxism , Method , an d th e State: An Agenda fo r Theory," Signs 7, no. 3 (spring 1982) : 24. 89. Fish , "Goin g Down, " 21. 90. Ibid. , 28. 91. MacKinnon , Signs, 25. 92. Fish , "Goin g Down, " 19. 93. MacKinnon , Signs, 23. 94. Fish , "Goin g Down, " 19 . 95. Ibid. , 32 . 96. Fish' s critique , thoug h supportive , doe s sugges t th e mor e volatil e reception o f MacKinnon's boo k Only Words (Cambridge : Harvar d University Press , 1993) , wher e th e predictabl y unfavorabl e response o f the press , once heightened b y a provocative metaphor ical use of rape by Carli n Romano in the Nation, becam e a cause fo r the antipornography movemen t t o rally around . 97. Fo r a discussion o f the platfor m fro m whic h I have sough t t o tak e off wit h thi s constitutiv e frame , se e David M . Trubek, "Wher e th e Action Is : Critica l Lega l Studie s an d Empiricism, " Stanford Law Review 3 6 (1984): 575; and Davi d M. Trubek an d John Esser, "'Crit ical Empiricism ' i n America n Lega l Studies : Paradox, Program , o r Pandora's Box? " Law and Social Inquiry 1 4 (1989): 3. 98. Kristi n Bumiller , "Th e Socia l Construction o f Rape in Crimina l Trials" (pape r presente d a t th e Conferenc e o n Lega l Ideolog y an d Social Relations, Amherst, Massachusetts , 1987) .

NOTES T O CHAPTE R 6

99. Ibid . 100. Angel a Y. Davis, Women, Race and Class (New York: Vintage, 1983) . 101. Georg e Marcu s said , "[I] t i s precisely th e relianc e o f socia l theor y on certai n assumption s abou t a domain conceive d a s everyday lif e that ha s mad e i t inadequat e t o d o it s jo b o f encompassing , o f domesticating fo r intellectua l consumption , lat e twentieth centur y realities as social processes." George Marcus, "Mas s Toxic Torts and the En d o f Everyday Life " (pape r presente d t o the Amhers t Semi nar, February 2 , 1990). 102. Ibid .

103. Se e also Fredric Jameson , "Regardin g Postmodernism— A Conver sation wit h Fredri c Jameso n (Ander s Stephanson), " Social Text 1 7 (1987): 29-54; George E. Marcus and Michae l Fischer, Anthropology as Cultural Critique (Chicago: University o f Chicago Press, 1986) . 104. Pive n an d Cloward , Regulating the Poor; Charles Reich, "Th e Ne w Property," Yale Law Journal 74 (1964): 1245. 105. Jacque s Donzelot , The Policing of Families (Ne w York : Rando m House, 1979) . 106. Se e Davi d The o Goldberg , "Th e Prison-Hous e o f Moder n Law, " Law and Society Review 2 9 (1995): 541-52. 195

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217

Index

Aubert, Wilhelm , 7 9

Abel, Richard , 7 0 Abolition, 36 , 10 4 Abortion Hyde Amendment , 1 1 as lifestyle issue , 3 7 pro-choice, 14 6 pro-life movement , 7 , 10 3 rhetoric o f choice , 12 3 Academy disciplining an d tenure , 11 8 legal, 65 , 81 Ackerman, Bruce , 6 1 ACLU. See American Civi l Liberties Unio n Acquired Immun e Deficienc y Syndrome .

Bakke, Regents of the University of California v., 8 Barker, Sara h Evans , 11 2 Barnum, David , 14 4 Barry, Kathleen , 12 1 Barthes, Rolan d quoted, o n Gu y d e Maupassant, 5 5 Baths, 30 , 42 closing, 133 , 146 history, 4 1 Olympic Club , 4 1 Battered women , 8 0 Behavioral turn , 13 8 Bell, Derrick, 51 , 73, 120 , 14 9 Bellman, Howard , 81 , 98 Bennett, Lanc e on th e searc h fo r publi c values , 13 9 Berns, Walte r criticism o f rights, 14 3 Bill of Rights, 12 5 Black, Hugo , 12 6 Blackstone's Commentaries, 5 8 Body a s political metaphor , 105- 6 See also Thomas, Clarenc e Bork, Robert , 51 , 67 Bourdieu, Pierre , 11 9 Bowers v. Hardwick, 3 , 40 Brandeis Brief , 17 , 90 Brennan, William , 10 9 Breyer, Stephen , 5 2 Brown, John , 104 , 125 , 127 Brown v. Board of Education, 17 , 37, 14 9 Bumiller, Kristin , 38 , 152 "Bundle o f input," 9 8 Burger, Warren , 82 , 89, 111 1976 speech i n St . Paul, 92-94 , 14 9 Burstein, Paul , 13 4

See AID S

Adorno, T . W., 13 8 ADR. See Alternative Disput e Resolution ; Mediation African Americans , 30 , 8 0 AFSCME v. State of Washington, 13 4 AIDS, 30, II4 , 14 6 first identified , 4 0 Alternative Disput e Resolutio n driven b y professiona l agendas , 13 6 lacking tensio n wit h establishe d power, 13 5 within a professional context , 14 6 Althusser, Louis , 22 American Booksellers Association v. Hudnut, 11

2

American Civi l Liberties Union , 12 , 17, 124-25 American Federatio n o f Labor, 8 4 American Revolution , 4 Amherst, Massachusetts , 12 4 Anthony, Susa n B. , 127 Antipornography movemen t and epistemologica l debates , 15 3 class and historica l character , 120-2 1 See also Feminism; Pornography ; Women Agains t Pornograph y Arnold, Thurman , 9 Association o f American La w Schools, 5 5 Attitudes, 4 elitism i n the perspective , 13 9

Cain, Maureen , 79 , 10 2 Canadian Constitution , 142-4 3 Carnegie, Andrew , 8 4 Carrington, Paul , 6 4 Castro District o f Sa n Francisco, 3 9 219

INDEX

220

Centers fo r Diseas e Control, 4 2 Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 10 8 Chico, California , 14 7 Civil rights an d libertie s Martin Luthe r King' s contribution , 3 4 role o f the middl e class , 13 8 role of litigation, 1 7 on threat s t o racial progress, 13 2 Civil War, 1 , 103 , 105 Class as legal structure , 142 , 14 6 CLS. See Critical Lega l Studie s Coase, R. H., 6 8 Commodity form , 1 5 Community powe r studies , 13 9 Concorde landin g rights , 14 5 Consciousness-raising, 11 5 Conservative jurisprudence, 14 2 legal foundations, 1 9 Constitution impoverished relevanc e of , 14 4 Constitutive law , 103 , 141 and th e family , 15 4 less normative, 5 non-rights based , 13 5 politics of , 14 5 and poverty , 15 4 rather tha n instrumental , 3 role of communities , 119-2 0 Constitutive practices , 2 Coombe, Rosemary , 1 3 Cooper, Phillip , 7 Courtla, 10 5 Courts, a s overburdened, 9 1 Crenshaw, Geneva , 14 9 Criminal du e process , 3 4 Critical Lega l Studies, 52 , 108 , 131 affinities t o ADR , 8 8 early contribution s t o constitutiv e theory, 13 7 on fanc y Frenc h philosophers , 6 3 and indeterminacy , 8 8 legal nihilists, 6 6 linked t o established power , 13 5 links t o informalism, 8 2 loss of faith, 13 0 maleness, 6 4 new lef t playe d ou t i n law , 62 Cult of the Court, 142 Davis, Angela, 18 , 120 Daly, Mary, 12 7 analysis o f suttee , 15 1

Declaration o f Independence, 5 , 24, 30 de Tocqueville, Alexis , 2 , 91 Dezalay, Yves, 5 3 Disputes as natural, 7 8 See also Mediatio n Double Standard , i n constitutiona l jurisprudence, 13 2 Douglas, William O. , 122 , 12 6 Douglass, Frederick, 35 , 10 4 characterization o f John Brown , 10 7 Downs, Donald , 115 , 116-1 8 Dritz, Selma , 43-4 4 Due process, 14 0 Dworkin, Andrea , 105 , i n , 13 1 before th e ordinances , 14 6 theory o f violent pornography , 112-16 , 119 toward a new jurisprudence, 12 8 on transformativ e practice , 12 0 Dworkin, Ronald , 3 4 Ehrlich, Eugen , 1 5 Eiffel Tower , 5 5 Election, 198 8 presidential, 3 4 Eliot, Charles , 5 8 Ellickson, Robert , 6 1 Elshtain, Jean , 11 5 Enlightenment, 13 7 Epstein, Richard , 6 7 Equal protection , 1 and fre e speech , 12 3 and suspec t classifications , 14 0 Essentialism, 12 3 See also Catharine MacKinno n Faith, 6 5 Family mediation , 94-9 8 Fanny Hill, 108 , i n Felstiner, William , 7 1 Feminism, 24 , 80 , 103 , 119 challenge t o positivism , 10 8 and consciousness , 10 5 outrage a t pornography' s violence , 10 6 radical, 125 , 127 , 12 8 and spirituality , 12 2 See also Women's movemen t Fifteenth Amendment , 3 6 Fish, Stanley , 119 , 131 , 149-52 Fisher, Roger , 10 1 Fiss, Owe n and fre e speech , 11 , 108, 12 6 against settlement , 10 1 on a world tha t n o longe r exists , 12 2

INDEX

Fitzpatrick, Peter , 12-13 , 7 5 Flag burning , 3 4 Forbath, William , 2 4 Forms of law. See Legal form s Foucault, Michel , 31 , 102, 119 authority beyon d law , 13 6 Foundations, 77 , 82, 95, 100 , 13 6 Founding document , 6 5 Fourteenth Amendment , 3 6 Frank, Jerome , 58-59 , 92 , 10 9 Frankfurter, Felix , 6 , 10 9 Freedom o f expression, 9 , 108-1 2 absolutist position , 12 6 First Amendment , 11 8 first obscenit y case , 10 8 popular ideology , 114 , 12 6 value, 12 5 See also "Speech yo u hate " Freeman, Alan , 35 , 38 Free Speech Traditio n See Freedom o f expression , popular ideolog y Frug, Mar y Joe , 5 5 Fudge, Judy, 142-4 3 Fuller, Lon , 9 5 Fund fo r Researc h o n Disput e Resolution , 100

Garland, David , 10 2 Garrison, Willia m Lloyd , 10 4 Gay and lesbia n activists, 24 , 106 , 12 6 Alice B . Toklas Democratic Club , 42 in California, 13 0 constituted i n relatio n t o rights, 32 , 15 3 Harvey Mil k Democrati c Club , 4 3 joined wit h civi l libertarians, 13 0 language, 3 9 lawyers, 13 1 rights, 2 1 sexual preferenc e an d identity , 3 9 since Stonewall , 3 0 Gay Men's Health Crisis , 3 3 Gayzette, 4 5 German socia l science , 4 Gibson, Jame s L., and Richar d D . Bingham, 138 , 144 Gideon, Clarenc e Ear l See Gideon v. Wainwright Gideon's Trumpet See Gideon v. Wainwright Gideon v. Wainwright, 19 , 34 Ginsburg, Rut h Bader , 5 2 Goodman, Sandra , 13 5

Goodrich, Peter , 50 , 54 , 62, 8 0 Gordon, Robert , 11 , 55, 64 Gramsci, Antonio , 13 , 131, 133 on la w residing betwee n scienc e an d religion, 13 5 Greek temples , 8 0 Grossman, Joel , 11 2 Gusfield, Joseph , 13 3 Hand, Judg e Learned , 109 , 115 , 133 Handler, Joel , 82 , 99 Harrington, Christine , 60 , 82, 87, 10 2 Harvard La w School, 51-53 , 58 , 62, 90, 9 6 Program o n Negotiation , 99 , 101 , 135 Hay, Douglas, 5 , 23, 137, 147 Hegemony an d resistance , 1 3 Hicklin Rule , 10 9 Historicism, 4 8 Hochschild, Jennifer , 13 9 Hohfeld, Wesley , 33-3 4 Holmes, Olive r Wendell, Jr. , 2 , 62 Homophobia, 13 3 Houston, Charle s Hamilton, 7 4 Hurst, Jame s Willard, 2 Ideological production , 10 2 Impact studies , 7 Indianapolis, 112 , 116 Informalism, 77 , 10 0 critique o f professionalism, 9 9 and disputes , 7 8 ideology of , 7 9 linked t o realism, 9 9 and settlement , 8 1 Inns o f Court, 3 2 INS v. Chada, 9 Craig's book , 1 9 Intellectuals, 131 , 137 Intolerance values o f economicall y insecure, 13 9 Iroquois Confederacy , 1 Ives v. South Buffalo Railroad, 8 5 Jacobellis v. Ohio, n o Jurisprudence, 12 8 Kairys, David , 6 4 Kalman, Laura , 6 0 Kelman, Mark , 64 , 87 Kennedy, Duncan , 51 , 64, 13 1 Kesselman, Mar k on attitude s studies , 14 0 King, Marti n Luther , Jr. , 31 , 34, 46, 12 7

221

INDEX

Klare, Karl, 22 , 24, 137 , 147 Kornhauser, Lewis , 61 , 68, 94 Kramer v. Kramer, 95 Ku Klux Klan , 118 , 124 , 13 2 Kulcsar, Kalman , 79 , 10 2

222

Labor movement , 10 3 Lambda Lega l Defense Fund , 39 , 49 Langdell, Christophe r Columbus , 58 , 62 Law alternatives, 7 7 associated wit h despair , 10 7 conception o f inefficiency, 10 2 English experience , 10 3 in everyda y life , 8 innocence of , 128 , 14 6 looking past , 12 9 not quit e natural , 2 0 professors i n Cambridge , 13 0 relational approach , 7 5 as semi-autonomous socia l field, 1 4 in socia l and cultura l practices , 12 9 See also State law; Natura l la w Law and economics , 52 , 67-7 1 lacking tension with established power, 135 Law-making a s praxis, 13 7 Lawyers as aristocracy, 2 Guild, 6 6 in pa y equit y movement , 13 4 Legal forms, 10 3 linked t o politica l practices , 13 0 as inside movements , 9 , 2 0 as outside movements , 2 at Senec a Falls , 5 shared in antiporn and bath struggles, 108 in socia l relations, 16 , 12 0 as a source o f law, 13 7 taken fo r granted , 13 0 theoretical background , 2 6 tradition, 1 5 Legalism, 14 8 Legal landscape, 12 9 Legal profession, 57 , 77, 96 Legal realism, 5 2 in elit e law schools , 5 7 Levinson, Sanford , 6 5 Liberalism, 33 , 83, 150 elite orientation i n civi l liberties, 14 3 frontal attacks , 12 6 in law , 12 5 and socia l life, 14 6 source o f activism, 12 6 Life, outsid e th e mainstream , 11 3

Llewellyn, Karl , 10 , 58 Lynd, Staunton , 12 0 Macaulay, Stuart , 10 1 MacKinnon, Catharine , 104 , 12 0 as antipornography strategist , 116-17 , 128, 13 1 and charg e o f essentialism, 12 3 and conviction , 149-5 2 on social reality of women's experience, 150 Mamet, David , 6 5 Marcus, George , 15 3 Marshall, Thurgood , 1 7 Masturbation, 11 5 Material Word, The, 24-2 5 Mayflower, 1 McBarnet, Doreen , 1 5 McCann, Michael , 38 , 13 4 McConnell, Grant , 86 , 14 0 Mediation, 8 0 for divorce , 9 7 Melossi, Dario , 10 2 Memoirs v. Massachusetts, i n Merry, Sall y Engle , 11 , £3 , 102 Middle Ages , 3 2 Milk, Harvey , 3 9 Miller v. California, 11 , i n, 12 2 adding a prong, 11 7 Millett, Kate , 105 , 107 , 12 8 Ming, William Robert , Jr. , 14 9 Minneapolis, 112 , 116 Miranda v. Arizona, 8 Misogyny, 11 9 Mnookin, Robert , 9 4 Moore, Sall y Falk, 14 , 101 Moralists, 12 2 Morgan, Richar d criticism o f rights, 14 3 Movements analysis o f identity, 13 4 in be d together , 117 , 121 warrant t o organize , 2 9 Muller v. Oregon, 90 Mullins, Judg e William, 4 4 NAACP, 17 , 24 , 3 7

on criticizin g Brown, 7 4 Nader, Laura , 12 , 94 National Association fo r th e Advancemen t of Colore d People . See NAACP National Associatio n o f Manufacturers, 8 4 National Civi c Federation, 84 , 8 6 National Institut e fo r Disput e Resolutio n (NIDR), 77

INDEX

National Organizatio n fo r Women , 16 , 97 Native Americans , 10 3 Natural law , 32 Nazis, 115 , 118 Nearing, Scott , 8 6 Near v. Minnesota, 3 7 Nedelsky, Jennifer , 12 2 Nelken, David , 2 3 New Deal , 1 , 35 New St . Marks Baths , 46 New socia l movements, 3 7 New York University (NYU ) Law School , 113, 121 , 12 2

Nonlawyer judges, 8 7 Obscenity, 110-1 2 Paris Adult Theater v. Slaton, 11 1 Patriarchy, an d lust , 12 7 Pay equit y reform , 13 4 Peller, Gary , 60 , 7 3 Pilgrim compact , 2 Pluralism, 4 , 3 7 Journal of Legal Pluralism, 1 2 and popula r justice, 1 3 as a trap, 14 6 Politics an d politica l joined wit h epistemology , 13 5 traditional left-righ t spectrum , 11 6 trials, 1 7 Pornography and harm , 12 2 and law , 11 5 new politic s of , 116 , 118 turning gendere d inequalit y int o speech, 15 0 violent, 113 , 125 Positivism, 4 , 71 , 126 from Bentha m t o Hart, 6 contrast wit h constitutive , 3 as the la w in la w school , 5 3 separates society , 9 Posner, Richard , 67 , 87 Pound, Roscoe , 58 , 80, 8 3 1906 speech o n th e administratio n o f justice, 89-9 2 Practices, 9 5 and community , 2 1 as mediating devices , 5 4 and movemen t activity , 2 4 Professional communities , 12 6 Program o n Negotiation . See Harvard La w Schoo l Progressives, 80 , 8 6

Property, i n th e Constitution , 14 0 Prostitution, 11 5 Public as a threat t o civi l liberties, 13 2 Queer activists , 30 , 39, 49, 13 1 Race as legal structure , 142 , 146 , 14 9 Radical feminis m challenge t o free speech , 13 0 See also Feminism; Radicalis m Radicalism, 104 , 12 2 Randall, Richard , 115-16 , 11 8 Rape, 119 , 123 , 152 as a constitutive ingredien t o f everyda y life, 15 0 and Roman o review, 12 4 Rawls, John, 3 4 Raymond, Janice , 12 7 Realism, 61 , 86, 14 6 in ar t an d philosophy , 5 6 and cynicism , 7 2 as indeterminacy, 6 0 in la w an d economics , 6 8 links t o informalism, 8 0 retro-realism, 59 , 69 Reeve, Tapping, 5 6 Reform, 8 5 as corporate ideal , 8 3 institutional structures , 9 3 Rehnquist, William , 5 4 Reich, Charles , 12 0 Relationships i n law , 13 0 Relativism, 15 3 Resistance, cultur e of , 12 7 Rifkin, Janet , 8 2 Rights demand a response, 2 9 Hohfeldian analysis , 3 4 paradoxical persistence , 4 8 as political resource , 4 8 as practice, 33-3 4 Roe v. Wade, 6 , 17 , 107 , 14 6 Roman Empire , 3 2 Roosevelt Eleanor, 12 7 Franklin, 36 , 14 1 Theodore, 8 5 Roth v. United States, 109 , i n Safe sex , 40 , 4 3 Sander, Fran k E . A., 90 , 94-97 , 14 6 San Diego , 11 4

223

INDEX

San Francisco, 114 , 153 Santos, Boaventur a d e Sousa , 12 , 101 Sarat, Austin , 7 1 Scheingold, Stuart , 37 , 13 4 Sedgwick, Ev e Kosofsky, 3 1 Selznick, Phillip , 1 5 Seneca Falls Convention, 3 6 Sex as legal structure , 142 , 14 6 Shay's Rebellion, 12 7 Shilts, Randy , 4 1 Silvestrini, Blanca , 3 8 Skokie, Illinois, 115 , 144 Skowronek, Stephen , 14 1 Slavery, 103- 4 and identity , 3 Social relations, 13 6 Society fo r Professional s i n Disput e Resolution (SPIDR) , 7 7

Sociological movemen t i n la w See Sociology o f la w Sociology o f law, 10 , 12 0 Sodomy, 3 Sontag, Susan , 10 6 Sparer, Ed , 6 4 "Speech yo u hate, " 12 4 Squatters, 3 7 Stanford Law Review, 6 4 224 State , 14 1 State law, 1 0 Sternhell, Carol, 11 9 Stevens, Robert, 5 7 Stewart, Potter , n o Stonewall Bar , 13 3 Riot, 30 , 39 Stouffer, Samuel , 13 2 1954 study, 13 8 Strange bedfellows . See Movements Stumpf, Harry , 17-1 9 Style, 2 2 Subaltern, 1 3 Supplemental Securit y Income , 14 7 Supreme Cour t all the wa y to , 14 5 support for , 14 4 Symbolic politics , 1 0 Taft, Willia m Howard , 8 5

Television, 8 Thomas, Clarence, 5 2 Thompson, E . P., 145 Thought tha t yo u hate . See "Speech yo u hate " Tierra Amarilla , 1 8 Tijerina, Reie s Lopez, 1 8 Tolerance values o f professionals, 13 8 Top, o f the socia l heap, 3 0 Touraine, Alain , 13 6 Toxic torts, 15 3 Trashing, 65 , 67 Tribe, Laurence, 52 , 14 4 Trubek, David , 7 0 Unger, Roberto , 62 , 63 University o f Massachusetts, Amherst , i n Vose, Clement, 1 7 Walzer, Michael , 3 4 Ways of knowing, 15 1 WBAI, 14 8

Weather Underground , 10 3 Welfare, 14 7 What i s law?, 5 White, Ryan , 3 9 Whitmore, George , 2 9 Whitney Museu m AID S Show , 4 9 Williams, Patricia , 35 , 14 9 Wilson, Woodrow , 2 Wolfe, Christophe r criticism o f rights, 14 3 Women Agains t Pornography , 21 , 107, 121, 13 1

constituted i n oppositio n t o the Firs t Amendment, 12 2 See also Antipornography movement ; Feminism; Pornograph y Women's movement, 12 6 See also Feminism Wythe, George , 5 6 X, Malcolm, 120 , 12 7 Yale Law School, 53 , 62 dean, 6 7