Time Schedule:
Michael W Mc Cann
POL S 363
Seattle Campus
Inquiry into how law matters in social practice. Examines general theories of law, the workings of legal institutions, and the character of legally constituted practices and relationships in diverse terrains of social life. Offered: jointly with LSJ 363.
Class description
Description: This class explores the fundamental roles that law plays in organizing contemporary social life. We shall consider various ways of understanding law’s complex presence: how law shapes and enables routine social interaction, how law constructs differences among people and their actions, how law mediates and enforces power relationships, and how law matters for the kind of society we have. Particular attention will be given to three sets of relationships: between legal knowledge and legal practice; between law, social identity, and community, and between law and violence. Our inquiries will examine official legal institutions (courts) and actors (judges, police, lawyers, etc.), but the class will emphasize how law works as a complex array of norms, symbols, discourses, and practices that infuse and shape all aspects of social life. We thus will address both the macro-politics of law at the national level (federal appellate courts, death penalty policy, tort reform policy, etc.) and the micro-politics of legal interaction among citizens within neighborhoods, communities, workplaces, families, and the like. Most of the case materials draw from U.S. experience, but some comparative historical and cross-national perspectives will be introduced.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
There are no formal prerequisites for this class, although grounding in a basic knowledge of American politics and social organization will be assumed. This class is a core requirement for the Law, Societies, and Justice Program.
Recommended preparation
Texts: There are three types of required texts for this class. First are the required books, all of which are available at the University Book Store. These texts are, in the order we will read them: Stuart Scheingold, The Politics of Rights; Jerome H. Skolnick & James J. Fyfe, Above the Law: Police and the Excessive Use of Force; and Austin Sarat, How the State Kills. Second, a number of copied articles will be required and available for purchase or library reserve access. Third, students will be expected to see three movies out of class as well as one movie and several segments of film in class.
Class assignments and grading
Grading: Student grades will be based on three papers written regarding course materials and course participation.
