Listed in: Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought, as LJST-231
David P. Delaney (Section 01)
This course examines social movements (and related phenomena) as integral elements of legal orders and as significant sources of legal transformations. Through interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, and historical analyses, the course will explore the ways in which non-state actors engage formal legal institutions to shape or reform law, in order to affect the conditions of social life. Of particular interest are not merely desired changes in laws but resultant changes in the culture of law more broadly. The course will draw on a wide range of movements (historical and contemporary; “progressive” and conservative; broad-based and narrowly focused; American and non-American; local, national and global; North and South; activist and bureaucratic; from “below” and from “within”; etc.) and study two or three in closer detail. The over-arching objective is to achieve a richer understanding of both the inner workings of “the law” and the dynamic life of law outside of formal institutions.
Limited to 30 students. Fall semester. Senior Lecturer Delaney.
How to handle overenrollment: Priority will be given to LJST majors and Amherst College students
Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Written work, Independent research, Oral presentations, Class participation, Readings
Section 01
M 12:30 PM - 1:50 PM OCTA 200
W 12:30 PM - 1:50 PM OCTA 200