Nobody's Law: Legal Consciousness and Legal Alienation in Everyday Life (Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies)

__Nobody’s Law__ shows how people – who are disappointed, disenchanted, and outraged about the justice system – gradually move away from law. Using detailed case studies and combining different theoretical perspectives, this book explores the legal consciousness of ordinary people, businessmen, and street-level bureaucrats in the Netherlands. The empirical research in this study tells an original and alternative narrative about the role of law in everyday life. While previous studies emphasize the law’s hegemony and argue that it’s ‘all over’, Hertogh shows that legal proliferation makes it harder for people to know, and subsequently identify with, the law. As a result, official law has become increasingly remote and irrelevant to many people. The central finding presented in this highly topical text is that these developments signal a process of ‘legal alienation’— a gradual and mundane process with potentially serious consequences for the legitimacy of law. A timely and original study, this book will be of particular interest to scholars in the fields of law and society, socio-legal studies and legal theory. Preface 6 Contents 10 List of Figures 13 List of Tables 14 Chapter 1 Introduction 15 Abstract 15 Erik’s Day in Court 15 After the Verdict 16 Legal Consciousness 20 Why People Turn to Law 21 Legal Hegemony: ‘Law Is Saturating Our Daily Life’ 22 Reconsidering the ‘Critical’ Approach 23 Empirical Flaws 23 Methodological Flaws 24 Conceptual Flaws 25 Towards an Alternative Approach 26 Why People Turn Their Back to Law 26 Legal Alienation: ‘The Absence of Law from Everyday Life’ 27 Research Design and Methodology 29 Legal Wind-Chill Factor 29 Legal Consciousness Studies 30 Living Law 30 Public Trust and Legitimacy 30 Case Studies 31 Plan of the Book 31 References 32 Part I Different Stories About Law 38 Chapter 2 The Myth of Dutch Legal Culture 39 Abstract 39 Introduction 39 How Much Do the Dutch Support the Justice System? 41 Trust as (Single) Indicator for Legitimacy 42 Public Trust in Courts and Judges 43 Conclusion: ‘Legitimacy Is High and Stable’ 43 From What to How People Think About Law 45 Problems with Trust 45 A Reassessment of Survey Evidence 46 Public Attitudes Towards Law 47 Public Opinion About Courts 48 Public Opinion About Judges 50 How Do the Dutch Understand the Justice System? 52 Public Dissatisfaction About Punitiveness and Responsiveness 52 Conclusion: ‘Contested Legitimacy’ 53 Conclusion: No Solid Support but Sullen Toleration 54 Debunking the Myth of Dutch Legal Culture 55 Why Do People Turn Their Back to Law? 56 References 56 Chapter 3 Loyalists, Legalists, Cynics and Outsiders 61 Abstract 61 Introduction 61 What Is Alienation? 62 Alienation in Social Science 63 Different Dimensions of Alienation 64 The End of Alienation? 65 What Is Legal Alienation? 65 Internal and External Understandings of Law 66 Different Dimensions of Legal Alienation 67 Normative Profiles 69 I. Legalists 69 II. Loyalists 70 III. Cynics 71 IV. Outsiders 71 Sliding Scale 71 Methodological Notes 72 References 72 Chapter 4 Research Methods: Through the Lens of Legal Consciousness 76 Abstract 76 Introduction 76 From a ‘Critical’ to a ‘Secular’ Methodology 77 Law as Independent and Dependent Variable 77 Roscoe Pound 78 Eugen Ehrlich 80 Legal Consciousness 81 Haves and Have-Nots 82 Limited Focus 83 Broadening Our Perspective 83 Participants’ Perspectives 84 Theory Overtakes Fact 84 Through the Eyes of Participants 85 Mixed Methods 86 Rediscovering Surveys 86 Bridging the Divide Between Quantitative and Qualitative Research 87 Case Studies 89 References 90 Part II Legal Alienation in Everyday Life 95 Chapter 5 A School Director and Non-discrimination Law 96 Abstract 96 Introduction 96 (Not) Shaking Hands at School 98 The Legal Framework 98 The Utrecht Case: What’s in a Handshake? 98 How Do People Experience Legal Equality? 99 National Study 100 Before, With, Against the Law 100 Discussion 103 What Do People Experience as Legal Equality? 104 The Case 104 Reactions 106 Two Conceptions of Equality 107 Legal Alienation at a Public School 108 Legal Meaninglessness 109 Legal Powerlessness 109 Legal Cynicism 110 Legal Value-Isolation 111 Conclusion 111 The Case in a Wider Context 113 Conclusion 115 References 115 Chapter 6 Contractors and Competition Law 118 Abstract 118 Introduction 118 The Case of the Dutch Construction Industry 120 Self-Regulation in the Construction Industry 121 Limited Impact of Antitrust Laws 122 How Do Contractors Experience Law? 123 Law Is Inflexible 124 Law Corrodes Trust 124 Discussion 125 What Do Contractors Experience as Law? 126 Local Rules 126 Each Claim Should Be Compensated 127 All Bids Should Be Distributed Equally 127 All Accounts Should Be Cleared Internally 127 Don’t Talk to Strangers 128 Local Rule-Enforcement 128 Legal Alienation in the Construction Industry 130 Legal Meaninglessness 130 Legal Powerlessness 131 Legal Cynicism 131 Legal Value-Isolation 133 Conclusion 134 The Case in a Wider Context 136 Conclusion 136 References 136 Chapter 7 Front-Line Officials and Public Law 139 Abstract 139 Introduction 139 The Story of the Indonesian Quarter 141 Neighbourhood Intervention Team Zwolle (NITZ) 141 How Do Front-Line Officials Experience the Rechtsstaat? 142 Legality 142 Equality 144 Discussion 145 What Do Front-Line Officials Experience as the Rechtsstaat? 145 Responsiveness 145 Material Equality 147 Discussion 148 Legal Alienation in a Street-Level Bureaucracy 148 Legal Powerlessness 149 Legal Cynicism 149 Legal Value-Isolation 150 Conclusion 151 The Case in a Wider Context 151 Conclusion 153 References 153 Part III Conclusions 155 Chapter 8 Marking the Unremarkable 156 Abstract 156 Revisiting the Cases 156 Disconnection 157 Spectrum of Legal Alienation 158 Not a State, but a Process 159 Legal Alienation: Looking Beyond the Cases 160 Assessing the Scope of Legal Alienation 161 Paths to Justice 161 Legal Mobilization in the Netherlands 163 Situating Legal Alienation 165 Who Are the Critics of the Justice System? 165 Gender 166 Age 166 Education 166 Income 167 Ethnicity 167 Legal Alienation and Social Marginality 167 Understanding the Impact of Legal Alienation 168 Why People Obey the Law 169 Legitimacy and Compliance Among Dutch Traffic Offenders 170 Results 175 Non-identification Shapes Non-compliance 176 Conclusion 178 References 178 Chapter 9 Nobody’s Law: Past, Present and Future 182 Abstract 182 A Different Story About Law in Everyday Life 182 Everybody’s Law 183 Nobody’s Law 184 Legal Explosion and Legal Inflation 186 Receding State Law 186 Emerging Non-state Law 187 Back to the Future: Redirecting Legal Consciousness Research 189 Reconnecting with a Research Tradition 189 An Invitation 191 References 192 Bibliography 194 Index 214 "Nobody's Law shows how people - who are disappointed, disenchanted, and outraged about the justice system - gradually move away from law. Using detailed case studies and combining different theoretical perspectives, this book explores the legal consciousness of ordinary people, businessmen, and street-level bureaucrats in the Netherlands. The empirical research in this study tells an original and alternative narrative about the role of law in everyday life. While previous studies emphasize the law's hegemony and argue that it's 'all over', Hertogh shows that legal proliferation makes it harder for people to know, and subsequently identify with, the law. As a result, official law has become increasingly remote and irrelevant to many people. The central finding presented in this highly topical text is that these developments signal a process of 'legal alienation'-- a gradual and mundane process with potentially serious consequences for the legitimacy of law. A timely and original study, this book will be of particular interest to scholars in the fields of law and society, socio-legal studies and legal theory."--Page 4 de la couverture Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction (Marc Hertogh)....Pages 1-23 Front Matter ....Pages 25-25 The Myth of Dutch Legal Culture (Marc Hertogh)....Pages 27-48 Loyalists, Legalists, Cynics and Outsiders (Marc Hertogh)....Pages 49-63 Research Methods: Through the Lens of Legal Consciousness (Marc Hertogh)....Pages 65-83 Front Matter ....Pages 85-85 A School Director and Non-discrimination Law (Marc Hertogh)....Pages 87-108 Contractors and Competition Law (Marc Hertogh)....Pages 109-129 Front-Line Officials and Public Law (Marc Hertogh)....Pages 131-146 Front Matter ....Pages 147-147 Marking the Unremarkable (Marc Hertogh)....Pages 149-174 Nobody’s Law: Past, Present and Future (Marc Hertogh)....Pages 175-186 Back Matter ....Pages 187-215