The Constitution of Interests : Beyond the Politics of Rights

Annotation. Many of America's most important social and political movements--abolition, women's suffragette, civil rights, women's liberation, gay and lesbian rights--have organized in the shadow of the law. All are based in their theoretical opposition to the law. Yet at the same time, they are dependent on the laws that prohibit them. Law is thus formed as much through the dynamic tensions that govern how these laws are received as through their official decree. Legal forms such as contracts, property, and rights also constitute social and political life because they structure our world. John Brigham here focuses on four ideological movements and their strategies, among them the struggle over the closing of gay bathhouses in the early years of the AIDS crisis and the radical feminist use of rage and radical consciousness in anti- pornography campaigns. The effect of law on politics, Brigham convincingly reveals, is pervasive precisely because political life finds its expression in a surprising variety of legal forms Clearly, The Structure Of Authority In This Country Rests On How Americans Understand The Nature And Relationship Of Law And Politics. Law Consists Of Pronouncements From The Courts, But Also Of What We Think Of These Pronouncements: Should Abortion Be A Choice Or Is It Murder? Law Is Formed As Much Through The Dynamic Tensions That Govern How These Laws Are Received As Through Their Official Decree. Legal Forms - Contracts, Property, Rights - Similarly Do Not Reflect Pre-existing Or Natural Categories But Themselves Constitute Social And Political Life Because They Dictate How We Conceptualize Our World. Even Activists Who Seek Reform Inadvertently Reinforce The Traditional Legal Remedies Against Which They Rally, Oftentimes Relying On Legal Institutions While Claiming To Be Free Of Them. John Brigham's Book Focuses On Four Particular Ideological Movements And Their Strategies, Including The Emphasis Placed By Gay Men On Their Rights During The Legal Struggle Over The Closing Of Gay Bathhouses In The Early Years Of The Aids Crisis And The Radical Feminist Use Of Rage And Radical Consciousness In Anti-pornography Campaigns. The Effect Of Law In Politics, Brigham Convincingly Reveals, Is Constitutive Precisely When Political Life Finds Its Meaning In Various Legal Forms.--book Jacket. Legal Forms : Toward A Constitutive Theory -- Rights To Profligacy? : Sex And Aids, The Early Years -- Professions Of Realism : An Institutional Form -- Remedial Law : The Ideology Of Informalism -- Radical Legal Consciousness : Sex And Rage -- The Constitution Of Interests : Rethinking Legalism. John Brigham. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 197-217) And Index.

Many of America's most important social and political movements--abolition, women's suffragette, civil rights, women's liberation, gay and lesbian rights--have organized in the shadow of the law. All are based in their theoretical opposition to the law. Yet at the same time, they are dependent on the laws that prohibit them. Law is thus formed as much through the dynamic tensions that govern how these laws are received as through their official decree.

Legal forms such as contracts, property, and rights also constitute social and political life because they structure our world. John Brigham here focuses on four ideological movements and their strategies, among them the struggle over the closing of gay bathhouses in the early years of the AIDS crisis and the radical feminist use of rage and radical consciousness in anti- pornography campaigns. The effect of law on politics, Brigham convincingly reveals, is pervasive precisely because political life finds its expression in a surprising variety of legal forms.

John Brigham examines the effects of law on politics and the ways in which political life finds its expression in a surprising variety of legal forms.