Law and Society (206-0-20)
Instructors
Joanna Lynn Grisinger
847 491 3987
620 Lincoln St #201
I am an American legal historian who works on the modern administrative state. At Northwestern, I teach courses on law and society, U.S. legal history, gender and the law, and constitutional law. My first book, The Unwieldy American State: Administrative Politics since the New Deal (Cambridge, 2012), examines the politics of administrative law reform; I am currently working on a project about the relationship between administrative agencies and social movements.
Meeting Info
Lutkin Hall: Tues, Thurs 2:00PM - 3:20PM
Overview of class
Law is everywhere. Law permits, prohibits, enables, legitimates, protects, and prosecutes. Law shapes our day-to-day lives in countless ways. This course examines the connections and relationships of law and society using an interdisciplinary social science approach. As one of the founders of the Law and Society movement observed, "law is too important to leave to lawyers." Accordingly, this course will borrow from several theoretical, disciplinary, and interdisciplinary perspectives (such as sociology, history, anthropology, political science, and critical studies) in order to explore the sociology of law and law's role primarily in the American context. The thematic topics to be discussed include law and social control; law's role in social change; and law's capacity to reach into complex social relations and intervene in existing normative institutions and organizational structures.
Cross-listed with Legal_ST 206-0
Learning Objectives
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Recognize and articulate reciprocal relationships in the US legal system between societal forces, psychological forces, and the behaviors of individuals and groups, including one's position within these relationships, forces, and structures.
2. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of major sociological and philosophical theories of law as related to the influence of culture and power on the behavior of individuals, interpersonal relationships, and group dynamics
3. Reflect upon the way in which the field of legal studies helps illuminate the factors underlying social issues, social problems, and ethical dilemmas in the United States.
4. Engage with sociolegal scholarship that addresses societal issues in the United States, including the historical and contemporary structures, processes, and practices that shape racism and anti-racism; power and resistance; justice and injustice; equality and inequality; agency and subjection; and belonging and subjection.
Teaching Method
Lectures and discussion sections
Evaluation Method
short papers and take home, open book midterm and final
Class Materials (Required)
This course will have required books/other materials.
Calavita, Kitty. Invitation to Law & Society: An Introduction to the Study of Real Law. 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press, 2016. 978-0-226-29658-6
Class Attributes
Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl
U.S. Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity
Social & Behavioral Sciences Distro Area
Associated Classes
DIS - Parkes Hall 214: Tues 4:00PM - 4:50PM
DIS - Parkes Hall 212: Tues 5:00PM - 5:50PM
DIS - Parkes Hall 224: Tues 4:00PM - 4:50PM
DIS - University Hall 101: Wed 11:00AM - 11:50AM
DIS - Parkes Hall 212: Wed 1:00PM - 1:50PM