NCJ Number
129018
Editor(s)
W W Pue,
B Wright
Date Published
1988
Length
353 pages
Annotation
Representative research essays highlight the role of law and legal institutions in the development of the structures of modern Canadian society.
Abstract
Six essays focus on theory and methodology in examining how law and legal institutions impact society. One essay critiques Weber's theoretical model of formal legal rationality, a model that has influenced modern legal historians researching private law. Other essays illustrate the utility of theory developed in feminist circles concerning the patriarchal character of domination, how anthropological structuralist theory and discourse analysis provide an important new means of deconstructing and evaluating the internal judicial development of legal doctrine, and the debate concerning the relationship between law and social attitudes to authority. Remaining essays address research in the main areas of law, namely, social welfare, labor relations, criminal justice, and civil liberties. Topics include institutional dependency and control involving veterans' pensions and relief for the poor, how the administration of collective bargaining has affected the employment terms and compliance of the labor force, criminal laws designed for the paternalistic protection of women, and the abuse of justice in the general court martial of 1838-39 in lower Canada. Chapter endnotes and tables