NCJ Number
79171
Journal
International Journal of the Sociology of Law Volume: 9 Issue: 3 Dated: (August 1981) Pages: 245-267
Date Published
1981
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This paper contends that informal justice is emerging in capitalist societies as another means by which potentially liberating conflict is rendered conservative.
Abstract
Since the end of the 19th century, formal legal institutions have been the dominant mode of managing conflict. Informal alternatives to courts are currently being advocated by legal reformers and scholars; the Dispute Resolution Act of 1980 and neighborhood justice centers represent efforts at implementing informal dispute settlement. Advantages claimed for the informal approach include lower costs, greater access, and lay participation. This argument contends, however, that the differences between formal and informal courts are exaggerated and that they both tend to favor conservative conflict, which is geared to preserving the structures of domination that characterize capitalist society. It is suggested that formalism and informalism are alternatives in the cyclic vacillation of capitalist ideology. By focusing attention on experimental, peripheral institutions, the program of informalism deflects criticism from those older formal institutions that lie at the core of the legal system. It is concluded that informal institutions, like their more formal counterparts, will ultimately fail to render conflict conservative because no legal institution can resolve the contradictions of capitalism or eliminate the exploitation and domination that generate conflict. The drawback of informal institutions is that they cannot effectively manage conflict and remain informal. In formalizing, these institutions will become more openly coercive and generate opposition that furthers liberating conflict and endangers the system. Approximately 100 references are listed.