"Critical legal studies (CLS) is a school of critical theory that developed in the United States during the 1970s."
This theory uses storytelling and narrative to reveal how law and policy can discriminate against marginalized groups.
Critical race theory: A brief introduction to the legal framework that examines the role of law and racism in society, and how law can be used to challenge systems of oppression.
Narratives: The power of storytelling and its influence on shaping our perceptions and understandings of the world. Legal storytelling draws upon the power of narratives to communicate the experiences of marginalized groups.
Intersectionality: The concept that people experience overlapping forms of oppression based on their intersecting identities, such as race, gender, class, and sexuality. Legal storytelling considers the intersectionality of identity and the ways in which it shapes experiences of inequality.
Counter-storytelling: A form of legal storytelling that seeks to challenge dominant narratives and provide alternative perspectives that center the experiences of marginalized groups.
Racial framing: The ways in which dominant narratives construct racial categories and attitudes that perpetuate racism and inequality. Legal storytelling seeks to challenge racial framing and present alternative narratives that challenge these attitudes.
Cultural narratives: The stories, symbols, and beliefs that shape cultural norms and values. Legal storytelling considers how cultural narratives influence our understanding of law and justice.
Marginalization: The social, economic, and political exclusion of certain groups from full participation in society. Legal storytelling considers the experiences of marginalized groups and how their exclusion from legal narratives perpetuates systems of inequality.
Structural racism: The ways in which racist practices and attitudes are embedded in social and institutional structures. Legal storytelling examines the role of law in reinforcing, challenging, and changing these structures.
Power dynamics: The unequal distribution of power and resources in society. Legal storytelling examines how power dynamics influence the narratives and practices of the legal system.
Social justice: The pursuit of a fair and equitable society that provides equal opportunities and treatment for all. Legal storytelling is a means of advocating for social justice by challenging dominant narratives and providing alternative perspectives.
Personal Narrative: A story that draws on the personal experiences of the speaker, often to illustrate the challenges and injustices they face or have faced in the legal system.
Counter-Storytelling: A response to dominant legal narratives, counter-storytelling aims to challenge and subvert the dominant narratives that the legal system is based on.
Intersectional Storytelling: Critical Race Theory emphasizes the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, gender, and other social identities, intersectional storytelling takes into account these intersections.
Strategic Storytelling: Strategic storytelling uses narratives to mobilize political action, energize social movements, and challenge the dominant narratives of the legal system.
Institutional Storytelling: Institutional storytelling aims to examine the way institutions shape and perpetuate legal narratives, and how these narratives reinforce or challenge power dynamics within these institutions.
"CLS adherents claim that laws are devised to maintain the status quo of society and thereby codify its biases against marginalized groups."
- "To demonstrate the ambiguity and possible preferential outcomes of supposedly impartial and rigid legal doctrines." - "To publicize historical, social, economic and psychological results of legal decisions." - "To demystify legal analysis and legal culture in order to impose transparency on legal processes so that they earn the general support of socially responsible citizens."
"It developed in the United States during the 1970s."
"Laws are devised to maintain the status quo of society and thereby codify its biases against marginalized groups."
"To demonstrate the ambiguity and possible preferential outcomes of supposedly impartial and rigid legal doctrines."
"To publicize historical, social, economic and psychological results of legal decisions."
"To demystify legal analysis and legal culture in order to impose transparency on legal processes."
"To demystify legal analysis and legal culture in order to impose transparency on legal processes."
"Socially responsible citizens are those who support legal processes once transparency is imposed."
"The abbreviations 'CLS' and 'Crit' are sometimes used to refer to the movement and its adherents."
"The focus of critical legal studies is on demonstrating the biases and preferential outcomes within supposedly impartial legal doctrines."
"...so that they earn the general support of socially responsible citizens."
"Critical legal scholars seek to demystify legal analysis and legal culture."
"Critical legal scholars claim that laws maintain the status quo and codify biases against marginalized groups."
"Despite wide variation in the opinions of critical legal scholars around the world..."
"To publicize historical, social, economic and psychological results of legal decisions."
"To demonstrate the ambiguity and possible preferential outcomes of supposedly impartial and rigid legal doctrines."
"Codify its biases against marginalized groups."
"To impose transparency on legal processes so that they earn the general support of socially responsible citizens."