Law and the Utopian Imagination
Austin Sarat, Lawrence Douglas, and Martha Merill Umphrey
Abstract
This book is a project of exploration and resuscitation of idea of utopianism within legal discourse. Instead of mapping out the contours of a familiar terrain, the contributors seek to explore the possibilities of a productive engagement between the utopian and the legal imagination. They will attempt to answer questions such as: Is it possible to re-imagine or revitalize the concept of utopia such that it can survive the terms of the mid-century liberal critique? Alternatively, is it possible to re-imagine the concept of utopia and the theory of liberal legality so as to dissolve the apparen ... More
This book is a project of exploration and resuscitation of idea of utopianism within legal discourse. Instead of mapping out the contours of a familiar terrain, the contributors seek to explore the possibilities of a productive engagement between the utopian and the legal imagination. They will attempt to answer questions such as: Is it possible to re-imagine or revitalize the concept of utopia such that it can survive the terms of the mid-century liberal critique? Alternatively, is it possible to re-imagine the concept of utopia and the theory of liberal legality so as to dissolve the apparent antagonism between the two? In charting possible answers to these questions, the introduction to this volume expresses the editors’ hope to revive interest in a vital topic of inquiry too long neglected by both social thinkers and legal scholars.
Keywords:
Law,
Utopia,
Heidegger,
Blade Runner,
Cotton Mather,
Kant,
Legal Discourse,
Thomas More,
B.F. Skinner,
Walter Benjamin
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2014 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780804790819 |
| Published to Stanford Scholarship Online: September 2014 |
DOI:10.11126/stanford/9780804790819.001.0001 |
