Critical Legal Studies and the Campaign for American Law Schools

Recent political science research into the American legal academy has been 'captured by conservatism'this research has framed the institutional and ideological developments occurring within the law schools over the past forty years solely through the prism of modern conservatism. As a result, political scientists have ignored the political struggles of one of the most important legal reform movements of the 1980s and overlooked the hope for leftist reform that existed within American law schools during this period.

Critical Legal Studies and the Campaign for American Law Schools tells the story of the critical legal studies movement. This formidable movement sought to fundamentally reconstruct law schools, train a new generation of leftist lawyers, and replace the dominant form of legal consciousness governing the American legal system.

Instead of projecting a fatalism onto leftist reform, this book relies on extensive archival research and interviews to illuminate the radical potential that lived in the American legal academy of the 1980s. The critical legal studies movement was a towering presence in the law schools, and its legacy continues to hold out political possibilities and reform lessons for leftist legal scholars today.

Represents the first book to chart the development of the critical legal studies movement over time Fills a gap in political science research on CLS, individual Crits, and leftist reforms within American law schools Uses archival research and interviews to explain the rise of CLS and the promise of leftist legal reform in the 1980s

Autorentext

Paul Baumgardner is Assistant Professor at Belmont University, USA, where he teaches in the Legal Studies Program and the Honors Program. Before arriving at Belmont, he completed a joint Ph.D. in the Department of Politics and the Humanities Council at Princeton University, USA.

Klappentext

Recent political science research into the American legal academy has been captured by conservatism this research has framed the institutional and ideological developments occurring within the law schools over the past forty years solely through the prism of modern conservatism. As a result, political scientists have ignored the political struggles of one of the most important legal reform movements of the 1980s and overlooked the hope for leftist reform that existed within American law schools during this period. Critical Legal Studies and the Campaign for American Law Schools tells the story of the critical legal studies movement. This formidable movement sought to fundamentally reconstruct law schools, train a new generation of leftist lawyers, and replace the dominant form of legal consciousness governing the American legal system. Instead of projecting a fatalism onto leftist reform, this book relies on extensive archival research and interviews to illuminate the radical potential that lived in the American legal academy of the 1980s. The critical legal studies movement was a towering presence in the law schools, and its legacy continues to hold out political possibilities and reform lessons for leftist legal scholars today.

Inhalt
Chapter One: Moving Beyond Conservative Capture.- Chapter Two: The Birth of the CLS Movement.- Chapter Three: The Promise of CLS Retrenchment.- Chapter Four: Towards Influence and Institutionalization.- Chapter Five: Retrenchment Repelled.- Chapter Six: Critical Lessons and the Campaign That Continues