NCJ Number
132939
Date Published
1991
Length
233 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the philosophy and sociology of law presents jurisprudence as a paradigm of legal ideology and examines contemporary issues in socialist, feminist, and critical legal theory.
Abstract
The discussion focuses on the three texts of mainstream jurisprudence developed by Hart, Finnis, and Dworkin and shows their areas of agreement and disagreement. It then considers jurisprudence from the standpoint of persons who hold subordinate positions in society, arguing that the law helps create social injustice and develops the concept of "rights fetishism," the mystification of the value of law for those whom it places in these positions. This concept of rights fetishism is shown to be parallel to Marx's concept of fetishism in relation to commodities. The analysis also considers how a progressive law may be possible. The discussion emphasizes jurisprudence as it occurs in Australia, England, Canada, the United States, and New Zealand. Chapter notes, index, and 185 references (Publisher summary modified)