Critical Legal Studies

A collection of schools of thought, based on one common perspective

legal institutions are controlled by hidden interests and class domination.

Original premises of law as a social control: three basic beliefs about the law

1. Law is determinate, meaning that it supplies the solutions to all social conflict.

2. Legal doctrine is neutral and can be autonomously interpreted.

3. Legal doctrine represents a coherent view of society.

Critical legal theory challenges the first basic belief : Law is determinate

Principle of indeterminacy

Principle of indeterminacy

Law is not a complete system; law is unable to resolve every conceivable problem and other sources of social control are more important in determining social behavior.

Critical legal theory challenges the second basic belief : Legal doctrine is neutral

Principle of anti-formalism

Principle of anti-formalism

There is no autonomous and neutral mode of legal reasoning. Thus, legal reasoning is merely a form of politics, dominated by the most powerful/wealthy

Critical legal theory challenges the third basic belief: Legal doctrine represents a coherent view about the nature of society

Principle of contradiction

Principle of contradiction

Legal doctrine does not encapsulate a single, coherent view of human relations. At best, the law represents a compromise among different and opposing points of view.

Critical race theory

a collection of critical stances against the existing legal order from a race-based point of view

Diverse schools within CRT, but all sharing several common premises

• CRT proposes that white supremacy and racial power are maintained over time, and in particular, that the law plays an important role in this process.

• CRT pursues a project of achieving racial emancipation and antisubordination in law and society.

• CRT scholars have investigated the possibility of transforming the relationship between law and racial power.

Main theoretical elements of CRT

1. institutionalized racism

2. internalized racial oppression

3. whiteness as property