Description
Book SynopsisJustin Desautels-Stein focuses on the development of pragmatic liberalism, between 1870 and the present. Using property law, constitutional law, and antitrust law as case studies, he places the intellectual history of liberalism into a contemporary legal context.
Trade Review'In this wide-ranging and masterful work, Justin Desautels-Stein explores, dissects, and critiques what it means to think like a lawyer in today's hegemonic context of liberal legal thought. Drawing on art history and musicology, ranging from the anthropologist Philippe Descola to the philosopher Hubert Dreyfus, from Roland Barthes to Michel Foucault, Desautels-Stein creatively reinvigorates the Harvard School of legal structuralism to expose the deep historical, structural, and conceptual illusions of contemporary pragmatic legal liberal thought.' Bernard E. Harcourt, author of The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order
'An engrossing, at times deeply moving effort to recover the unity and purpose of critical legal studies.' Charles Sabel, Columbia Law School, New York
'A fascinating contribution to critical legal thought in the United States. Desautels-Stein revisits and reinterprets American legal pragmatism alongside late twentieth century efforts to assess and critique its practice. His direct informal style brings complex theoretical debates to life.' David Kennedy, Harvard Law School, Massachusetts
Table of ContentsOverture; 1. The rise and fall of the Harvard School; 2. Towards a jurisprudence of style; 3. Structure and style in time; 4. The classical style 5. The modern style; 6. Liberal legalism and the context of legal thought; 7. American pragmatism; 8. Liberal legalism is dead: long live liberal legalism; 9. Trompe L'oeil liberalism; Coda.
