Full Description
The book brings together a range of socio-legal and law and humanities scholars to elaborate and explore the idea of the legal 'masterplot'.
There is a class of narrative, sometimes referred to as 'masterplot' or 'metanarrative', that stands above the plethora of other stories, plots, and myths that may be found in law. This book focuses on the masterplot concept as providing a productive yet largely under-explored way of seeing, understanding, and responding to legal controversies and socio-legal problems. Masterplots may be understood as those prevalent and enduring ideas and narratives that form the basis of expectations, assumptions, stereotypes, and prejudices. In legal contexts, masterplots give shape and significance to particular experiences or issues. In aligning with them, legal arguments, judgments, and reforms gain acceptability and can be presented as authoritative, proportionate, and legitimate. Reflecting, from different legal perspectives and subdisciplines, on the masterplots at play in our current legal frameworks, this collection illuminates the often-hidden ways in which law functions.
This book will appeal to students and scholars of socio-legal studies, sociology, social policy, and humanities approaches to law.
Contents
Part 1: What are Masterplots in Law? 1. Law, Narrative and Masterplot: an Introduction Chris Bevan and David Gurnham 2. Narrative and Case Law: The Reciprocity of the Particular and General Richard Walsh Part 2: Responsibility and Blame 3. Desert and Redemption: The Homelessness Masterplot Chris Bevan 4. Punitive Rhetoric and Prison Poems: A Curious Narrative Convergence David Gurnham Part 3: Legal Masterplot and Gender 5. Dismantling the Masterplot of Domestic Violence and Abuse Rebecca Shaw 6. The Masterplot of the Market: Constructing Exchange, Family, and Work Luke P. Norris and Allison Tait Part 4: History, Time, and Temporality 7. Defining Marriage: Losing the Masterplot Rebecca Probert 8. The Maxim 'Justice Delayed is Justice Denied' as a Masterplot in International Criminal Justice Nina H. B. Jørgensen Part 5: Law, Peace, and Order 9. The Masterplot of 'Hoffmann's Bargain' in Protest Trials Steven Cammiss and Graeme Hayes 10. International Law's Narrative of Order, Peace, and Justice in Light of the Concept of Masterplot and Franz Kafka's The Castle Ekaterina Yahyaoui 11. The Neverending Story: Unpicking the Masterplot Justifying UK Military Intervention Lynsey Mitchell Part 6: Personal Choice and State Intervention 12. Cohabitation and the Masterplot of Choice Andy Hayward 13. Family Autonomy and Child Protection: The Stories We Tell Ourselves Julie Doughty 14. Masterplots of Demand and Supply and the Energy Trilemma: Delaying the Transition Chris Hilson
