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Published in 2010 and with over 8,700 copies sold, Calavita s book has already established itself as the leading introduction to the field of law and society. Everyone has some idea of what lawyers do. And most people have at least heard of criminologists. But, who knows what law and society is? It is, in fact, a rapidly-growing interdisciplinary field which turns on its head the conventional, idealized view of Law as a magisterial abstraction. Rather than look at law-on-the-books, the field focuses on law-in-action how law both shapes and manifests itself in the institutions and interactions of human society. This formative theme runs through Kitty Calavita s engagingly and concisely written book. Intended to introduce students and curious outsiders alike to the field, the book uses a conversational style to survey the field s prominent issues and distinctive approaches, from the ubiquity of law in everyday life to its potential and limits in effecting social change. For the second edition, Calavita has made changes throughout the book. updating the many illustrations and anecdotes used to clarify concepts and theories, so they may more directly resonate with the contemporary reader. There is also an entirely new chapter introducing the reader to the law and cultural studies movement that has become increasingly prominent in the field."

"Distorting the law persuasively shows how widespread media reporting of frivolous lawsuits and high settlements have led many Americans to believe we live in the land of the litigious, while the careful research and statistics that would dispel this myth have not received media attention.

This text explores the role that litigation has played in the struggle for equal pay between women and men. It explains how wage discrimination battles have raised public legal consciousness and helped reform activists mobilize working women in the pay equity movement since the 1970s.

This study explores the different ways people view the law. It identifies three common narratives: one is based on the idea of the law as magisterial and remote; another views the law as a game to be played; and a third narrative describes the law as an arbitrary power to be actively resisted.

Analyzes how life-and-death decision makers are selected, the interventions they weigh in on, the information they seek and evaluate, the values and memories they draw on, the criteria they weigh, the outcomes they choose, the conflicts they become embroiled in, and the challenges they face.

A history of the rise of mass incarceration in America that shows how it was built on a foundation of racist thinking and bad political incentives.

An analysis of the 1960s Civil Rights sit-ins that focuses on their legal aspects: the arguments made, the way law was employed, and their effects.

A study that investigates the tensions between global law and local justice. The author offers an insider's perspective on how human rights law holds authorities accountable for the protection of citizens even while reinforcing and expanding state power. This book will interest students of gender studies and anthropology.

In sheer numbers, no form of government control comes close to the police stop. Police stops are among the most frequently criticized incidences of racial profiling, and studies have shown that minorities are pulled over at higher rates. This book deftly traces the strange history of the investigatory police stop.

Since at least the time of Tocqueville, observers have noted that Americans draw on the language of rights when expressing dissatisfaction with political and social conditions. Drawing on a remarkable cache of Depression-era complaint letters written by ordinary Americans to the Justice Department, the author challenges these common claims.

It's a common complaint: the United States is overrun by rules and procedures that shackle professional judgment, have no valid purpose, and serve only to appease courts and lawyers. This book argues, however, that few Americans would want to return to an era without these legalistic policies.

Most Americans think that judges should be, and are, generalists who decide a wide array of cases. Nonetheless, we now have specialized courts in many key policy areas. This title presents a comprehensive analysis of this growing trend toward specialization in the federal and state court systems.

Drawing upon the insights of Pierre Bourdieu, this book explores the increasing importance of the positions of the law and lawyers in South and Southeast Asia. It argues that the situation in many Asian countries can only be fully understood by looking to their differing colonial experiences.

Since the early 1990s, transnational adoptions have increased at an astonishing rate, not only in the United States, but worldwide. This title explores the consequences and implications of this unprecedented movement of children, usually from poor nations to the affluent West.

Pulling the rug out from under debates about interpretation, this title joins together learning from law, linguistics, and cognitive science to illuminate the fundamental issues and problems in this highly contested area.

Argues that financial governance is made not just through top-down laws and policies but also through the daily use of mundane legal techniques such as collateral by a variety of secondary agents, from legal technicians and retail investors to financiers and academics and even computerized trading programs.

Toronto prides itself on being the world's most diverse city, and its officials seek to support this diversity through programs and policies designed to promote social inclusion. The author brings to light the often unexpected ways that the development and implementation of policies shape everyday urban life.

A portrait of the lawyers who serve the diverse constituencies of the conservative movement. It explains what unites and divides lawyers for the three major groups - social conservatives, libertarians, and business advocates - that have coalesced in recent decades behind the Republican Party.