The Common Place of Law: Stories from Everyday Life - Paperback

by Patricia Ewick (Author), Susan S. Silbey (Author)

Why do some people not hesitate to call the police to quiet a barking dog in the middle of the night, while others accept the pain and losses associated with defective products, unsuccesful surgery, and discrimination? Patricia Ewick and Susan Silbey collected accounts of the law from more than four hundred people of diverse backgrounds in order to explore the different ways that people use and experience it. Their fascinating and original study identifies three common narratives of law that are captured in the stories people tell.

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Why do some people take a neighbor to court over a barking dog or some other nuisance while others accept the pains and losses associated with defective products or discrimination without seeking legal recourse? Patricia Ewick and Susan S. Silbey collected accounts of the law from more than four hundred people of diverse backgrounds in order to explore the different ways that people use and experience it. Their fascinating and original study identifies three narratives of law common to the stories people tell. One is based on the perception that the law is magisterial and remote. Another views the law as a game with rules that can be manipulated to one's advantage. A third describes the law as an arbitrary power that can be actively resisted. Drawing on these extensive case studies, Ewick and Silbey interweave individual experiences with an analysis that constructs a coherent and compelling theory of legality. A groundbreaking study of law and narrative, The Common Place of Law shows an institution as it is lived: strange and familiar, imperfect and ordinary, and at the center of daily life.