| Contextual Subjects: Family, State, and Relational Theory Contributor(s): Leckey, Robert (Author) |
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ISBN: 0802097499 ISBN-13: 9780802097491 Publisher: University of Toronto Press OUR PRICE: $86.45 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: February 2008 Annotation: 'In Contextual Subjects, Robert Leckey argues that the legal subject, at least in family law and administrative law, is a contextual rather than an atomised or abstracted subject. This is a unique assertion and Leckey is undoubtedly successful in defending it throughout the book. He goes further, though, to interrogate the applicability of relational theory to these areas of law, an important issue when it comes to legal scholarship and practice. This is a consistently coherent and enjoyable work that is sure to generate academic debate.' -Alison Diduck, Faculty of Laws, University College London |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Law | Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice |
| Dewey: 340.109 |
| Physical Information: 1.17" H x 6.34" W x 9.08" (1.53 lbs) 368 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Law and legal discourse both presuppose and produce legal subjects. Views on the nature of the legal subject will constantly shift, therefore, with changes in the law. Contextual Subjects argues that a new view of the legal subject has indeed emerged and that it is now embedded in the social context and relationships. This claim is developed through a contrast of Canadian family law and administrative law as it was in the mid-twentieth century and as it is today. Robert Leckey argues that it is not only the subject that is contextual. Legal discourse and adjudication have also become more contextual, making family law and administrative law themselves contextual subjects. Leckey bolsters this argument through the use of relational theory, a rich strand of feminist political theory that advocates a contextual method and seeks to promote constructive relationships that enable relational autonomy. Developments in family law and administrative law, therefore, exemplify the contextualism called for by relational theorists. Leckey points to the importance of contextualization, but he is not uncritical of relational theory, insisting that it should articulate more forcefully its normative vision of good relationships and offer clear recommendations in contested areas. Contextual Subjects is the most thorough and sustained application of relational theory to legal examples to appear to date. It is unique in Canadian legal scholarship for the way it pairs family law and administrative law, and within legal scholarship in English for its integration of common law and civil law. |
Contributor Bio(s): Leckey, Robert: - Robert Leckey is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Law at McGill University. |