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CSUDH Habermas UWP

California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created: June 6, 2001
Latest update: November 9, 2001
jeannecurran@habermas.org

Sociology of Law Readings
Week of November 12, 2001: Week 12

• Online Readings:

  • The Conflict of Cultures Reactions to Edward Said's The Clash of Ignorance

  • Women in Islam Discussion of Islam's position on women.

• Hard Copy Readings:

  • Up soon.

• Theoretical Concepts You Should Know:

  1. the Other The "Other" is the one who is not included in the majority, the one who disagrees with the dominant discourse, the one who has no power to make and to enforce the majority decisions. This concept comes into play as we consider the unstated assumptions that underly the law.

  2. the complicity of denial: When we refuse to look or listen in good faith, we salve our consciences and suppress our moral judgment and deny that we have done anything. After all, not listening in good faith is very personal and next to impossible to measure and to prove. Through that denial we become complicit with those engaged in oppression and domination.
     

  3. culture: "Politics has been increasingly colonised by the media and now the Internet, in which image and style are more important to electoral choices and public opinion than substance and more traditional political virtues, and in which rumours, gossip and tabloid sensationalism increasingly permeate public discourse." Douglas Kellner, in the Foreword to Cultural Theorists, edited by Ellis Cashmore & Chris Rojek, An Arnold Student Reference. ISBN: 0-340-6458-2.

• Some Suggested Measures of Learning:

  Comment on one of the following topics, or do something of your own choosing.

  1. What do you suppose Kellner means, in his description of culture above, when he says "Politics has been increasingly colonised by the media and now the Internet. . . . ?"

     Consider what "colonized" means in reference to indigenous peoples and occupied countries. Think in terms of respect, human dignity, and adequate access to the necessities. Think also in terms of what happens to agency under colonization. What has happened to the agency of those who work in the media, in the tabloids? What is the bottom-line behind decision-making?

  2. Answer the questions that I pose to Tranell Colquitt in The Clash of Cultures.

     Consider the ways in which culture has its effects. Consider a popular music trend. Does ideology, belief systems, have the power to alter that kind of trend without domination? Think of blue jeans, punk hair styles, rock. Does the dominant discourse in these cases filter through ideology, religion, economy? Did our laws work against Elvis and the Beatles? How is this different if these trends occur amongst indigenous peoples?

     Consider that you can follow a style with no need for critical thinking, and critical thinking takes lots more discipline and practice. Were indigenous peoples given access to such discipline and practice? Do you think it would be easier or harder to colonize the media in a colonized country?

  3. Do you suppose that the Hadith and the Qu'ran both affect the law in the Middle East? How does that relate to our discussions of the unstated assumptions that privilege the subjectivity of those in power?