The Constitution of Interests: Beyond the Politics of Rights

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e o Beyond the Politics of Rights John Brigham-----+------ The Constitution of Interest s The Constitution of Interests ADVANCE PRAIS E FO R TH E BOO K "T/ze Constitution of Interests addresse s important issue s within the politics o f law. Mor e specificall y i t i s concerne d t o focu s attentio n upo n th e pervasiv e institutional realit y o f lega l relation s upo n th e plethor a o f law s tha t consti tute th e politic s o f the publi c sphere . Joh n Brigha m argue s persuasivel y tha t law shoul d b e understoo d b y referenc e t o th e divers e politica l communities , both radica l an d conservativ e whic h interpre t an d reproduc e it s rule/ ' —Peter Goodrich, University o f London "A brillian t theor y o f law , rhetoric , an d movemen t politics . A n extremel y important book/ ' —Susan Burgess , University o f Wisconsin, Milwauke e "Socio-legal scholar s wit h a post-moder n sensibilit y hav e bee n developin g constitutive conception s o f the la w an d o f legal researc h fo r a t leas t th e las t decade. Joh n Brigham' s boo k move s th e constitutiv e enterpris e a significan t step forwar d an d ma y indee d hav e provide d i t wit h a foundin g document . Brigham demonstrate s tha t th e constitutiv e forc e o f th e la w i s bot h perva sive an d contingent . I n s o doing , h e breathe s ne w lif e int o E . P. Thompson's seminal admonitio n t o abando n notion s o f th e la w a s exclusivel y a sit e o f domination (o r o f resistance ) an d t o thin k instea d o f la w a s a contingen t arena o f conflict. " —Stuart A . Scheingold, autho r o f The Politics of Rights ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE BOOK "The Constitution ofInterests addresses important issues within the politics of law. More specifically it is concerned to focus attention upon the pervasive institutional reality of legal relations upon the plethora of laws that constitute the politics of the public sphere. John Brigham argues persuasively that law should be understood by reference to the diverse political communities, both radical and conservative which interpret and reproduce its rule." -Peter Goodrich, University of London ''A brilliant theory of law, rhetoric, and movement politics. An extremely important book." -Susan Burgess, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee "Socio-legal scholars with a post-modern sensibility have been developing constitutive conceptions of the law and of legal research for at least the last decade. John Brigham's book moves the constitutive enterprise a significant step forward and may indeed have provided it with a founding document. Brigham demonstrates that the constitutive force of the law is both pervasive and contingent. In so doing, he breathes new life into E. ~ Thompson's seminal admonition to abandon notions of the law as exclusively a site of domination (or of resistance) and to think instead of law as a contingent arena of conflict." -Stuart A. Scheingold, author of The Politics of Rights ...