Law, Politics, and the Critical Legal Scholars: The Unfolding Drama of American Legal Thought

Abstract

As do most other disciplines, jurisprudence seeks to resolve a set of core issues. Although these issues appear deceptively simple,' their underlying complexity can make fools of the most expert. Yet, despite the complexity of the issues, traditional legal scholarship has proceeded on the basis of shared assumptions about the nature and role of legal theory. Over the past decade, however, a new movement that vigorously challenges the presuppositions of traditional jurisprudence has gained momentum. Its adherents do not simply contest the practical policies yielded by traditional legal theory; they reject the very basis of the theory itself. The Critical Legal Studies (CLS) movement is mounting a full frontal assault on the edifice of modern jurisprudence. As in the cele-