In person icon Agents of Legal Mobilization

Abstract

Research on legal mobilization has been heavily inspired by a perspective on how social movements and ‘weak’ interests instrumentalize law and courts. The predominant focus is on the conditions under which legal provisions, legal entitlements and rights are invoked by marginalized, underrepresented individuals and groups to advance social, political and legal change. In this context, attention has been drawn to the role of (cause) lawyers and the relevance of networks that facilitate the mobilization of resources to engage in claims-making and litigation. Notwithstanding reasoned scepticism about the transformative capacity of law and courts, echoed in the distinction between the “myth of rights” and the “politics of rights” (Scheingold 2004[1974]) or the metaphor of the “hollow hope” (Rosenberg 2008), the view of law as a ‘weapon of the weak’ has proven to be tenacious. Recent successes in cases on climate litigation or data privacy underline the relevance of social movements and rights advocacy organizations as strategic litigants. However, this perspective is incomplete and squarely at odds with other conventional assumptions of socio-legal research. Thus, Galanter’s (1974) seminal work highlights the competitive advantage of “repeat players” – in particular organizations – that, by virtue of their advance resources and access to legal expertise, are willing and able to trade the tangible benefits of a favorable court ruling for the opportunity of shaping the very rules that determine the outcomes of future cases. Procedural rules must not necessarily be geared towards promoting change, but can also facilitate the preservation of the status quo and vested (material and economic) interests. Yet firms and other corporate actors, as well as public actors, which are most likely to be repeatedly involved in legal disputes, have so far been largely neglected in research on legal mobilization. Against this backdrop, the proposed panel invites contributions that explore agents of legal mobilization in national, European and international courts. We welcome in particular contributions that shift the focus beyond the ‘usual suspects’ of legal mobilization research. Papers can have either a theoretical-conceptual or empirical-analytical focus. Among the many promising research questions to be addressed, the following or of particular interest: What goals do law-mobilizing agents pursue, and how do goals impinge on legal strategies? How do organizations and collective actors bring about the decision to litigate, and how do they process the inherent trade-offs invovled in litigation? What considerations guide the selection of legal representatives, and what advantage – if any – does in-house legal expertise confer on organizations? How do organizations differ with respect to integrating legal strategies in a wider repertoire of interest representation?

Title	Details
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