What's Legit? - Critiques of Law and Strategies of Rights

Once considered a stepchild of social theory, legal criticism has recently received a great deal of attention, perpetuating what has always been an ambivalent relationship. On the one hand, law is praised for being a cultural achievement, on the other, it is criticized for being an instrument of state oppression. Legal criticism’s strategies to deal with this ambivalence differ greatly. While some seek to transcend the institution of law altogether, others advocate a transformation of the form of law or try to employ strategies to change the content of law, deconstruct its basis, or invent rights. By presenting a variety of approaches to legal criticism, What’s Legit? highlights transitions and exhibits irreconcilable differences of these approaches. Ultimately, What’s Legit? broadens debates that are all too often conducted only within the boundaries of separate theoretical currents.

Liza Mattutat  is a PhD student at Leuphana University Lüneburg.

Robert Nigro is professor of philosophy at the Leuphana University Lüneburg. 

Nadine Schiel is a research associate at the Institute of Philosophy and Sciences of Art and a PhD candidate at the DFG research group "Cultures of Critique" at the Leuphana University Lüneburg.

Heiko Stubenrauch is a research associate at the Institute of Philosophy and Science of Art and a PhD candidate at the DFG research group "Cultures of Critique" at the Leuphana University Lüneburg.