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LAW-10043 - Module Specification
School of Law
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

For academic year: 2022/23 Last Updated: 19 January 2023

LAW-10043 - A Critical Introduction to Law and Society
Coordinator: Fabienne Emmerich Tel: +44 1782 7 33139
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 4
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 733218

Programme/Approved Electives for 2022/23

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2022/23

Ever considered to look beyond law¿s objective/neutral exterior that is produced through doctrinal legal method? Have you ever thought about flipping your perspective on law to expose what lies beneath? In this module we take a postcolonial approach to explore how law reproduces imperialist, heteronormative, cisnormative, racist, classist, ableist and agist structural inequalities. You will develop a foundational understanding of law and society with a strong grounding in postcolonial theory, feminist legal theory, queer theory, critical disability theory, and more.

Aims
The module is designed to provide students with foundational knowledge and understanding of Law and Society theory and research. It does this by drawing on a postcolonial perspective in which Western theoretical approaches to Law and Society are decentred.
The aim is to expose students to different critical theoretical approaches to understanding the nature and function of law including Legal Realism, Feminist Legal Studies and Post colonisalism and the law
The module provides foundational knowledge for Level 5 modules such as Law in Action as well as Level 6 modules such as Gender, Sexuality and Law and Jurisprudence. Moreover, it gives students a sound footing who intend to take a socio-legal approach to their dissertation.
Ultimately, the aim is to support students to develop critical thinking skills in order to become critical lawyers or critical legal scholars.

Intended Learning Outcomes

evaluate key concepts and different theories relating to legal, political, and social institutions: 1
analyze the relationship between law and society to produce an independent and critical commentary: 1
apply different theoretical approaches to critique judgments and socio-legal research: 1
analyze how socio-legal concepts and theories and legal, political and social institutions inter-related with one another: 1

Study hours

20 hours lectures
6 hours tutorials

40 hours self directed study
84 hours critical commentary

Total = 150 hours

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Commentary weighted 100%
2,000 word Critical Commentary
Library-based critical commentary at Level 4 (Year 1). In the commentary students will critically engage with a judgment or journal article drawing on at least one particular theoretical approach to law covered in the module. Students will have a choice of questions.

Please note that for the 2022/23 Academic Year programmes may be adapted to operate in accordance with a flexible, digital approach. This means that there may be some changes made to how modules are delivered and assessed. The latest information will be provided to you by your School in module handbooks. We endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes and details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/student-terms-and-conditions/

Last Updated: 19 January 2023