Search Results for: popular culture

Jurisprudence Popularized: Between Law, Literature, and Film

Mgr Marta Dubowska

Jagiellonian University in Kraków

Abstract: In this paper I discuss the apparent similarities between the “literate approach” and the aspiring “visual media approach”. Then, I scrutinize arguments for utility of the second approach. It seems that even though both approaches are founded on similar humanistic considerations, they are nonetheless separate positions; thus the need to justify the application of the second approach independently of the first. As an important task in due course I consider debunking the arguments in support of accusations of the “law and film” movement of being a threat to law and its legitimacy (as related to the “law going pop” argument by Richard K. Sherwin).

Keywords: law and literature, law and film, law and popular culture, narrative, jurisprudence

Language: English

Published: Number 1(26)/2021, s. 21-32.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2021.1.21

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Number of downloads: 616

Fairytale (R)Evolution? Women’s Rights and Disney Movies

Mgr Karolina Kocemba

University of Wrocław

English abstract: In the article, the author raises the issue of socialization of children through popular culture. She assumes that popular culture can be treated as a carrier of values and patterns of conduct, and also as a key factor of socialization. The codes, contexts or values that are conveyed through animated movies, are what a child can later refer to the surrounding reality. In this way, it is possible to learn family, professional or gender roles, which are then perpetuated in play. The author explores primarily the impact of popular culture through an analysis of animated films produced by Walt Disney Pictures, in which the main characters are princesses and in which gender roles get considerable exposure. Assuming that gender is socially constructed, we learn about gender norms through interactions with people and popular culture, which convey to us the norms and values of the society we live in. The author points out how the patterns conveyed by Disney movies have changed and what their relationship with women’s rights was. Simultaneously, the author analyses the impact of these films on legal culture, trying to see how animated movies affect legal awareness and attitudes towards the law, and what patterns are passed on to the youngest citizens.

Keywords: women’s rights, socialization, popular culture, legal culture, sociology of film

Language: Polish

Published: Number 1(26)/2021, pp. 86-99.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2021.1.86

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Number of downloads: 751

They Live… and They Make Consumer Law a Poor Instrument of Distributive Justice

Mgr Szymon Osmola

European University Institute, Florence

English abstract: Even though consumer contract law concerns voluntary agreements between private parties, it is often considered to be an instrument of the principle of distributive justice, according to which the design of social institutions should benefit the worse-off members of society. The article claims that such a view is mistaken. It appeals to the so-called status quo argument, according to which interpreting consumer law as an instrument of distributive justice may entrench the current, unjust state of affairs, and therefore compound, rather than eradicate, distributive injustice. Within that framework, consumer law is treated as the legal instantiation of consumer culture, which, even if not inherently unjust, poses several risks for individuals and their overall wellbeing. Apart from presenting the abstract argument, the article illustrates it with a vivid example from popular culture – John Carpenter’s iconic film They Live.

Keywords: consumer law, contract law, distributive justice, They Live

Language: English

Published: Number 1(26)/2021, pp. 76-85.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2021.1.76

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Number of downloads: 578

Call for Papers: Images of Law in Film Art – 30.09.2020

We invite everyone to submit papers to a special issue of the Journal of the Polish Section of IVR (Archiwum Filozofii Prawa i Filozofii Społecznej) concentrating on Images of Law in Film Art. The issue will contain papers both in English and in Polish. All the texts will be available open access at our webpage.

The purpose of the volume is to answer the question whether film, one of the more popular fields of culture today, can serve as a means to express interesting and noteworthy truths about law. The link intended to bind all the papers in the planned issue is therefore a formal one: it is the exposition of important legal problems with reference to selected movies (including television films and/or series). Therefore, the key to a successful submission is a convincing reference to specific film material, rather than the type of legal issue chosen to discuss. Topics discussed may relate to such various areas as: legal theory, legal and/or political philosophy, sociology of law and socio-legal studies, historical studies of law, legal psychology, criminology, forensic science, critical legal studies and others. Legal doctrine (legal dogmatics) is also welcomed, provided that such doctrinal legal analysis is joined with more general and fundamental research, in line with a scientific profile of the Journal. For example, papers limited to a mere analysis whether the presentation of a selected legal institution in a movie is consistent with its actual legal regulation will not be accepted – unless such considerations serve some general, theoretical and/or philosophical purposes.

References to film studies literature are of course more than welcome, yet are not required. The decision on the publication of a paper will be based both on its scientific value and on the assessment whether the reference to the film material forms a substantive element of the presented argumentation (in other words, whether such a reference does not play an ornamental role only, devoid of any substantive meaning).

The deadline for submitting a paper is September 30, 2020. We plan to publish the volume as a second issue of the Journal in 2021. Proposals should be sent on the email address of the Editorial Board of the Journal (archiwum@ivr.org.pl). The text should be edited according to the editorial standards for the Journal, available HERE. Further information is available from the editors of the volume: Dr Paweł Jabłoński (pawel.jablonski@uwr.edu.pl) and Dr Maciej Pichlak (maciej.pichlak@uwr.edu.pl), both from University of Wrocław.