Discussion (1L): Violence, Resistance, and the Law

This reading group will examine the force of law -- the ways in which law both depends upon and abjures violence, the ways it suppresses and invites resistance, and the identity of subjects against whom legal violence is deployed. A central object of focus will be excessive force, the legal doctrines that insulate government officers from accountability, and the ways this specific form of violence is tied to racial subordination. We will also attend to the role of force in non-violent resistance movements, the role of vulnerability in resistance movements (both revolutionary and reform-oriented), and problems of revictimization in rights assertion. Readings will be drawn from a wide range of interdisciplinary sources including law, history, political theory, critical race theory, fiction, and psychology. This discussion seminar will meet four times during the Fall quarter. Meeting dates and times to be arranged by instructor. Elements used in grading: Attendance and class participation.