Law, alt-law and the rule of law: resources for radicals

Edwards, PJ (2018) Law, alt-law and the rule of law: resources for radicals. In: Anarchism, Penal Law and Popular Resistance: Papers from the Penal Law, Abolition and Anarchism Conference. European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control.

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Abstract

The law and the ideal of the rule of law are often associated with the maintenance of the status quo, and with ideas of ‘law and order’. But is the rule of law an inherently reactionary ideological formation? This chapter sets out some fundamental features of law and the rule of law, and considers the impact on them of Marxist and Gramscian critiques of ideology. An examination of some attempts at ‘alt-law’ and regulation from below leads to the conclusion that legal ideals may offer more resources for radical and progressive movements, and for democratic politics more generally, than we might imagine.