Before the Law or Three Narratives about Gaining Access to Criminal Defence
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Alexander Kozin
Abstract
In this article a micro-sociological research group originally assembled to study criminal defense casework investigates the issue of ethnographic access. The three authors represent three different countries (Germany, the USA, and the UK) with their respective legal contexts. They approach these contexts with Clifford Geertz. Specifically, the authors utilize Geertz’s notion of polarization as an ethnographic resource and a unit of comparison. The authors examine polarization in the narrative mode, comparing different experiences of accessing law firms. The narratives address relevant conceptual and pragmatic issues. For the main findings the authors suggest that accessing ethnographic fields indeed depend on the setting, personality, and the sought-out data; however, one additional factor seems to be universally applicable for all the contexts: access to law is an on-going phenomenon which is predicated on the insider/outsider separation. The notion of hospitality allows the researcher to mitigate that separation (polarization) in the ways intrinsic to the investigated context.
© 2009 by Lucius & Lucius, Stuttgart
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Inhalt
- Abhandlungen
- Herr des Verfahrens oder nur Einer unter Acht? Der Einfluss des Berichterstatters in der Rechtsprechungspraxis des Bundesverfassungsgerichts / Judge-Rapporteurs at the German Federal Constitutional Court: Possibilities and restrictions
- Relationale Verträge und Reputationsnetzwerke im internationalen Handel / Relational Contracts and Reputational Networks in International Trade
- Kooperation im Zwangsverhältnis. Teilhaberechte und Vertragsstrukturen in der Arbeitsmarktverwaltung / Cooperation and coercion. Social rights and integration agreements in German activation policies
- Before the Law or Three Narratives about Gaining Access to Criminal Defence
- Recht im Schulunterricht, Medieneinflüsse und die Attraktivität von Rechtsberufen / Legal Education in School, Media Influences and the Attraction of Legal Careers
- Rezensionen
- Ankündigung
- Autoren der Rezensionen
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Inhalt
- Abhandlungen
- Herr des Verfahrens oder nur Einer unter Acht? Der Einfluss des Berichterstatters in der Rechtsprechungspraxis des Bundesverfassungsgerichts / Judge-Rapporteurs at the German Federal Constitutional Court: Possibilities and restrictions
- Relationale Verträge und Reputationsnetzwerke im internationalen Handel / Relational Contracts and Reputational Networks in International Trade
- Kooperation im Zwangsverhältnis. Teilhaberechte und Vertragsstrukturen in der Arbeitsmarktverwaltung / Cooperation and coercion. Social rights and integration agreements in German activation policies
- Before the Law or Three Narratives about Gaining Access to Criminal Defence
- Recht im Schulunterricht, Medieneinflüsse und die Attraktivität von Rechtsberufen / Legal Education in School, Media Influences and the Attraction of Legal Careers
- Rezensionen
- Ankündigung
- Autoren der Rezensionen
