Current Intellectual Movements

Question 1

what is the functionalist Approach

Answer 1

Society is viewed as an organism and all the organs have a functional role
in maintaining it

Question 2

what is the “conflict’ and Marxist Approach

Answer 2

Like Marx, Conflict theorists argue society divides into two classes: the ruling class
(owners of the modes of production) and the ruled (the subservient wage earners)
* Conflict between the two classes is inevitable (again, because the ruling class desires
maximization of profit by paying the lowest possible amount in employee wages, and the
wage earners desire more than subsistence wages).

Question 3

who were the two conflict theorists and what were their arguments

Answer 3

Quinney (1974b: 16) argues that as capitalist society is further
threatened, criminal law is increasingly used in an attempt to
maintain domestic order. The underclass will continue to be the
object of criminal law as the dominant class seeks to perpetuate itself
(Vago, 2003: 64).
* And Chambliss argues that “…acts are defined as criminal because it is
in the interests of the ruling class to so define them.” (Chambliss,
1978: 149).

Question 4

what is critical legal studies movement?

Answer 4

Argued the law is not neutral (and a good lawyer could convincingly
argue in favour of either side of a judicial debate and thus there is
nothing about the law that made a certain judicial outcome
inevitable: there is no such thing as a clear cut strong evidential case

Question 5

what are three critiques of CRT

Answer 5

• advancing a nihilistic view
• teaching students to be cynical
• promoting leftist values

Question 6

feminist legal theory

Answer 6

• Explored ideas relating to sexual subordination and exploitation in the
  law profession (sexism in the legal profession generally)
• Central concern: the perception that patriarchy is the central source
  of all women’s problems

Question 7

what are the 3 key themes of feminist legal theory

Answer 7

1). The struggle for equality in the legal profession
2). The law reflects a typical male culture and is inherently masculine
3). Feminist scholars contend—as others have—that “the law is not
value-neutral, objective, rational, dispassionate, and consistent”