If knowledge is power, then the power of law can be studied
through the lens of knowledge. This book opens up a substantive new
area of legal research--knowledge production--and presents a series
of case studies showing that the hybridity and eclecticism of legal
knowledge processes make it unfruitful to ask questions such as,
"Is law becoming more dominated by science?" Mariana Valverde
argues that legal decision making cannot be understood if one
counterposes science and technology, on the one hand, to common
knowledge and common sense on the other. The case studies of law's
flexible collage of knowledges range from determinations of
drunkenness made by liquor licensing inspectors and by police,
through police testimony in "indecency" cases, to how judges define
the "truth" of sexuality and the harm that obscenity poses to
communities.
Valverde emphasizes that the types of knowledge that circulate
in such legal arenas consist of "facts," values, and codes from
numerous incompatible sources that combine to produce interesting
hybrids with wide-ranging legal and social effects. Drawing on
Foucaultian and other analytical tools, she cogently demonstrates
that different modes of knowledge, and hence various forms of
power, coexist happily.
"Law's Dream of a Common Knowledge" underlines the importance of
analyzing dynamically how knowledge formation works. And it helps
us to better understand the workings of power and resistance in a
variety of contemporary contexts. It will interest scholars and
students from disciplines including law, sociology, anthropology,
history, and science-and-technology studies as well as those
concerned with the particular issues raised by the case
studies.
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