1. Historiography, Ideology, and Law: An Introduction

Abstract

This is an introduction to a forum on historiography, ideology, and law. The basic question weaving this forum together concerns the meaning of the term “critical” in the domain of critical legal history, a question that is deeply familiar to historians of all stripes. Ultimately, whether you are a lawyer doing historical work, a historian interested in law, or a historian of a different sort altogether, there is no hiding from the question of context and, critically, the ideological stakes in choosing an answer to that question.

Garland's Million; or, the Tragedy and Triumph of Legal History: American Society for Legal History Plenary Lecture, New Orleans, 2021

“…Tragedy and contingency can seem to be interpretive postures lacking a moral urgency adequate to the moment. 62…”

Law as Architecture: Mapping Contingency and Autonomy in Twentieth-Century Legal Historiography

“…Desautels-Stein and Moyn (Desautels-Stein and Moyn 2021a;2021b) have reopened this debate under a new light which interrogates whether legal history is just a tool for the demystification of law revealing its contingent nature, or whether legal historians should or are doing something more. For Desautels-Stein and Moyn, some tools which were critical are now second nature for most legal historians with a critical bite.…”