The Paradox of Community
The Paradox of Community
"One can see that insiders are caught in the paradox of community: The same cultural vocabulary that undermines community is simultaneously that community's idiom of self-affirmation" (Greenhouse, et al. 175). In Law and
Community, David M. Engel explores how ordinary people in a small, rural,
Illinois town perceive the law, courts, litigants, and community. By analyzing the legal practices and relations in Sander County, it is evident that law and the courts play a central role in the processes of making and unmaking communities. Furthermore, this study illustrates how such manifestations, reflections of the "insider's" ideology, fail to live up to the promises for " law" in our society. In the 1970s, Sander County was undergoing great social and economic changes. Agriculture, a central part of life for most residents, became more mechanized and a few large manufacturing plants opened, bringing in "quite a number of a certain element" Sander County had "never had before" (29). Long- time residents, worried about change, express what they believe to be "the new role of laws and the courts in the local and national society" (1). Though personal injury litigation rates are lower in Sander County than other major types of litigation, a norm of aversion towards this legal discourse is evident throughout the majority of the community. Those who enforce personal injury claims are viewed by fellow residents as greedy, selfish, and "quick to sue." Litigation is portrayed as weakening the collective values personified in the law as a means of turning the law against the community to make an "easy buck" (144). Even highly respected members of the community are criticized for making personal injury claims. For example, a minister filed a suit after slipping and falling at a school. A local observer commented by saying there are "a lot of people who are resentful for it, because...he chose to sue" (28).
The long-time residents of
"One can see that insiders are caught in the paradox of community: The same cultural vocabulary that undermines community is simultaneously that community's idiom of self-affirmation" (Greenhouse, et al. 175). In Law and
Community, David M. Engel explores how ordinary people in a small, rural,
Illinois town perceive the law, courts, litigants, and community. By analyzing the legal practices and relations in Sander County, it is evident that law and the courts play a central role in the processes of making and unmaking communities. Furthermore, this study illustrates how such manifestations, reflections of the "insider's" ideology, fail to live up to the promises for " law" in our society. In the 1970s, Sander County was undergoing great social and economic changes. Agriculture, a central part of life for most residents, became more mechanized and a few large manufacturing plants opened, bringing in "quite a number of a certain element" Sander County had "never had before" (29). Long- time residents, worried about change, express what they believe to be "the new role of laws and the courts in the local and national society" (1). Though personal injury litigation rates are lower in Sander County than other major types of litigation, a norm of aversion towards this legal discourse is evident throughout the majority of the community. Those who enforce personal injury claims are viewed by fellow residents as greedy, selfish, and "quick to sue." Litigation is portrayed as weakening the collective values personified in the law as a means of turning the law against the community to make an "easy buck" (144). Even highly respected members of the community are criticized for making personal injury claims. For example, a minister filed a suit after slipping and falling at a school. A local observer commented by saying there are "a lot of people who are resentful for it, because...he chose to sue" (28).
The long-time residents of