Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-l4dxg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-11T22:41:37.975Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sustaining the State: Legal Consciousness and the Construction of Legality in Competing Abortion Activists' Narratives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Joshua C. Wilson
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article investigates how activists involved in both sides of the street politics of abortion simultaneously create, are constrained by, and use law when recounting a period of conflict that resulted in litigation. The activists‐turned‐litigants' construction of legality is explored by identifying and analyzing patterns of inclusion, absence, amendment, and type of law (i.e., state or extrastate) in and across the stories they tell. It is found that even though there are multiple reasons to expect all of these activists to resist or amend the state's conception of law, their narratives ultimately reproduce state law's legitimacy and power. The activists' stories also illustrate that legal consciousness is contextually and experientially based and is therefore subject to change. This finding has implications for legal mobilization as well as for the nature of legal consciousness.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Social Inquiry , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , Spring 2011 , pp. 455 - 483
Copyright
Copyright © American Bar Foundation, 2011 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Benford, Robert, and Snow, David. 2000. Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment. Annual Review of Sociology 26:611–39.Google Scholar
Blanchard, Dallas. 1994. The Anti‐Abortion Movement and the Rise of the Religious Right: From Polite to Fiery Protest. New York: Twayne.Google Scholar
Coglianese, Cary. 2001. Social Movements, Law, and Society: The Institutionalization of the Environmental Movement. University of Pennsylvania Law Review 150:85–118.Google Scholar
Cover, Robert. 1983. Nomos and Narrative. Harvard Law Review 97:4–68.Google Scholar
Cover, Robert. 1986. Violence and the Word. Yale Law Journal 95:1601–29.Google Scholar
Ewick, Patricia, and Silbey, Susan. 1995. Subversive Stories and Hegemonic Tales: Toward a Sociology of Narrative. Law & Society Review 29 (2): 197–226.Google Scholar
Ewick, Patricia, and Silbey, Susan. 1998. The Common Place of Law. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Frymer, Paul. 2003. Acting When Elected Officials Won't: Federal Courts and Civil Rights Enforcement in U.S. Labor Unions, 1935–85. American Political Science Review 97 (3): 483–99.Google Scholar
Green, Melody. 1988. Pamphlet, Why I Got Arrested in Atlanta. Binghamton, NY: Operation Rescue.Google Scholar
Greenhouse, Carol, Yngvesson, Barbara, and Engel, David. 1994. Law and Community in Three American Towns. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Groggin, Malcolm. 1993. Understanding the New Politics of Abortion. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Guth, James, and Green, John. 1991. “An Ideology of Rights: Support for Civil Liberties among Political Activists. Political Behavior 13:321–44.Google Scholar
Hoffman, Elizabeth. 2003. Legal Consciousness and Dispute Resolution: Different Disputing Behavior at Two Similar Taxicab Companies. Law & Social Inquiry 28 (3): 691–716.Google Scholar
Hull, Kathleen. 2003. The Cultural Power of Law and the Cultural Enactment of Legality: The Case of Same‐Sex Marriage. Law & Social Inquiry 28 (3): 629–57.Google Scholar
Hunt, Alan. 1993. Explorations in Law & Society: Toward a Constitutive Theory of Law. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kirkland, Anna. 2008. Think of the Hippopotamus: Rights Consciousness in the Fat Acceptance Movement. Law & Society Review 42:397–432.Google Scholar
Lovell, George. 2006. Justice Excused: The Deployment of Law in Everyday Political Encounters. Law & Society Review 40:283–324.Google Scholar
Luker, Kristin. 1985. Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Marshall, Anna‐Maria. 2003. Injustice Frames, Legality, and the Everyday Construction of Sexual Harassment. Law & Social Inquiry 28 (3): 659–89.Google Scholar
McCann, Michael. 1994. Rights at Work. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
McCann, Michael. 1996. Causal Versus Constitutive Explanations (or, On the Difficulty of Being So Positive … ). Law & Social Inquiry 21 (2): 457–82.Google Scholar
McCann, Michael. 2006. Law and Social Movements: Contemporary Perspectives. Annual Review of Law and Social Science 2:17–38.Google Scholar
McClosky, Herbert, and Brill, Alida. 1983. Dimensions of Tolerance: What Americans Believe about Civil Liberties. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Merry, Sally Engle. 1990. Getting Justice and Getting Even. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Meyer, David, and Staggenborg, Suzanne. 1996. Movements, Countermovements, and the Structure of Political Opportunity. American Journal of Sociology 101:1628–60.Google Scholar
Minow, Martha. 1987. Interpreting Rights: An Essay for Robert Cover. Yale Law Journal 96:1860–1915.Google Scholar
Munson, Ziad. 2008. The Making of Pro‐Life Activists. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Nielsen, Laura Beth. 2000. Situating Legal Consciousness: Experiences and Attitudes of Ordinary Citizens about Law and Street Harassment. Law & Society Review 34:1055–90.Google Scholar
Operation Rescue. 1989. Pamphlet, Operation Rescue New York January 12–14, 1989. SUNY Buffalo Archives, box 31, folder 1, Buffalo, NY.Google Scholar
Peckham, Michael. 1998. New Dimensions of Social Movement/Countermovement Interaction: The Case of Scientology and Its Internet Critics. Canadian Journal of Sociology 23:317–47.Google Scholar
Planned Parenthood Shasta‐Diablo. 1993. State Supreme Court to Re‐Examine Vallejo Injunction, Planned Parenthood (Summer), newsletter published by Planned Parenthood Shasta‐Diablo.Google Scholar
Pro‐Choice Network of Western New York. 1989. SPEAK OUT! May. SUNY Buffalo Archives, box 6, folder 4, Buffalo, NY.Google Scholar
Pro‐Choice Network of Western New York. 1990a. Minutes, Pro‐Choice Network Board of Directors Meeting, September 10. SUNY Buffalo Archives, box 2, folder 11, Buffalo, NY.Google Scholar
Pro‐Choice Network of Western New York. 1990b. Minutes, Pro‐Choice Network Board of Directors Meeting, October 15. SUNY Buffalo Archives, box 2, folder 11, Buffalo, NY.Google Scholar
Pro‐Choice Network of Western New York. 1990c. Minutes, Pro‐Choice Network Board of Directors Meeting, November 19. SUNY Buffalo Archives, Box 2, folder 11, Buffalo, NY.Google Scholar
Pro‐Choice Network of Western New York. 1991. Minutes, Pro‐Choice Network Board of Directors Meeting, February 11. SUNY Buffalo Archives, box 3, folder 1, Buffalo, NY.Google Scholar
Pro‐Choice Network of Western New York. 1992a. Third Annual Report for the Pro‐Choice Network of Western New York, Inc., April 1, 1991 to March 31, 1992. April. SUNY Buffalo Archives, box 1, fols. 6–9, Buffalo, NY.Google Scholar
Pro‐Choice Network of Western New York. 1992b. SPEAK OUT! March. SUNY Buffalo Archives, box 6, folder 7, Buffalo, NY.Google Scholar
Risen, James, and Thomas, Judy. 1998. Wrath of Angels. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Rohlinger, Deana. 2002. Framing the Abortion Debate: Organizational Resources, Media Strategies, and Movement‐Countermovement Dynamics. The Sociological Quarterly 43:479–507.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, Gerald. 1991. The Hollow Hope. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Silbey, Susan. 2005. After Legal Consciousness. Annual Review of Law and Social Science 1:323–68.Google Scholar
Snow, David, and Benford, Robert. 1992. Master Frames and Cycles of Protest. In Frontiers in Social Movement Theory, ed. Morris, Aldon and Mueller, Carol McClurg, 133–223. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Snow, David, Burke Rochford, E. Jr., Worden, Steven K., and Benford, Robert D. 1986. Frame Alignment Processes, Micromobilization, and Movement Participation. American Sociological Review 51:464–81.Google Scholar
Tyler, Tom. 2006. Why People Obey the Law. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Warner, Gene. 1992. “Fines Hang Over Heads of 2 Pro‐Life Activists.” Buffalo (NY) News, August 23, C1.Google Scholar
Warner, Gene. 1994. Pro‐Choice Activists Boost Efforts to Collect Fines Imposed on the Opposition. Buffalo (NY) News, June 4, C1.Google Scholar
Zald, Mayer, and Useem, Bert. 1987. Movement and Countermovement Interaction: Mobilization, Tactics, and State Involvement. In Social Movements in an Organizational Society, ed. Zald, Mayer N. and McCarthy, John D., 247–272. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.Google Scholar

Cases Cited

Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic, 506 U.S. 263 (1993).Google Scholar
Cloer v. Gynecology Clinic, Inc., 528 U.S. 1099 (2000).Google Scholar
Frisby v. Schultz, 487 U.S. 474 (1988).Google Scholar
Hill v. Colorado, 530 U.S. 703 (2000).Google Scholar
Lawson v. Murray, 515 U.S. 1110 (1995).Google Scholar
Lawson v. Murray, 525 U.S. 955 (1998).Google Scholar
Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc., 512 U.S. 753 (1994).Google Scholar
National Organization for Women v. Scheidler, 510 U.S. 249 (1994).Google Scholar
National Organization for Women v. Scheidler, 547 U.S. 9 (2006).Google Scholar
Planned Parenthood Shasta‐Diablo, Inc v. Williams, 10 Cal. 4th 1009 (1995), cert. denied, 520 U.S. 1133 (1997).Google Scholar
Schenck v. Pro‐Choice Network of Western New York, 519 U.S. 357 (1997).Google Scholar
Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, 537 U.S. 393 (2003).Google Scholar
Williams v. Planned Parenthood Shasta‐Diablo, Inc., 520 U.S. 1133 (1997).Google Scholar
Winfield v. Kaplan, 512 U.S. 1253 (1994).Google Scholar

Statutes Cited

Colo. Rev. Stat., § 18‐9‐122(3) (2010).Google Scholar
Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, 18 U.S.C. § 248 (2006).Google Scholar