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Wrestling with the New Economy: Judicial Rhetoric in Canadian Wrongful Dismissal Claims

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Annette Nierobisz
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Abstract

Contemporary Law and Society scholars emphasize focused study of “law and the economy” yet empirical work on the legal implications of important economic transformations of the late twentieth century is limited. To address this issue, I analyze Canadian wrongful dismissal claims heard to judgment between 1981 and 1997 to understand how judges grappled with contradictions that arose between classic legal doctrine on the employment relationship, unstable economic conditions that limited employment opportunities for plaintiffs, and new business ideologies about employee expendability and flexibility. Findings demonstrate that judicial rhetoric was attentive to the contradictions that arose with the new economy, and unique responses were developed. These responses, however, varied according to specific socioeconomic contexts embedded within the seventeen‐year period under study. I conclude by suggesting the development of more dynamic theories of law and the economy to capture the ways in which law shifts in response to changing economic contexts.

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Articles
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Law & Social Inquiry , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , Spring 2010 , pp. 403 - 449
Copyright
Copyright © American Bar Foundation, 2010 

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