Anna-Maria Marshall

Contact Information

Field of Study

Sociology of Law, Law and Society, Social Movements, Political Sociology, Feminist Theory, Women and Law

PhD

Northwestern University

About

My research is based on a broad theoretical and empirical project of examining the relationship between law and social change. I study this relationship from the “bottom up,” by asking how social change creates conflict in everyday life and how individuals use law, politics, and experience to resolve these conflicts. In my theoretical work, I am developing a framework for analyzing how ordinary individuals use legal and political concepts to give meaning to their experiences and to formulate strategies for challenging the everyday consequences of inequality and oppression.

My empirical work has focused thus far on sexual harassment, and I have recently completed a book manuscript entitled “Confronting Sexual Harassment: The Law and Politics of Everyday Life.” In the book, I trace the development of sexual harassment as both a legal claim and a political concept. Specifically, I examine the political debate surrounding sexual harassment as it has been conducted by the women’s movement, counter-movements, employers and policy-makers. I also examine the way that the mass media depicts sexual harassment cases. Finally, I analyze the way that ordinary women use these concepts to understand their everyday experiences with sexual harassment at work. My articles about sexual harassment have appeared or are due to appear in Law and Society Review, Law and Social Inquiry, as well as an edited volume entitled Oppositional Consciousness: The Subjective Roots of Social Protest, edited by Jenny Mansbridge and Aldon Morris.

I have begun two new projects in recent months, both focusing on different aspects of the relationship between law and social change. In one project, I have started to examine the relationship between law and social change in the areas of gay and lesbian rights. Scott Barclay and I co-authored a paper entitled “Supporting a Cause, Developing a Movement, and Consolidating a Practice: Cause Lawyers and Sexual Orientation Litigation in Vermont.” In this paper, we analyzed the efforts of two private practitioners who won the Vermont Supreme Court case requiring that the state legislature pass a civil union statute. We used this case to challenge several prevalent assumptions about cause lawyers, showing that not all cause lawyers experience tension between the movement they serve and the clients that they represent, and that not all cause lawyers work in “rebellious” practice settings. This paper will appear as a book chapter in an volume on cause lawyering, edited by Austin Sarat and Stuart Scheigold.

I have also begun a long-term project on legal consciousness and social change in the context of the environmental justice movement. I am currently using newsletters from several different environmental justice organizations to analyze the role of law in the movement. I am finding that law is source of oppression in the form of police who arrest protestors and high-priced lawyers for polluters. On the other hand, law – often articulated in terms of rights – represent the aspirations of a movement.

Recent Publications:

“ Confronting Sexual Harassment: Law and Politics in Everyday Life. ” Dartmouth Ashgate Publishing (2005).

“Idle Rights: Employees’ Rights Consciousness and the Construction of Sexual Harassment Policies.”Law and Society Review 39(1):83-123(2005).

“Supporting a Cause, Developing a Movement, and Consolidating a Practice: Cause Lawyers and Sexual Orientation Litigation in Vermont. ” With Scott Barclay. Submitted to editors, Stuart Scheingold and Austin Sarat, eds., The Worlds Cause Lawyers Make. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press (In Press 2005).

“Consciousness in Context: Employees’ Views of Sexual Harassment Grievance Procedures.” Submitted to editors,Benjamin Fleury-Steiner, Idit Kostiner, and Laura Beth Nielsen, eds. New Civil Rights Research: Rights Consciousness and Claiming in the United States. Burlington, VT: Dartmouth Ashgate Publishing (In Press 2005).

“Injustice Frames, Legality and the Everyday Construction of Sexual Harassment.” Law and Social Inquiry 28: 659-89 (2003).

“In Their Own Words: How Ordinary People Construct the Legal World.” (with Scott Barclay). Introduction to Symposium in Law and Social Inquiry, edited with Scott Barclay. Law and Social Inquiry 28: 617-28 (2003).

“A Spectrum Of Oppositional Consciousness: Sexual Harassment Plaintiffs And Their Lawyers.” in Oppositional Consciousness: The Subjective Roots of Social Protest, Jane J. Mansbridge and Aldon Morris, eds. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (2001).

“Closing The Gaps: Plaintiffs In Pivotal Sexual Harassment Cases.” Law and Social Inquiry 23: 761-793 (1998).

Papers Available Upon Request:

“Putting the Cause Before the Law: The Oppositional Potential of Institutional Social Movement Strategies.”

“The Legal Consciousness of Injustice: Practicing Law and Politics in Everyday Life.”

“ Social Movement Strategies and the Participatory Potential of Litigation.” Submitted to editors. Stuart Scheingold and Austin Sarat, eds., Cause Lawyers. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, forthcoming.