Law as Performance Reading Reflections by Jules Rochielle

Public_as_Form — 2024-05-01 20:16:01 UTC

Student 1

Public_as_Form — 2024-05-01 20:16:21 UTC

Student 2

Public_as_Form — 2024-05-01 20:17:48 UTC

Student 5

Public_as_Form — 2024-05-01 20:18:09 UTC

Student 7

Public_as_Form — 2024-05-01 20:18:21 UTC

Student 8

Public_as_Form — 2024-05-01 20:18:30 UTC

Student 9

Highlights from Jules

julesrochielle — 2024-05-07 17:48:22 UTC

Week 1 Reflections

leeannjastillana — 2024-05-07 19:32:13 UTC

Week 1 Reflections - Katrynna Jackowicz

2024-05-07 19:44:51 UTC

It is the application of the law that impacts people and communities. Confining the law to what is written ignores how its application has historically and systematically been used to discriminate and oppress. Furthermore, looking at the law as performance encourages focusing on the people in these positions of power - The lawyers, judges, and professors who make decisions that ultimately impact how the law is applied.
The law as performance reflects the idea of performing one's social role. How do we perform the role of student, sister, father, caregiver, etc.? These roles are socially constructed and require a level of performance that members in a society buy into, although they may not be consciously aware of it. It is interesting to think about how these roles have been constructed and reinforced through tools like the media and education.
The law as performance also underscores the legitimization of state authority, counter-performance as liberation, and the normalization of bureaucratic violence. These ideas beg the question of whether reform is truly effective in a broken system. While reading today's articles, I recalled a quote by Audre Lorde: "The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house." I am curious to see how legal design attempts to work outside of the system while still being a part of it.

2024-05-14 18:01:19 UTC

cam andrade, week 2

1. Today’s readings gave me a new insight into legal design and how much it encompasses. Legal design was a foreign concept to me before starting this class, but the picture becomes more apparent as I read more about it. What I understood from Miso Kim's "Dignifying Law in Design," is that legal design, due to its intersection between the law and humanity, impacts everything around us. I found Miso Kim’s assertion that “design materializes invisible laws in a way that people can perceive or apply in their everyday lives” incredibly compelling to understand this core aspect of legal design. In stating this, Kim offers an example of local laws regarding the protection of cultural heritage in Korea. This quote and the article made me think about all the invisible laws made visible through design in my hometown and Boston. For example, zoning laws transform an abstract legal concept into material forms that we perceive daily.

2. The power of design in shaping the law, and vice-versa, also intrigued me. As design reshapes society by allowing us to imagine and create new products and services, it also spurs legal considerations. Thus, lawmakers and the public must adapt to regulate the impact of these innovations. Something that comes to mind and that Kim also mentioned is artificial intelligence. Similarly, the legal system itself is the outcome of design.

1. Kim’s assertion that dignity is a guiding principle in legal design acknowledges that the law is not merely a set of rules, but a mechanism for upholding human dignity. In this context, legal design becomes a powerful tool for creating systems that encourage and facilitate equity and human rights.