Law and Resistance

3 cr · Undergraduate

This course examines the intersections between law and myriad practices of resistance. The course considers how resistance plays a role in the life of the law, and vice-versa. Resisters may have an impact (directly or indirectly) in shaping the law – including its creation, interpretation, or enforcement. Students reflect on the spectrum of responses that legal systems employ to legitimize or punish the conduct of resisters. Through readings and class discussions, students explore how individuals, groups and/or communities may challenge those who exercise dominant power and the contexts in which such resistance occur. These contexts may include Indigenous peoples’ historical and ongoing defiance to colonial/state policies and practices, in addition to resistance waged by women, and marginalized communities to various types of discrimination. May not be held with LAW 3980 when titled “Law and Resistance.”