Laial Al Maainah (University of Edinburgh, School of Law) has posted Is Law’s Role in Modern Society Fundamentally Emancipatory? A Critique of Habermasian Legitimacy, Juridification, and the Limits of Legal Freedom on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This paper challenges the claim that law’s role in modern society is fundamentally emancipatory. While modern legal systems undoubtedly produce emancipatory effects through rights, procedural protections, and democratic participation, I argue that these effects should not be confused with law’s fundamental function. Drawing on Habermas, Marx, Miéville, Foucault, Hunt, and contemporary debates on rights and borders, I contend that law primarily juridifies social relations rather than emancipating them. Emancipation emerges through political struggle that law may recognize, contain, or facilitate, but rarely originates. Law should therefore be understood as a terrain upon which emancipatory conflict occurs rather than the source of emancipation itself.
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