Law, Lawyers, and Empire: From the Foreign Policy Establishment to Technical Legal Hegemony

Cambridge History of American Law, Forthcoming

59 Pages Posted: 30 Nov 2006

See all articles by Yves M. Dezalay

Yves M. Dezalay

University of Angers - French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)

Bryant Garth

University of California, Irvine School of Law; American Bar Foundation

Abstract

Drawing on the sociological tools of Pierre Bourdieu, this chapter traces the role of law in U.S. foreign policy over the course of the twentieth century, showing the rise of the so-called Foreign Policy Establishment led by corporate lawyers representing themselves and their clients - while also working to construct and embody the state. It shows the challenges to that elite group and the response in the 1970s and 1980s. The result, somewhat paradoxically, is that the specific influence of the elite has declined but the legal approaches that they offered have come to be more entrenched and autonomous. The changes help to account for the "globalization of law" that the chapter traces in human rights, international commercial arbitration, and trade.

Keywords: foreign policy, lawyers

Suggested Citation

Dezalay, Yves M. and Garth, Bryant, Law, Lawyers, and Empire: From the Foreign Policy Establishment to Technical Legal Hegemony. Cambridge History of American Law, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=947633

Yves M. Dezalay

University of Angers - French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) ( email )

3, rue Michel-Ange
Paris cedex 16, 75794
France

Bryant Garth (Contact Author)

University of California, Irvine School of Law ( email )

401 E. Peltason Dr.
Ste. 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-1000
United States
949-824-7230 (Phone)
949-824-0495 (Fax)

American Bar Foundation ( email )

750 N. Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60611
United States
312-988-6575 (Phone)
312-988-6579 (Fax)

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