Law and Society
Founding editor: W. Wesley Pue
The Law and Society Series explores law as a socially embedded phenomenon. It is premised on the understanding that the conventional division of law from society creates false dichotomies in thinking, scholarship, educational practice, and social life. Books in the series treat law and society as mutually constitutive and seek to bridge scholarship emerging from interdisciplinary engagement of law with disciplines such as politics, social theory, history, political economy, and gender studies.
Uncertain Accommodation
Aboriginal Identity and Group Rights in the Supreme Court of Canada
A bold analysis of what happened when Canada attempted to extend group rights to Aboriginal people in the early 1980s and why it went wrong.
Lawyers’ Empire
Legal Professions and Cultural Authority, 1780-1950
In approaching the history of the legal professions through the lens of cultural history, Wes Pue locates the legal profession within England and its empire, supplementing and disrupting established narratives of professionalism as proffered by lawyers and their critics.
Parole in Canada
Gender and Diversity in the Federal System
Parole in Canada explores how concerns about aboriginality, gender, and the multicultural ideal of “diversity” have altered parole policy and practice – and asks whether these changes go far enough.
Fragile Settlements
Aboriginal Peoples, Law, and Resistance in South-West Australia and Prairie Canada
Fragile Settlements compares the historical processes through which British colonial authority was asserted over Indigenous people in southwest Australia and prairie Canada from the 1830s to the early twentieth century.
In Search of the Ethical Lawyer
Stories from the Canadian Legal Profession
Delving into some of the most challenging issues to confront legal professionals, this book raises important questions about what it means to be an ethical lawyer in Canada.
Cleaner, Greener, Healthier
A Prescription for Stronger Canadian Environmental Laws and Policies
David R. Boyd reveals striking weaknesses in Canadian environmental law, describes the damage these flaws are wreaking on human health, and identifies practical, proven, and affordable solutions to these problems.
Putting the State on Trial
The Policing of Protest during the G20 Summit
Not only were peaceful protestors and innocent bystanders assaulted by police during the G20 Summit in Toronto in June 2010, but the constitutional rights of Canadians were as well. This book contextualizes the events and examines what should be done to safeguard the rights of Canadians to freedom of speech, peaceful assembly, and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention in the future.
Paths to the Bench
The Judicial Appointment Process in Manitoba, 1870-1950
A close study of the judges appointed in early 20th-century Manitoba, revealing Canada’s highly political judicial appointment process.
The Strategic Constitution
Understanding Canadian Power in the World
Bridging the solitudes of constitutional law and international relations, this book offers a brand new interpretation of Canada’s Constitution.
Equality Deferred
Sex Discrimination and British Columbia’s Human Rights State, 1953-84
A history of human rights law in Canada, with a focus on sex discrimination in British Columbia.
Defending Battered Women on Trial
Lessons from the Transcripts
Drawing on trial transcripts, this book tells the stories of ten battered women who killed their male partners and one who did not, revealing why women don’t “just leave” and the serious barriers to achieving acquittal.
To Right Historical Wrongs
Race, Gender, and Sentencing in Canada
A bold questioning of culture-based reparative justice initiatives – the political culture that inspired them and their efficacy in an age in which historically marginalized people are disproportionately represented in Canadian prisons.
“Don’t Be So Gay!”
Queers, Bullying, and Making Schools Safe
Queer students speak out in a book that seeks to address the problem of homophobic bullying in schools.
On the Outside
From Lengthy Imprisonment to Lasting Freedom
Drawing on the narratives of men who have served lengthy prison sentences, this book illuminates the tumultuous journey from life in a penitentiary to success in the community.
Unjust by Design
Canada’s Administrative Justice System
This book describes a Canadian administrative justice system in transcendent need of fundamental structural reform and provides a detailed blueprint for change.
Governing from the Bench
The Supreme Court of Canada and the Judicial Role
Governing from the Bench is a comprehensive and illuminating examination of the Supreme Court of Canada that draws on in-depth interviews to reveal the inner workings of this often-misunderstood institution at the heart of Canada’s justice system.
Aboriginal Justice and the Charter
Realizing a Culturally Sensitive Interpretation of Legal Rights
This book explores the tension between Aboriginal justice methods and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, while searching for practical ways to implement Aboriginal justice.
Hunger, Horses, and Government Men
Criminal Law on the Aboriginal Plains, 1870-1905
Tells the complex story of the relationship between Plains Indians and Canadian criminal law as it took root in their land.
Still Dying for a Living
Corporate Criminal Liability after the Westray Mine Disaster
Still Dying for a Living investigates the state’s (in)ability to develop effective legal strategies for holding corporations accountable for serious injury and death in the workplace.
The Right to a Healthy Environment
Revitalizing Canada's Constitution
Renowned environmental lawyer David R. Boyd argues that Canada must constitutionalize environmental rights and responsibilities if it hopes to improve its environmental record.