Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Law
Bounded Rationality Of Homo Classificus: The Law And Bioeconomics Of Social Norms As Classification, Janet T. Landa
Bounded Rationality Of Homo Classificus: The Law And Bioeconomics Of Social Norms As Classification, Janet T. Landa
Chicago-Kent Law Review
In the "New Chicago School" ("NCS") law and economics literature that emerged in the 1990s, social norms play an important function in their dual role as constraints on behavior and as signaling devices. Missing in the NCS social norms literature, however, is any treatment of social norms as classification, a concept which is fundamental to a more complete theory of social norms. In this Article, I show that my early 1980s theory of social norms embedded in the ethnically homogeneous middleman groups ("EHMGs") clearly falls squarely within the NCS tradition. Since the 1980s, I have extended my law and economics …
The Legal Function Of Ritual, Geoffrey P. Miller
The Legal Function Of Ritual, Geoffrey P. Miller
Chicago-Kent Law Review
This Article offers a theory of ritual as social control. It argues that an important function of rituals is to align personal identities with social roles. The celebratory aspect of rituals reflects the sense of felicity that accompanies the successful alignment of identity and role. Violence in ritual reflects the fact that the alignment of identity and role is compulsory and often imposes significant costs on personal autonomy. Within the framework of this theory, rituals can be classed into three general types: rituals of reformation (e.g., marriage, initiation, and installation) help align identity and role; rituals of renewal (e.g., religious …