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The Play(Fulness) Of Law, Nicole Rogers

Dr Nicole Rogers

In this thesis, I undertake an investigation into the relationship between play, playfulness and law. Law relies on a certain form of play, rule-bound orderly play; this is demonstrated, for example, in the ceremony of the trial. Furthermore, underpinning every legal system, we find a different form of play: the spontaneous and disruptive performances of revolutionary violence which found every state.

Play can be, in fact, an unpredictable force. Play can disrupt or derail the structured performances of law; play can deflect the violence of the state. I am interested in the dramatic possibilities of using subversive play, or playfulness, …