Bleak Liberalism
Bleak Liberalism, Deconstruction, and Tension in the Law, Prof Richard Mullender
Lawyers regularly wrestle with tension in the law (e.g., when the aims that inform particular bodies of law pull them in opposing directions and leave them feeling cross pressured). This paper identifies as relevant to tensions of this sort two sources of guidance from the fields of literature and literary theory. They are Amanda Anderson's analysis of Nineteenth Century realist novels (in which she presents an account of 'bleak liberalism') and Jacques Derrida's account of deconstruction (in which he focuses attention on binary oppositions in texts). This paper argues that while neither of these sources of guidance can make tension in the law disappear, they are each of assistance in making constructive responses to it.
Bio
Professor Richard Mullender's research focuses on the processes of development within and the moral impulses that inform law. In pursuing these interests, his central area of concern has been tort law (and in particular the law of negligence). However, he has applied the analyses that have emerged from this work to other areas of law (including human rights law and public law more generally).