Invitation to Law & Society The Chicago Series in Law and Society Edited by John M Conley and Lynn Mather a l s o in t he ser ie s: Belonging in an Adopted World: Race, Identity, and Transnational Adoption by Barbara Yngvesson Making Rights Real: Activists, Bureaucrats, and the Creation of the Legalistic State by Charles R Epp Lawyers on the Right: Professionalizing the Conservative Coalition by Ann Southworth Arguing with Tradition: The Language of Law in Hopi Tribal Court by Justin B Richland Speaking of Crime: The Language of Criminal Justice by Lawrence M Solan and Peter M Tiersma Human Rights and Gender Violence: Translating International Law into Social Justice by Sally Engle Merry Just Words, Second Edition: Law, Language, and Power by John M Conley and William M O’Barr Distorting the Law: Politics, Media, and the Litigation Crisis by William Haltom and Michael McCann Justice in the Balkans: Prosecuting War Crimes in the Hague Tribunal by John Hagan Rights of Inclusion: Law and Identity in the Life Stories of Americans with Disabilities by David M Engel and Frank W Munger The Internationalization of Palace Wars: Lawyers, Economists, and the Contest to Transform Latin American States by Yves Dezalay and Bryant G Garth Free to Die for Their Country: The Story of the Japanese American Draft Resisters in World War II by Eric L Muller Additional series titles follow index K I T T Y C A L AV I T A Invitation to Law & Society An Introduction to the Study of Real Law The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London kitty calavita is Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of California, Irvine The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2010 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved Published 2010 Printed in the United States of America 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 ISBN -13: 978-0-226-08996-6 (cloth) ISBN -13: 978-0-226-08997-3 (paper) ISBN -10: 0-226-08996-7 (cloth) ISBN -10: 0-226-08997-5 (paper) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Calavita, Kitty Invitation to law and society : an introduction to the study of real law / Kitty Calavita p cm — (Chicago series in law and society) Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN -13: 978-0-226-08996-6 (cloth: alk paper) ISBN -10: 0-226-08996-7 (cloth: alk paper) ISBN -13: 978-0-226-08997-3 (pbk.: alk paper) ISBN -10: 0-226-08997-5 (pbk.: alk paper) Sociological jurisprudence I Title II Series: Chicago series in law and society k370.c35 2010 340’.115—dc22 2009028392 o The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992 For Zellie and Luca Contents Acknowledgments / ix Chapter Introduction / Chapter Types of Society, Types of Law / 10 Chapter Law in the Everyday, Everywhere / 30 Chapter The Color of Law / 51 Chapter Many Laws, Many Orders / 74 Chapter The Talk versus the Walk of Law / 94 Chapter Law and Social Justice: Plus Ça Change / 116 Chapter Conclusion / 148 References / 155 Index / 167 Acknowledgments I could not have written this book without the encouragement, friendship, and feedback of many people While my debts over the years are too many to name all of them here, several deserve special mention Lynn Mather and John Conley, editors of the University of Chicago Press Law and Society series, encouraged me in the project from the beginning, and I have counted on their support and insightful suggestions all along the way John Tryneski, social science editor at the Press, has been everything an author could wish for, and more I am also grateful to the anonymous reviewers whose constructive feedback and mercifully gentle criticisms made this book so much better than it might have been The Department of Criminology, Law and Society at UC Irvine and the School of Social Ecology have generously facilitated my scholarship over the years, most recently providing me with a sabbatical for completing this manuscript Colleagues and friends have also been important to me in the course of conceptualizing this project and writing the book My colleagues at Irvine are that rare breed: intellectually stimulating, generous with their time, and—here’s the clincher—fun Henry Pontell and I go way back, we wrote together on the savings and loan crisis (harbinger of today’s financial meltdown), and I have benefitted from his friendship, smarts, and biting wit Susan Coutin’s work on Central American immigration to the United States and, earlier, on the sanctuary movement continues to be an inspiration, as she herself is to her many admirers Carroll Seron has been an esteemed friend and colleague from afar for decades, and she is one of the newest and most formidable members of our department Carroll read and provided me with predictably incisive feedback on sections of this book Val Jenness, 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