“. . . The Law Is All Over”: Power, Resistance and the Legal Consciousness of the Welfare Poor

Abstract

In this chapter, the author highlights the dynamic of power and resistance which characterizes the legal consciousness of the welfare poor and suggests that mass legal consciousness is more fragmented and plural than is suggested in some accounts. His research indicates that the welfare poor frequently contest what are often thought of as the key legitimating symbols of law, in particular the association of law with neutrality, disinterestedness, rule determinacy and rights. Because the welfare poor are in positions of continuing dependency, they must engage in an uphill struggle to make their voices heard and their understandings of right and justice part of the legal order. The author describes the way the people talk about and understand law and the relationship between legal services lawyers and the welfare bureaucracy. People enacted a drama of power and resistance whether they were talking to lawyers, caseworkers or the social scientist seeking to understand them.

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