5: Legal Mobilization

Under what conditions do individuals and interest groups resort to litigation and what makes their success likely? As “passive” institutions, courts rely on legal mobilization for influence. This week we explore the dynamics of legal mobilization, the role of resources and lawyers, and who tends to come out ahead.

Mandatory readings

Galanter, Marc. “Why the “Haves” Come Out Ahead: Speculations on the Limits of Legal Change.” Law & Society Review 9, no. 1 (1974): 95-160. https://doi.org/10.2307/3053023

Lehoucq, Emilio, and Whitney K. Taylor. “Conceptualizing Legal Mobilization: How Should We Understand the Deployment of Legal Strategies?” Law & Social Inquiry 45, no. 1 (2020): 166-193. https://doi.org/10.1017/lsi.2019.59

Vanhala, Lisa. “Is Legal Mobilization for the Birds? Legal Opportunity Structures and Environmental Nongovernmental Organizations in the United Kingdom, France, Finland, and Italy.” Comparative Political Studies 51, no. 3 (2018): 380-412. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414017710257

Optional readings

Epp, Charles. The rights revolution: Lawyers, activists, and supreme courts in comparative perspective. University of Chicago Press, 1998. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226772424.001.0001

De Fazio, Gianluca. “Legal opportunity structure and social movement strategy in Northern Ireland and southern United States.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology 53, no. 1 (2012): 3-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020715212439311

Kahraman, Filiz. “What makes an international institution work for labor activists? Shaping international law through strategic litigation.” Law & Society Review 57, no. 1 (2023): 61-82. https://doi.org/10.1111/lasr.12643

Gallagher, Janice. “The last mile problem: Activists, advocates, and the struggle for justice in domestic courts.” Comparative Political Studies 50, no. 12 (2017): 1666-1698. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414016688001

Pavone, Tommaso. “From Marx to Market: Lawyers, European Law, and the Contentious Transformation of the Port of Genoa.” Law & Society Review 53, no. 3 (2019): 851-888. https://doi.org/10.1111/lasr.12365

Hermansen, Silje Synnøve Lyder, Tommaso Pavone, and Louisa Boulaziz. “Leveling and Spotlighting: How the European Court of Justice Favors the Weak to Promote Its Legitimacy.” British Journal of Political Science 55 (2025): e158. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123425100987