Unit information: Law and Race in 2021/22

Unit name	Law and Race
Unit code	LAWD30135
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Professor. Adebisi
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	University of Bristol Law School
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

The history of the world has been marked and marred by the oppression of various groups and polities. In many cases, we face the consequences of that legacy of oppression and witness its continuation. Race often functions as the motivation for and justification of oppressive social, cultural, economic and political structures. This is evidenced by colonisation, slavery, and persistent global racial inequality that cut across, gender and class. Law has often been used to create or justify these demarcations. Nevertheless, the study of law often ignores the correlation between race and law as well as the paradox inherent in the use of law to both oppress and liberate. This unit aims to examine legal history and the current state of the law in a critical exploration of how legal evolution has impacted upon and caused racial disparities, and how these factors are continuously consciously and unconsciously embedded and reproduced within the operation of law.

Much of the key scholarship in critical race theory, for example, has focused on the black experience in the US. This has resulted in a dearth of knowledge about the interaction of race and law outside of the American experience. Therefore, this unit will centre its content on the relation between law and race in the UK. We will start with an examination of law and race through the creation, maintenance and purported cessation of British imperialism. Of key importance here is emphasis on how global power structures that persist today are produced and upheld. We will also examine the key theorists and theories in the area e.g. Delgado, Crenshaw, Patricia Hill Collins, Spivak, Darian-Smith, Nkrumah etc.

The unit will also examine how racial disparities are maintained and expressed in literature and how those representations impact and influence our collective consciousness. The latter half of the unit will focus on five case studies of how the combined force of law and race affects the following:

• The criminal justice system in the UK;
• Resistance movements and civil liberties movements;
• Education and educational outcomes;
• Women’s movements; and
• Poverty and austerity.

The unit sits within a paradigm that speaks to decolonising the legal curriculum specifically and decolonisation of knowledge generally. Decolonisation of knowledge involves the de-hierarchisation of knowledge. It involves acknowledging and confronting the hierarchies and exclusivities upon which we have built our world(s). It asks us to examine the margins of society and how these have come about. Decolonising the curriculum seeks to repurpose our study of law so it listens to the voices of those who have historically been silenced. That is the overarching aim of this unit.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, a successful student will be able to:

• Demonstrate understanding of the basic historical context of the British Empire in its imperial and colonial phases. Be able to contextualise these events in the current historical moment.
• Demonstrate understanding of the substantive role of law and legal institutions in enabling and supporting British imperial practices.
• Critically evaluate the paradoxical role of law and legal institutions in supporting and enabling racist practices whilst also being a site of anti-racist praxis.
• Demonstrate understanding of critical race, black feminist and post-colonial theoretical frameworks.
• Formulate and express their own opinions on law, policy, activism and how they interrelate and interact with issues of race and racism.
• Develop analytical skills through the study of primary sources of law and secondary literature.
• Apply knowledge and understanding gained within the unit to a broad range of historical and contemporary contexts.
• Engage with a variety of case studies broadly in the areas of race and law.
• Demonstrate an ability to conduct independent research and present a coherent, reasoned argument on a variety of topics.

Teaching Information

Teaching will be delivered through a variety of asynchronous and synchronous activities

Assessment Information

1 x summative assessment: coursework with a specified word count (100%)

The assessment will assess all of the intended learning outcomes for this unit.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. LAWD30135).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.