Autism in the U.S.: social movement and legal change

The social movement surrounding autism in the U.S. has been rightly defined a ray of light in the history of social progress. The movement is inspired by a true understanding of neuro-diversity and is capable of bringing about desirable change in political discourse. At several points along the way, however, the legal reforms prompted by the autism movement have been grafted onto preexisting patterns of inequality in the allocation of welfare, education, and medical services. In a context most recently complicated by economic recession, autism-driven change bears the mark of political and legal fragmentation. Distributively, it yields ambivalent results that have not yet received systemic attention. This article aims to fill this analytical vacuum by offering, first, a synoptic view of the several legal transformations brought about or advocated for by the autism movement and, second, a framework for investigating their distributive consequences.     

法律传统、国家形态与法理学谱系——重读柯克法官与詹姆斯国王的故事

柯克法官与詹姆斯国王的论争是西方法律史的经典故事,但西方学者的研究表明故事的本身可能并不是完全真实的。语境化地阅读故事的文本,可以发现詹姆斯的主张并非是完全违反常理或落后保守的,而是基于其本人与所属时代的哲学立场;而柯克的主张也并非是一味地反对王权,其理论的本身存在深刻的矛盾。在此基础上,从法律史、国家史与法理学三个角度对上述两种对立的主张进行解读,其背后实质是两种法律传统与两种国家形态的对立,同时也预示了现代法理学中两种根本观点的对立。