Geography

Lawyering landscapes: Lawyers as constituents of landscape

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Landscape and law cross-influence each other. Legal rules shape landscapes, while landscapes shape the culture from which rules emerge. In describing this interplay, landscape can seem passive, as a canvas on which laws paint visions of society; or active, as a matrix for the creation of law and culture. An alternative view is suggested: landscapes are opportunities for action, fields within which individuals interact with context in a mutually adaptive relationship. Lawyers are specialized constituents of this adaptation. Lawyers' acts and practices help to constitute the adaptations that shape a given landscape. A teaching module in which it was sought to prompt law students to become aware of the adaptive role of lawyering in landscape is described. The results suggest useful theoretical and methodological insights into landscape as a field of human activity, and the need for further study of lawyering as a force in the construction of landscape. © 2005 Landscape Research Group Ltd.

Publication Title

Landscape Research

Publication Date

7-1-2005

Volume

30

Issue

3

First Page

379

Last Page

393

ISSN

0142-6397

DOI

10.1080/01426390500165450

Keywords

action, constructing landscape, landscape, lawyering

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