Law and Society (LWSO) 335 L01
Equality Issues
Fall 2008
 Wednesdays. 15:00 - 17:50

 

Instructor:	Dr. Maureen S. Hiebert
Office Location:	Social Sciences Building, room 350
Office Phone:	(403) 220-7339
E-Mail:	maureen.hiebert@ucalgary.ca
Office Hours:	Tuesdays 11:00-12:00, Wednesdays 13:00-14:00

Course Description

This course is designed to introduce students to the sources of inequality and how domestic and international law can help to promote greater equality in society. The course consists of three parts. Part I covers the socio-legal foundations of inequality, both formal and substantive, and equality rights as enshrined in international and domestic Canadian law. Part II examines how the law has been used as a tool to uphold and strengthen equality. As the main section of the course, Part II includes discussions of gender inequality and the movement toward greater equality with specific reference to family law and domestic violence; reproductive and gay and lesbian rights; issue of race in the immigration and criminal justice system; and the debate over whether religious law and self-government will enhance minority rights and equality or undermine social solidarity. Finally Part III briefly looks at how the law has sometimes been used, historically and in the contemporary world, by the state as a weapon against individuals and groups in society. The course will concentrate on Canadian society and law in comparative perspective.

Objectives of the Course

By the end of the course students should be able to understand and analyze the role of the law in Canadian society in strengthening equality between individuals and groups. Students should also be able to critically analyze legal cases and other materials.

Textbooks and Readings:

There are two required textbooks for this course. They are both available for purchase at the University of Calgary Bookstore. Please use the edition of the textbook noted below.

N.B. Readings not from the textbooks will be posted on the course Blackboard website under Course Documents.

Valerie Zawilski and Cynthia Levine-Rasky, Inequality in Canada: A Reader on the Intersection of Gender, Race, and Class (Don Mills; Oxford University Press Canada, 2005)

J.E. Bickenbach (ed.), Canadian Cases in the Philosophy of Law (Fourth Edition) (Peterborough, Broadview Press, 2007)

Assignments and Evaluation

Short analytical essay (3-5 pages): October 8 (25%)

 

Essay (10-12 pages): December 3, 2008 (35%)

 

Final exam: exam period (40%)

The final exam will consist of short answer and long answer essay style questions. The final exam will be cumulative (i.e. it will cover all 13 weeks of the course).

 

It is the student's responsibility to keep a copy of each submitted assignment.
Note: Please hand in your essays directly to your tutor or instructor if possible. If it is not possible to do so, a daytime drop box is available in SS110; a date stamp is provided for your use. A night drop box is also available for after-hours submission. Assignments will be removed the following morning, stamped with the previous day's date, and placed in the instructor's mailbox.

Registrar-scheduled Final Examination:  YES

Please note: If your class is held in the evening, the Registrar's Office will make every attempt to schedule the final exam during the evening; however, there is NO guarantee that the exam will NOT be scheduled during the day.

Policy for Late Assignments

Assignments submitted after the deadline may be penalized with the loss of a grade (e.g.: A- to B+) for each day late.

Writing Skills Statement

Faculty policy directs that all written assignments (including, although to a lesser extent, written exam responses) will be assessed at least partly on writing skills. For details see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/info. Writing skills include not only surface correctness (grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc) but also general clarity and organization. Research papers must be properly documented.

If you need help with your writing, you may use the Writing Centre.  Visit the website for more details: www.efwr.ucalgary.ca

Grading System

The following grading system is used in the Faculty of Communication and Culture:

(Revised, effective September 2008)

 

	Grading Scale
A+	96-100
A	90-95.99
A -	85-89.99
B+	80-84.99
B	75-79.99
B-	70-74.99
C+	65-69.99
C	60-64.99
C-	55-59.99
D+	53-54.99
D	50-52.99
F	0-49

 

Where a grade on a particular assignment is expressed as a letter grade, it will normally be converted to a number using the midpoint of the scale.  That is, B+ would be converted to 87.5 for calculation purposes.  F will be converted to zero.

Plagiarism

Using any source whatsoever without clearly documenting it is a serious academic offense. Consequences include failure on the assignment, failure in the course and possibly suspension or expulsion from the university.

You must document not only direct quotations but also paraphrases and ideas where they appear in your text. A reference list at the end is insufficient by itself. Readers must be able to tell exactly where your words and ideas end and other people's words and ideas begin. This includes assignments submitted in non-traditional formats such as Web pages or visual media, and material taken from such sources.

Please consult your instructor or the Writing Centre (SS 106, efwr.ucalgary.ca) if you have any questions regarding how to document sources.

Students with Disabilities

If you are a student with a disability who may require academic accommodation, it is your responsibility to register with the Disability Resource Centre (220-8237) and discuss your needs with your instructor no later than fourteen (14) days after the start of the course.

Students' Union

For details about the current Students' Union contacts for the Faculty of Communication and Culture see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/su

"SAFEWALK" Program -- 220-5333

Campus Security will escort individuals day or night -- call 220-5333 for assistance. Use any campus phone, emergency phone or the yellow phone located at most parking lot booths.

Ethics

Whenever you perform research with human participants (i.e. surveys, interviews, observation) as part of your university studies, you are responsible for following university research ethics guidelines.  Your instructor must review and approve of your research plans and supervise your research.  For more information about your research ethics responsibilities, see

The Faculty of Communication and Culture Research Ethics site: http://www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/ethics

or the University of Calgary Research Ethics site: http://www.ucalgary.ca/research/compliance/ethics/info/undergrad/

SCHEDULE OF LECTURES AND READINGS

The following topics and readings will be covered, time permitting.

 

Part I Socio-legal Foundations of Inequality and Equality Rights

Week 1 Sources of Inequality: Gender, Race, Class

Sept. 10

Readings:

Zawilski and Levine-Rasky, Part I, "Sexism, Racism, and Canadian Nationalism" (Ng), pp. 5-16; "The Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender in Anti-Racism Discourse" (Sefa Dei), pp. 17-35

 

Week 2 Formal and Substantive Equality

Sept. 17

Readings:

Amartya Sen, "On the Status of Equality", Political Theory Vol. 25, No. 3 (Aug. 1996), pp. 394-400

Sandra Fredman,chapter 1, Discrimination Law (Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 1-26 

Bickenbach, "Law Society of British Columbia et al. v Andrews et al., pp. 128-135

 

Week 3 The Law and Equality Rights I: International Law

Sept. 24

Readings:

The United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights; The United Nations International Covenants (1966); The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

Rhonda K. M. Smith, chapter 12, International Human Rights (3^rd Edition) (Oxford University Press, 2007), pp. 175-193

 

Week 4 Law and Equality Rights II: Constitutional Equality Rights in Canada

Oct. 1

Readings:

The Constitution Act of 1982, Part I The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Part II Rights of the Aboriginal People of Canada

Bickenbach, "Reference Re: Resolution to Amend the Constitution of Canada", pp. 18-24; "Edwards v Attorney-General of Canada", pp. 25-28

 

 

Part II The Law as a Tool: Upholding and Strengthening Equality

Week 5 Gender Discrimination and Equality I: Feminist Theory and Employment

Oct. 8

FIRST ESSAY DUE IN-CLASS

Readings:

Zawilski and Levine-Rasky, "Feminist Intersectional Theorizing" (Stasiulis), pp. 36-62; "Family Coping Strategies: Balancing Paid Employment and Domestic Labour" (Luxton), pp. 66-86

 

Week 6 Gender Discrimination and Equality II: Family Law and Domestic Violence

Oct. 15

Readings:

Jane Pulkingham, "Private Troubles, Private Solutions: Poverty among Divorced Women and the Politics of Support Enforcement and Child Custody Determination", Law in Society: Canadian Readings (Thomson Nelson, 2006), pp. 296-318

Bickenbach, "R. v Lavallee", pp. 274-281

 

Week 7 Reproductive Rights; Same Sex Discrimination and Equality

Oct. 22

Readings:

Zawilski and Levine-Rasky, "Lesbians and Gay Men Inside and Outside Families" (O'Brien and Goldberg), pp. 126-146

Bickenbach, "Egan v The Queen in Right of Canada", pp. 138-144; "R. v Morgentaler", pp. 165-167

 

Week 8 Racial Discrimination and Racial Equality I: Immigration and National Security

Oct. 29

Readings:

Yasmeen Abu-Laban, "Keeping ‘em Out: Gender, Race, and Class Biases in Canadian Immigration Policy", Painting the Maple Leaf: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Construction of Canada (UBC Press, 1998), pp. 69-84

Howard Adelman, "Refugees and Border Security Post September 11", Refuge, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 5-14

 

Week 9 Racial Discrimination and Racial Equality II: Criminal Law

Nov. 5

Readings:

Zawilski and Levine-Rasky, "Lessons in Decolonization: Aboriginal Overrepresentation in Canadian Criminal Justice" (Monture-Angus), pp. 309-326

Carol Tator, " " Racial Profiling in Canada: Challenging the Myth of the ‘Few Bad Apples' (UTP, 2006), pp. 

 

Week 10 Accommodating Diversity or Building Walls I: Aboriginal Self-determination and Language Rights

Nov. 12

Readings:

John Borrows, "Domesticating Doctrines: Aboriginal Peoples after the Royal Commission" Law in Society: Canadian Readings (Thomson Nelson, 2006), pp. 152-185

Bickenbach, "Mitchell v Ministry of National Revenue", pp. 199-207; "Arsenault-Cameron v Prince Edward Island", pp. 208-211

 

Week 11 Accommodation Diversity or Building Walls II: Religious Law and Religious Minorities

Nov. 19

Readings:

James Thornback, "The Portrayal of Sharia Law in Ontario", Appeal, Vol. 10 (2005), pp. 1-12

 

 

Part III The Law as a Weapon:Predatory States, Oppression, and Violence

Week 12 The State, Law, and Discrimination

Nov. 26

Readings:

Indian Act (1850) - Canada

Apartheid legislation (1948-1989) - South Africa

 

Week 13 The State, Law, and Genocide

Dec. 3

SECOND ESSAY DUE IN-CLASS

Readings:

Nuremberg Laws (1935) and other anti-Jewish laws (1933-1945) - Germany

Alex Alvarez, chapter 3, Governments, Citizens, and Genocide: A Comparative and Interdisciplinary Approach (University of Indiana Press, 2001), pp. 71-85