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The Law and Harry Potter
This volume considers the depiction of law and legal institutions in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels. It contains more than twenty chapters by legal academics from the U.S. and abroad. The chapters are organized in five Legal Traditions and Institutions, Crimes and Punishments, Harry Potter and Identity, the Wizard Economy, and Harry Potter as an Archetype. Some chapters analyze the way law and legal institutions are portrayed, and what these portrayals teach us about concepts such as morality, justice, and difference. Other chapters use examples from the narratives to illustrate or analyze legal issues, such as human rights, actual innocence, and legal pedagogy. The volume is suitable for undergraduate or law school courses, and will be of interest to those Harry Potter fans who also have an interest in law and the legal profession.
422 pages, Paperback
First published October 30, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 8, 2019
This book is super fun in a super nerdy way. I read it “for fun” as opposed to for a law class and I took my time about it to really take in all of the different perspectives offered in the text.
I’m a huge fan of inspecting and critiquing the parallels between a text and real life. Harry Potter is one of those series of books that lends itself so well to interpretation, expanding it to other contexts, and as a framework for real life understanding. I loved reading about the legal context and essays that looked at it from that point of view.
I’m a huge fan of inspecting and critiquing the parallels between a text and real life. Harry Potter is one of those series of books that lends itself so well to interpretation, expanding it to other contexts, and as a framework for real life understanding. I loved reading about the legal context and essays that looked at it from that point of view.
books-to-finish
March 6, 2016This is a collection of articles written by various professionals, so I'm going to try to update this review as I finish each one. (I apologize now for the length of this review.)
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What Role Need Law Play in a Society with Magic?
John Gava & Jeannie Marie Paterson
This was an excellent start. First off, this article mentions the lack of lawyers in the Wizarding World. It makes sense why this is so, but it's still interesting to hear about how torts, contracts, criminal law, and constitutional law differ between the US and the Wizarding World. While I often think the Wizarding World would be an amazing place to live, I'm actually disappointed in their criminal system. I'm excited to read the other related articles.
Bonus: The authors mention the similarities between Voldemort and Hitler, which I think is an extremely important point to make. And I like the brief focus on the heroics of the HP universe.
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Bots and Gemots: Anglo-Saxon Legal References in Harry Potter
Susan P. Liemer
This article focuses on the Wizengamot, the Wizard High Court. It delves into the linguistic history of the word, which was much more interesting than I expected it to be. It also explains the similarities and differences between the Wizengamot and the witenagemot. I particularly loved hearing about Dumbledore's role in the various trials throughout the series. Definitely worth reading.
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Harry Potter and the Half-Crazed Bureaucracy
Benjamin H. Barton
"[D]espite how awful Rowling's Ministry of Magic looks and acts, it bears such a tremendous resemblance to current Anglo-American government. Rowling's negative picture of government is thus both subtle and extraordinarily piercing." page 35
[T]he ability to entertain first and foremost while providing other levels of discourse is the hallmark of great and thoughtful literature, and The Half-Blood Prince is both. page 47
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Moral Choice, Wizardry, Law and Liberty: A Classical Liberal Reading of the Role of the Law in the Harry Potter Series
Andrew P. Morriss
This article was harder to get through than the others, but it made some good points about the characters' choices to break rules throughout the series. It brought up points I hadn't analyzed before, particularly about how Harry and Dumbledore, as well as other characters, value making decisions based on morality, rather than a blind obedience to formal rules.
------------------------------------------------
What Role Need Law Play in a Society with Magic?
John Gava & Jeannie Marie Paterson
This was an excellent start. First off, this article mentions the lack of lawyers in the Wizarding World. It makes sense why this is so, but it's still interesting to hear about how torts, contracts, criminal law, and constitutional law differ between the US and the Wizarding World. While I often think the Wizarding World would be an amazing place to live, I'm actually disappointed in their criminal system. I'm excited to read the other related articles.
Bonus: The authors mention the similarities between Voldemort and Hitler, which I think is an extremely important point to make. And I like the brief focus on the heroics of the HP universe.
------------------------------------------------
Bots and Gemots: Anglo-Saxon Legal References in Harry Potter
Susan P. Liemer
This article focuses on the Wizengamot, the Wizard High Court. It delves into the linguistic history of the word, which was much more interesting than I expected it to be. It also explains the similarities and differences between the Wizengamot and the witenagemot. I particularly loved hearing about Dumbledore's role in the various trials throughout the series. Definitely worth reading.
------------------------------------------------
Harry Potter and the Half-Crazed Bureaucracy
Benjamin H. Barton
"[D]espite how awful Rowling's Ministry of Magic looks and acts, it bears such a tremendous resemblance to current Anglo-American government. Rowling's negative picture of government is thus both subtle and extraordinarily piercing." page 35
[T]he ability to entertain first and foremost while providing other levels of discourse is the hallmark of great and thoughtful literature, and The Half-Blood Prince is both. page 47
------------------------------------------------
Moral Choice, Wizardry, Law and Liberty: A Classical Liberal Reading of the Role of the Law in the Harry Potter Series
Andrew P. Morriss
This article was harder to get through than the others, but it made some good points about the characters' choices to break rules throughout the series. It brought up points I hadn't analyzed before, particularly about how Harry and Dumbledore, as well as other characters, value making decisions based on morality, rather than a blind obedience to formal rules.
December 27, 2010
Dense but very interesting! I especially enjoyed the section on Torts in the wizarding world. This book is probably best for Harry Potter super fans with an interest/background in law.
February 14, 2012
A fun excursion into the law and how it applies to Harry Potter. Definitely something fun for any HP fans with interest in the law. I particularly enjoyed "The Magic of Money and Banking" chapter.
January 11, 2016
An interesting read for anyone with overlapping interests in the law and Harry Potter. Some essays were better than others but overall it was an enjoyable book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews