Fischl, Richard Michael --- "Ideology and argument construction in contract law" [2019] ELECD 1681; in Christodoulidis, Emilios; Dukes, Ruth; Goldoni, Marco (eds), "Research Handbook on Critical Legal Theory" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 283

Book Title: Research Handbook on Critical Legal Theory

Editor(s): Christodoulidis, Emilios; Dukes, Ruth; Goldoni, Marco

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 16

Section Title: Ideology and argument construction in contract law

Author(s): Fischl, Richard Michael

Number of pages: 18

Abstract/Description:

This chapter explores the various insights that critical legal theory can bring to a study of contract law, using the doctrine of promissory estoppel as its principal example. It begins by contrasting mainstream, legal realist and critical ‘stories’ about the history and role of the doctrine in American contract law. The aim here is to highlight the contributions of the critical tradition to pedagogy as well as legal theory. Those contributions are then brought to bear on a critical study of the Local 1330 case, a storied challenge to the closing of a pair of aging steel plants in the industrial Midwest nearly four decades ago.