Hayward Alker Best Student Paper Award Winner 2015: David L. Jones, for “Culture in the Court: Explaining Bowers vs. Hardwick through Frame Analysis”
Winner: David L. Jones (SUNY Albany), for “Culture in the Court: Explaining Bowers vs. Hardwick through Frame Analysis,” presented at the Law and Society Conference, 2014.
Stitching together diverse theories of culture (ranging from the more instrumentalist and positivist ideas of “framing” by Snow and his colleagues, to the very different epistemological and ontological notions of Foucault), Jones analyzes the clashing interpretations of politics and society that were expressed before and during recent court decisions regarding homosexuality. He clearly and convincingly shows how American politics are permeated with interpretive moves and counter moves, and documents the practical importance of institutionalizing some interpretive frames over others.
Especially impressive is the careful construction and systematic presentation of the argument. Jones repeatedly translates complex analytic ideas (such as “legal archaeology”) into accessible prose. He creatively draws on a wide variety of cultural outlets, from court opinions, to editorials and news stories in mass-circulation magazines, to speeches and pamphlets by social-movement activists attacking and defending homosexuality. The result is a detailed, colorful portrait of clashing beliefs in America today.
Award committee:
Cyrus Ernesto Zirakzadeh, chair (University of Connecticut)
Jillian Schwedler, (Hunter College)
Nicholas Smith, (City College of New York)
