Could a different approach to the law help us bring into being a better world? This course will explore different approaches to understanding what law does and which purposes it serves. Readings will include selections from influential approaches to understanding the role of the law including legal realism, feminist legal theory, critical race theory (CRT), and critical legal studies (CLS) more broadly. The course will cover contemporary legal movements - including law and political economy (LPE) and the conservative legal movement - which combine their own theory of law with explicit political mobilization and goals.