Mayra Feddersen and colleagues have published in the Law & Society Review a Spanish-language translation of their article, “‘The state is something that disappoints’: legal consciousness amid institutional dissatisfaction” (2024, Vol. 58-1). This article explores citizens’ institutional dissatisfaction against a backdrop of a conservative backlash. It relies on focus groups composed of diverse residents of Santiago, Chile, whom the authors asked about their perceptions of the state, state actors, other citizens’ rule-following behavior, and law enforcement. Feddersen et al.’s analysis involves a core law and society concern: citizens’ legal consciousness, in this case explored in relation to rising authoritarianism. The article tackles the seemingly contradictory but durable combination of disappointment with the law given its many failed promises, on the one hand, and, on the other, the recurring faith in the law, despite its known limitations. More than mapping citizens’ legal consciousness, the authors demonstrate how that continued faith in the law, combined with skepticism of the law, may be conducive to the rise of more authoritarian forms of law and legal institutions. This article is a particularly timely piece for societies around the globe and an excellent showcase of law and society analysis. We are so pleased that this article is the first LSR article to be translated into a language other than English under our new translation policy. 

We are also pleased to announce that our translated articles will be permanently freely available! Translating LSR articles into other languages, and making them available, reduces the barriers for scholars who primarily speak languages other than English to use LSR research, learn about law and society concepts, cite our authors’ work, and join the law and society community. Our new policy is also a strong statement that the law and society field is a global community and our work is globally relevant. 

Keep an eye out for more translated LSR articles (and abstracts) to come!