Critical legal studies

Critical legal (CLS) is a school of critical theory that developed in the United States during the 1970s. CLS adherents claim that laws are devised to maintain the status quo of society and thereby codify its biases against marginalized groups.

Despite wide variation in the opinions of critical legal scholars around the world, there is general consensus regarding the key goals of critical legal studies:

The abbreviations "CLS" and "Crit" are sometimes used to refer to the movement and its adherents.