Consumer Law and Structures of Thought: A Comment

Consumer law seems to be a particularly post-modern form of law. It is pluralistic, its boundaries are more a matter of academic fiat than representing natural borders, it is neither obviously a prop for thestatus quo nor an instrument of social transformation, and it is, as Bourgoignie (1991) argues, resistant to grand narratives. It does not fit neatly into traditional visions of class politics but does raise questions of class, gender, and race (see further Ramsay, 1991b). Recent theoretical work has shown greater introspection concerning the assumptions and nature of consumer law and the competing political visions of consumer protection embedded in consumer law and protection. It is important that this theoretical dialogue continue as consumerism, consumer protection, and consumer law migrate to countries of the South and Eastern Europe. If, as Frances Fukuyama (1992) argues, the consumer society is the end of history, then it suggests that research on the consumer society as a cultural, economic, political, and social form and the role of law in this society is an important theoretical problematic.