Social Equality and the Mobilization of the Law

Sociolegal scholars refer to the invocation of law or rules during a dispute as the mobilization of law. Most studies of the mobilization of law focus on the mobilization of law by people in non‐official capacities, particularly by persons of relatively low social status or in positions of social disadvantage. Early studies debated the effectiveness of court‐centered strategies for social justice, examining whether real social change could be achieved through formal judicial means. Scholars now largely agree that law can be effectively mobilized for social change through both direct formal legal action and the indirect radiating effects of legal mobilization. This is because the influence of law goes beyond the courtroom; rights consciousness and legal mobilization help to transform culture and understandings of social status and power. Currently scholars are turning their attention to the mobilization of law within organizations such as schools and workplaces and the mobilization of rights talk and justice talk in unofficial arenas domestically and internationally.     

Smoking Risks in Spain: Part III—Determinants of Smoking Behavior

Using original survey data from Spain, this paper assesses the determinants of smoking behavior. This study examines the effect on smoking of the most diverse set of risk measures ever considered: lung cancer, relative lung cancer risks, lung disease, heart disease, relative heart disease risks, lost life expectancy to smokers, and various risk measures for passive smoking. Smoking measures include cigarette smoking, the number of cigarettes smoked, and pipe and cigar smoking. Primary smoking risks have a more consistent negative effect on smoking than perceived passive smoking risks.     

Smoking Risks in Spain: Part I—Perception of Risks to the Smoker

Survey evidence for the Spanish population indicates that perceptions of lung cancer risk and life expectancy loss due to smoking are similar to estimates found in the United States. This paper also presents new evidence on the relative lung cancer risk for smokers, the perceived risk of lung disease for smokers, the heart disease risk for smokers, and the relative heart disease risk for smokers, all of which indicate substantial risk perceptions. Risk beliefs are particularly high for younger respondents, but are lower for better educated respondents.