@article{THESIS, recid = {2512}, author = {McCarthy, Jacob}, title = {Yelling to Listen and Other Paradoxes of American Pro se Small Claims Court}, publisher = {University of Chicago}, school = {B.A.}, address = {2018-06}, number = {THESIS}, abstract = {While there is extensive scholarship on lower criminal courts, civil courts are often ignored in sociological discourse. I conducted an ethnographic study of a pro se small claims court in hopes of contributing to this limited scholarship. Drawing on existing sociological theories, and my own observation, I argue that these courts are the locus of a negotiation between democratic ideals and autocratic control. This negotiation is apparent in the architecture of the space, its rhetorical structure, and its judge’s relationship to the law.}, url = {http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/2512}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.6082/uchicago.2512}, }