Abstract
Constructionist paradigm is becoming the major theoretical framework in the field of Sociology of Law in the 1990s. This paradigm pays much attention to an emergent social order in the everyday life rather than to the social norms and institutions controlled by laws. But it has been severely criticized because it can not objectify the actual processes of the real world such as genocide, violence and displacement. Thus, the once powerful paradigm of rational governance of law has revived. This article aims to give critical consideration to both of them (constructionism and essentialism of law) and by making full use of narratives on justice in a small community, it will present the third course of generating social order.
The experiences of South African TRC are case-studied here. In its activities, narratives by 'ordinary' persons are given a central position rather than formal, documented evidences. Though they are inconsistent, emotional and too trivial, those narratives are treated as lived voices representing the truth. This kind of truth, dialogue-type is examined in this study, which is completely different from another type, microscope-type truth. It will conclude that these narratives based on everyday practices of a small community have the potential power for deconstructing the imposed legal order.
