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Social movements, NGOs and other political actors often mobilise the law for social change. Strategic litigation and collective legal mobilisation can be key instruments to face current political challenges like the climate crisis, human rights violations against refugees or the exploitation of workers along global supply chains. Although these struggles are framed by a societal context and have impacts on the political and juridical fields, the literature about legal mobilisation still does not decidedly engage with a social-theory-based perspective on such struggles. By developing the concept of legal struggles, the article proposes a conceptual framework to analyse both the ambivalence and the emancipatory potential of progressive struggles in the juridical field. Critical Theory, Materialist Theory and the Theory of Social Fields by Pierre Bourdieu are combined to investigate the specific form of collective legal struggles carried out in this arena. We examine repertoires and strategies of collective actors as well as the emancipatory potential of these mobilisation strategies. Our conclusions point to the structural distinctions and selectivities which define the juridical field in capitalist societies and also the conditions of possibility of political struggles using the law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anlässlich von politischen Konflikten kommt es regelmäßig zu Auseinandersetzungen zwischen der Polizei und sozialen Bewegungen. Dabei ist auffällig, dass die Polizei in entscheidender Weise dazu beiträgt, wie die Proteste in der Öffentlichkeit wahrgenommen werden. Durch Pressestatements und den Einsatz polizeilicher Maßnahmen wirkt die Polizei daran mit, ob Proteste als legitim oder illegitim gelten. Daran anschließend entscheidet sich zugleich, ob Polizeigewalt gegen Proteste in der Öffentlichkeit akzeptiert oder skandalisiert wird. Unser Beitrag betrachtet das Verhältnis zwischen der Polizei, Protesten und dem Recht. Wir zeigen, dass die Polizei eine eigenständige politische Akteurin ist und eine Grenzziehung zwischen illegitimen und legitimen Protesten vornimmt. Am Beispiel aktueller Auseinandersetzungen (antikapitalistische Proteste, ziviler Ungehorsam der Letzten Generation etc.) diskutieren wir, wie diese Grenzziehungen praktisch vonstattengehen. During political conflicts, clashes occur between police and social movements. The police has a decisive role in how protests are perceived by the public. Through press statements and the use of specific police measures, the police determines whether protests are considered legitimate or illegitimate. This also has effects whether police violence against protests is accepted or scandalized by the public. Our paper looks at the relationship between the police, protests, and the law. We show that the police apparatus is a political actor with own interests and draws a line between illegitimate and legitimate protests. Looking at current conflicts (anti-capitalist protests, civil disobedience of the Last Generation, etc.), we discuss how these demarcations take place in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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