This article critically assesses the role of class actions in enhancing access to justice from a socio-political perspective. Considering the broad social, cultural, and political implications of access to justice as both a theoretical principle and a policy objective, this article proposes that evaluations of class actions in light of access to justice must situate the procedure within its proper socio-political context. To this end, a critical framework is developed that focuses on the relationship of access to justice to developments in public policy and budgeting, including efficiency-based privatization, with a view to how these political dimensions affect poor and historically marginalized groups. The article proceeds in five interrelated stages. First, an overview of access to justice scholarship is presented through the lens of class actions. Second, a critical analysis of the role of class actions in enhancing access to justice is offered. Third, privatization and the figure of the private attorney general is discussed. Fourth, efforts at institutionalizing funding for class actions are addressed. Fifth, a preliminary research agenda is developed with an emphasis on socio-political variables such as public budgeting constraints, the influence of ideology, and the role of legal consciousness. Highlighting the social, cultural, and political dimensions of class actions in facilitating access to justice, the article concludes by proposing that an expansive understanding of access to justice demands an expansive approach to its study.
Michael Molavi (Thu,) studied this question.