Foreword: What We Make Matter

The Michigan Law Review's Survey of Books Related to the Law provides an annual opportunity to consider not only a range of legal issues and views, but also to think about the range of ways we argue about and study the law. In this Foreword, I would like to suggest that we think not only about how we choose to argue, but also the potential consequences of those choices. When we study or argue about law and politics, we routinely and sensibly consider the possible unintended impact of particular substantive rules and policies. Here I suggest that we should attend as well to the potential indirect effects of our arguments themselves.