Peter Gabel
Encyclopedia
Peter Gabel, Ph.D., is an American law academic and associate editor of Tikkun
, a bi-monthly Jewish critique of politics, culture, and society and has written a number of articles for the magazine on subjects ranging from the original intent of the framers of the Constitution ("Founding Father Knows Best") to the creationism/evolution controversy ("Creationism and the Spirit of Nature"). Gabel was a founder of the Institute for Labor and Mental Health in Oakland, California
and is close to the Critical Legal Studies
movement. He has published more than a dozen articles in law journals such as the Harvard Law Review
and Texas Law Review
, focusing on the role of law in shaping popular consciousness and on how law can best be used to bring about progressive social change.
and Martin Gabel
. He graduated from Deerfield Academy
, received his B.A. (1968) and J.D. (1972) from Harvard University
, where he served as editor for the Harvard Lampoon
, and received his Ph.D. from the Wright Institute in 1981.
As a teenager he worked as a guide for the 1964 New York World's Fair
, a fact he revealed on the game show What's My Line?, where he appeared as a guest and stumped the panel, including his mother, Arlene Francis.
) and the University of Minnesota
before becoming a law professor for 30 years at the community driven New College of California School of Law
. He also served as New College's president for 20 years. The college, founded in 1971, was an alternative school in the Mission District that offered undergraduate degrees as well as graduate degrees in psychology and law before its accreditation was revoked and the school was forced to close in June 2008.
Gabel is active in the Project for Integrating Spirituality, Law, and Politics, a group in the San Francisco Bay Area that: "will bring together law teachers, lawyers, and law students in the Bay Area who share our group's aspiration to connect the inner and the outer in a fundamental transformation of legal culture." He is also strongly focused on communalizing the neighborhood in Noe Valley, San Francisco. One of the group's successful actions was to save a small independent bookstore
, Cover to Cover, which was hurt by a publishing slump. Gabel created a group email for neighbors who wanted to help and distributed fliers in the neighborhood, asking neighbors to sign a list pledging to buy a hardback book every month.
Gabel is the bassist in Central Park Zoo.
Tikkun (magazine)
Tikkun is a quarterly English-language magazine, published in the United States, that analyzes American and Israeli culture, politics, religion and history from a leftist-progressive viewpoint, and provides commentary about Israeli politics and Jewish life in North America...
, a bi-monthly Jewish critique of politics, culture, and society and has written a number of articles for the magazine on subjects ranging from the original intent of the framers of the Constitution ("Founding Father Knows Best") to the creationism/evolution controversy ("Creationism and the Spirit of Nature"). Gabel was a founder of the Institute for Labor and Mental Health in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
and is close to the Critical Legal Studies
Critical legal studies
Critical legal studies is a movement in legal thought that applied methods similar to those of critical theory to law. The abbreviations "CLS" and "Crit" are sometimes used to refer to the movement and its adherents....
movement. He has published more than a dozen articles in law journals such as the Harvard Law Review
Harvard Law Review
The Harvard Law Review is a journal of legal scholarship published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School.-Overview:According to the 2008 Journal Citation Reports, the Review is the most cited law review and has the second-highest impact factor in the category "law" after the...
and Texas Law Review
Texas Law Review
The Texas Law Review is a student-edited and produced law review published by the University of Texas School of Law . It publishes 7 issues per academic year, ranks number 11 on Washington & Lee University's list, and ranks number 4 in Mikhail Koulikov's rankings of law reviews by social impact...
, focusing on the role of law in shaping popular consciousness and on how law can best be used to bring about progressive social change.
Early life and education
Gabel is the only son of Arlene FrancisArlene Francis
Arlene Francis was an American actress, radio talk show host, and game show panelist...
and Martin Gabel
Martin Gabel
Martin Gabel was an American actor, film director and film producer.-Life and career:Gabel was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Ruth and Israel Gabel, who was a jeweler...
. He graduated from Deerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy is an independent, coeducational boarding school in Deerfield, Massachusetts, United States. It is a four-year college-preparatory school with approximately 600 students and about 100 faculty, all of whom live on or near campus....
, received his B.A. (1968) and J.D. (1972) from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where he served as editor for the Harvard Lampoon
Harvard Lampoon
The Harvard Lampoon is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.-Overview:Published since 1876, The Harvard Lampoon is the world's longest continually published humor magazine. It is also the second longest-running English-language humor...
, and received his Ph.D. from the Wright Institute in 1981.
As a teenager he worked as a guide for the 1964 New York World's Fair
1964 New York World's Fair
The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major world's fair to be held in New York City. Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe";...
, a fact he revealed on the game show What's My Line?, where he appeared as a guest and stumped the panel, including his mother, Arlene Francis.
Career
Gabel taught law at Boalt Law School (on the campus of the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
) and the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
before becoming a law professor for 30 years at the community driven New College of California School of Law
New College of California School of Law
New College of California School of Law was a private, non-profit law school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1973 as a part of the now defunct New College of California, and deemed itself the oldest public interest law school in the United States. It offered a full-time three-year...
. He also served as New College's president for 20 years. The college, founded in 1971, was an alternative school in the Mission District that offered undergraduate degrees as well as graduate degrees in psychology and law before its accreditation was revoked and the school was forced to close in June 2008.
Gabel is active in the Project for Integrating Spirituality, Law, and Politics, a group in the San Francisco Bay Area that: "will bring together law teachers, lawyers, and law students in the Bay Area who share our group's aspiration to connect the inner and the outer in a fundamental transformation of legal culture." He is also strongly focused on communalizing the neighborhood in Noe Valley, San Francisco. One of the group's successful actions was to save a small independent bookstore
Independent bookstore
An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned.-Literary and countercultural history:Author events at independent bookstores sometimes take the role of literary salons. The bookstores themselves, "have historically supported and cultivated the work of independent...
, Cover to Cover, which was hurt by a publishing slump. Gabel created a group email for neighbors who wanted to help and distributed fliers in the neighborhood, asking neighbors to sign a list pledging to buy a hardback book every month.
Gabel is the bassist in Central Park Zoo.
Published works
- The Redemptive Power of Law: Finding Spiritual Meaning in Legal Culture and Using it to Create a Better World (New York University Press, 2007)
- The Bank Teller and Other Essays on the Politics of Meaning (Acada Books/New College of California Press, 2000)
- The Spiritual Truth of JFK (Tikkun magazine, March/April 1992)