Sociology of law refers to both a sub-discipline of sociology and an approach within the field of legal studies. Sociology of law is a diverse field of study which examines the interaction of law with other aspects of society: such as the effect of legal institutions, doctrines, and practices on other social phenomena and vice versa. Some of its areas of inquiry include the social development of legal institutions, the social construction of legal issues, and the relation of law to social change. Sociology of law overlaps with jurisprudence, economic analysis of law and more specialized subjects such as criminology.[1]
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History
Initially, legal theorists were suspicious of the sociology of law. Kelsen attacked one of its founders, Eugen Ehrlich, who wanted to emphasise the difference between positive law, which lawyers learn and apply, and other forms of 'law' or social norms that regulate everyday life, generally preventing conflicts from reaching lawyers and courts.[2] Around 1900 Max Weber defined his "scientific" approach to law, identifying the "legal rational form" as a type of domination, not attributable to people but to abstract norms.[3] Legal rationalism was his term for a body of coherent and calculable law which formed a precondition for modern political developments and the modern bureaucratic state and developed in parallel with the growth of capitalism.[4] Another sociologist, Émile Durkheim, wrote in The Division of Labour in Society that as society becomes more complex, the body of civil law concerned primarily with restitution and compensation grows at the expense of criminal laws and penal sanctions.[5] Other notable early legal sociologists included Hugo Sinzheimer, Theodor Geiger, Georges Gurvitch and Leon Petrażycki in Europe, and William Graham Sumner in the U.S.[6]
Perspectives
Law and Society
In legal studies, the sociology of law is part of a more broadly conceived law and society approach or socio-legal studies. Its focus is on theoretically guided empirical studies. As such it draws on and contributes to social theory. The sociology of law is not to be confused with sociological jurisprudence. The latter is a juristic perspective, developed in the United States by Roscoe Pound and by earlier jurists in various European countries, that seeks to base legal arguments on sociological insights.
Additional perspectives
[These perspectives need discussion.]
- Marxism
- Types of authority and thought (Weber)
- Social organization and morality (Durkheim)
- Structural-Functionalism
- Comparative legal studies
- Critical legal studies
- Feminist and anti-racism theories
- Postmodern theories
- Spatial theory
- Other perspectives
Selected Topics
To be described:
- Legal systems
- Legal institutions
- Law making (social construction of law and mores)
- Social control
- Dispute resolution
- Social change
- Legal profession
See also
Related sociological subfields include political sociology and the sociology of deviance. Other social sciences, such as Anthropology, Criminology, and Political Science, also include specialized approaches to the study of law.
Notes
- ^ Jary, Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 636
- ^ Rottleuthner, La Sociologie du Droit en Allemagne, 109
* Rottleuthner, Rechtstheoritische Probleme der Sociologie des Rechts, 521 - ^ Rheinstein, Max Weber on Law and Economy in Society, 336
- ^ Jary, Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 636
- ^ Johnson, The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology, 156
- ^ Gurvitch, Sociology of Law, 142
* Papachristou, Sociology of Law, 81–82
References
- Gurvitch, Georges; Hunt, Alan (1942—New edition 2001). "Max Webber and Eugene Ehlrich", Sociology of Law. Athens: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0-765-80704-1.
- Jary, David; Julia Jary (1995). Collins Dictionary of Sociology. HarperCollins. ISBN 0004708040.
- Johnson, Alan (1995). The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology. Blackwells publishers. ISBN 1557861161.
- (Greek) Papachristou, T.K. (1999). "The Sociological Approach of Law", Sociology of Law. Athens: A.N. Sakkoulas Publishers. ISBN 9-601-50106-1.
- Rheinstein, M. (1954). Max Weber on Law and Economy in Society. Harvard University Press.
Further reading
- Reza Banakar and Max Travers, eds, An Introduction to Law and Social Theory. Oxford: Hart, 2002
- Reza Banakar and Max Travers, eds, Theory and Method in Socio-Legal Research. Oxford: Hart, 2005
- Roger Cotterrell, The Sociology of Law: An Introduction 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press / Butterworths, 1992
- Roger Cotterrell, Law's Community: Legal Theory in Sociological Perspective Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995
- Vincenzo Ferrari, ed, Developing Sociology of Law: A World-Wide Documentary Enquiry. Milano: Giuffre, 1990
- Michael Freeman, ed, Law and Sociology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006
- Austin Sarat, ed, Blackwell Companion to Law and Society. Malden, Mass. and Oxford: Blackwell, 2004
External links
- American Sociological Association Section: Sociology of Law
- International Journal of the Sociology of Law
- International Sociological Association: Research Committee on Sociology of Law RC12
- Socio-Legal Studies Association
- Law and Society Association
- Foundation for Law, Justice and Society
- ISA Research Committee in Sociology of Law
