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Sociology of Law

Banakar, Reza LU orcid (2011) In Sociopedia.isa
Abstract
Many of the original sociological premises, concepts and ideas regarding social action, legal change and social reform were initially formulated by studying conditions specific to Western industrial societies. The socio-cultural consequences of globalisation over the last three decades have, however, affected the relationship between state, law and society, blurred sharply drawn distinctions between the West and the rest of the world and transformed the socio-cultural setting within which legal regulation is devised and social reform planned. This paper asks to what extent socio-legal research has reconsidered its theoretical premises regarding the relationship between law, state and society to grasp the new social and cultural forms of... (More)
Many of the original sociological premises, concepts and ideas regarding social action, legal change and social reform were initially formulated by studying conditions specific to Western industrial societies. The socio-cultural consequences of globalisation over the last three decades have, however, affected the relationship between state, law and society, blurred sharply drawn distinctions between the West and the rest of the world and transformed the socio-cultural setting within which legal regulation is devised and social reform planned. This paper asks to what extent socio-legal research has reconsidered its theoretical premises regarding the relationship between law, state and society to grasp the new social and cultural forms of organisation specific to global societies of the 21st century. This objective is pursued in four parts. Part One sketches the intellectual origins of SL and describes its scope and paradigmatic openness. Part Two presents SL partly in relation to social sciences and partly in relation to law and legal studies, briefly examining some of the central debates within the field. Part Three draws attention to the asynchronous development of SL across various countries, asking why the main body of socio-legal research continues to be produced in Western countries. This part considers various factors which might cause this imbalance and also asks if socio-legal theories that are born out of studies of Western industrialised societies are suitable for examining law and social order in non-Western contexts. Part Four concludes the paper by arguing that the socio-cultural consequences of globalisation erode the traditional boundaries of law and legal systems, hybridise legal cultures and create new conditions for legal regulation. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
cultural hybridisation, legal pluralism, social engineering, regulation, public policy, law, state, social reform, socio-legal, sociology, methodology, interdisciplinarity, industrialisation, globalisation, modernity, reflexivity, welfare state, late modernity
in
Sociopedia.isa
issue
2011
publisher
International Sociological Association (ISA)
external identifiers
  • scopus:81255166210
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
96248ac2-b195-410a-9437-8ca304eef214 (old id 3632136)
alternative location
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1761466
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 11:55:55
date last changed
2022-02-21 05:32:32
@article{96248ac2-b195-410a-9437-8ca304eef214,
  abstract     = {{Many of the original sociological premises, concepts and ideas regarding social action, legal change and social reform were initially formulated by studying conditions specific to Western industrial societies. The socio-cultural consequences of globalisation over the last three decades have, however, affected the relationship between state, law and society, blurred sharply drawn distinctions between the West and the rest of the world and transformed the socio-cultural setting within which legal regulation is devised and social reform planned. This paper asks to what extent socio-legal research has reconsidered its theoretical premises regarding the relationship between law, state and society to grasp the new social and cultural forms of organisation specific to global societies of the 21st century. This objective is pursued in four parts. Part One sketches the intellectual origins of SL and describes its scope and paradigmatic openness. Part Two presents SL partly in relation to social sciences and partly in relation to law and legal studies, briefly examining some of the central debates within the field. Part Three draws attention to the asynchronous development of SL across various countries, asking why the main body of socio-legal research continues to be produced in Western countries. This part considers various factors which might cause this imbalance and also asks if socio-legal theories that are born out of studies of Western industrialised societies are suitable for examining law and social order in non-Western contexts. Part Four concludes the paper by arguing that the socio-cultural consequences of globalisation erode the traditional boundaries of law and legal systems, hybridise legal cultures and create new conditions for legal regulation.}},
  author       = {{Banakar, Reza}},
  keywords     = {{cultural hybridisation; legal pluralism; social engineering; regulation; public policy; law; state; social reform; socio-legal; sociology; methodology; interdisciplinarity; industrialisation; globalisation; modernity; reflexivity; welfare state; late modernity}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2011}},
  publisher    = {{International Sociological Association (ISA)}},
  series       = {{Sociopedia.isa}},
  title        = {{Sociology of Law}},
  url          = {{http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1761466}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}