Issues in Law and Society

Catalog description

This course provides an introduction to the main themes and key debates in sociolegal research. Like the field of “law and society,” it is interdisciplinary, and our readings will span sociology, political science, philosophical jurisprudence, and legal scholarship. We will read a mix of canonical law and society readings, as well as more recent pieces. Among the themes we will focus on are: legal pluralism, legal consciousness, the meaning and nature of law, the persistent “gap” between “law on the books” and “law in action,” and the ambivalent place of law in political resistance and movements for social change.