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Zusatztext 'a fine collection of essays.' Klappentext This important collection of essays by a leading theorist attempts to re-locate the relationship between the traditional concerns of legal theory and the sociology of law by establishing a consistent approach to the analysis of law in contemporary Western societies. This new book is based upon previously published essays which have been extensively revised and updated! and includes new introductory and concluding chapters. It offers an important contribution to the study of law and social theory. Zusammenfassung Law's Community offers a distinctive analysis of law, identifying political and moral problems that are fundamental to contemporary legal theory. It portrays contemporary law as institutionalized doctrine, emphasizing ways in which legal modes of thought influence wider currents of understanding and belief in contemporary Western societies. Exploring relationships between law and sociology as contrasting and competing fields of knowledge, Law's Community develops ideas from social theory to identify key problems for legal development; in particular, those of restoring moral authority to law and of elaborating a concept of community that can guide legal regulation. The analysis leads to radical conclusions: among them, that law's functions need reconsideration at the most general level, that a unitary state legal system as portrayed in traditional kinds of legal theory may no longer be adequate in complex contemporary societies, and that law should be reconceptualized as a diverse but co-ordinated plurality of systems, sites, and forms of regulation. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface Part 1: Law and Sociology 1: Introduction - Analysing Law's Power 2: The Sociological Concept of Law 3: Law and Sociology: The Constitution and Confrontations of Disciplines 4: Sociology of Law in Britain: A Case Study 5: Sociological Perspectives on Legal Closure Part 2: Law in Social Theory 6: Law, Ideology, and Power: The Marxist Tradition 7: Legaliy and Legitimacy: The Sociology of Max Weber 8: Social Foundations of the Rule of Law: Franz Neumann and Otto Kirchheimer 9: Law, Morality, and Solidarity: The Durkheimian Tradition 10: Critique and Law: The Legacy of the Frankfurt School Part 3: Law, Power, and Community 11: Law's Images of Society 12: Feasible Regulation for Democracy and Social Justice 13: Legal Theory and the Image of Legality 14: Socio-Legal Studies: Between Policy and Community 15: Conclusion - Imagining Law's Community Bibliography and Index ...
