Theory and Method in Socio-Legal Research

Socio-legal researchers increasingly recognise the need to employ a wide variety of methods in studying law and legal phenomena, and the need to be informed by an understanding of debates about theory and method in mainstream social science. The papers in this volume illustrate how a range of topics, including EU law, ombudsmen, judges, lawyers, Shariah Councils and the quality assurance industry can be researched from a socio-legal perspective. The objective of the collection is to show how different methods can be used in researching law and legal phenomena, how methodological issues and debates in sociology are relevant to the study of law, and the importance of the debate between "structural" and "action" traditions in researching law. It also approaches the methodological problem of how sociology of law can address the content of legal practice from a variety of perspectives and discusses the relationship between pure and applied research. The editors provide a critical introduction to each of the six sections, and a general introduction on law, sociology and method. The collection will provide an invaluable resource for socio-legal researchers, law school researchers and postgraduates.>

About the author

Reza Banakar is Professor of Socio-Legal Studies at the Department for Advanced Legal Studies, School of Law, University of Westminster and the Director of Research at the Centre for Legal Sociology at Lund University.Max Travers is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania.

Product details

• Authors: Reza Banakar, Reza Travers Banakar, Max Travers
• Assisted by: Reza Banakar (Editor), David Nelken (Editor), Dr. Max Travers (Editor), Max Travers (Editor)
• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 19.12.2005
• EAN: 9781841136264
• ISBN: 978-1-84113-626-4
• No. of pages: 392
• Dimensions: 156 mm x 234 mm x 20 mm
• Series: Onati International Series in Law and Society; Onati International Series in; Onati International Series in Law and Society; Oñati International Series in Law and Society; Oñati International Law and So
• Subject: Social sciences, law, business > Law > General, dictionaries