This book presents a distinctive approach to the study of law in society, focusing on the sociological interpretation of legal ideas. It surveys the development of connections between legal studies and social theory and locates its approach in relation to sociolegal studies on the one hand and legal philosophy on the other. It is suggested that the concept of law must be re-considered. Law has to be seen today not just as the law of the nation state, or international law that links nation states, but also as transnational law in many forms. A legal pluralist approach is not just a matter of redefining law in legal theory; it also recognizes that law's authority comes from a plurality of diverse, sometimes conflicting, social sources. The book suggests that the social environment in which law operates must also be rethought, with many implications for comparative legal studies. The nature and boundaries of culture become important problems, while the concept of multiculturalism points to the cultural diversity of populations and to problems of fragmentation, or perhaps to new kinds of unity of the social. Theories of globalization raise a host of issues about the integrity of societies and about the need to understand social networks and forces that extend beyond the political societies of nation states. Through a range of specific studies, closely interrelated and building on each other, the book seeks to integrate the sociology of law with other kinds of legal analysis and engages directly with current juristic debates in legal theory and comparative law.

This pioneering book explores the intersections of law and culture at the International Criminal Court (ICC), offering insights into how notions of culture affect the Court’s legal foundations, functioning and legitimacy, both in theory and in practice.

Comparative legal studies are at last commanding the thoughts of contemporary jurists� Alice ES Tay. Drawing on an impressive ancestry in comparative law, the 22 contributions in this volume by authors from Asia, Australia and Europe go further in their complex conception of law and culture. They look at the new principles and concepts of a transnational, global law in new, multiple contexts and in diverse juxtapositions with new institutions and authorities. In an unplanned but cohesive pattern the individual contributions together open a fresh vision of the use and value of comparative legal studies for the assessment of the function and limitations of the law of a global society.

This volume addresses the pluralistic identity of the legal order. It argues that the mutual reflexivity of the different ways society perceives law and law perceives society eclipses the unique formal identity of written law. It advances a distinctive approach to the plural ways in which legal cultures work in a modern society, through the metaphor of the mirror. As a mirror of society, it distinguishes between the structure and function of legal culture within the legal system, and the external representation of law in society. This duality is further problematized in relation to the increasing transnationalisation of law. Based on a multi-level interpretation of the concept of legal culture, the work is divided into three parts: the first addresses the mutual reflections of social and legal norms that support a pluralist representation of internal legal cultures, the second concentrates on the external legal cultures that constantly enable pragmatic adjustments of the legal order to its social environment, and the third concludes the book with a theoretical discussion of the issues presented.

Mirosław Michał Sadowski is Lecturer at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland; Affiliated Researcher at the Centre for Global Studies, Alberta University in Lisbon, Portugal; Postdoctoral Researcher at CEBRAP – Brazilian Center of Analysis and Planning in São Paulo, Brazil; Research Assistant at the Institute of Legal Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland.

This ambitious book examines the historical, theoretical, and axiological foundations of European legal culture, and explores their practical impacts on current European law and legal ways of thinking in Europe. Including considerations about the history of law as well contemporary legal issues, the book consists of seven chapters authored by scholars from across the globe, from Italy to Taiwan. This volume shows that it is possible to speak of one European legal culture in terms of various countries’ common legal origins (Roman law, Greek philosophy, and medieval jurisprudence as the ius commune), while also discussing distinct national legal cultures and traditions in Europe. However, to understand the present day law and legal profession, it is necessary to go back to the values, theories, and thinkers which were influential in the progress of European law from ancient times to the 19th century. The book not only presents the theoretical and historical issues of European legal culture, but also acquaints the audience with the true axiological foundations of our contemporary legal institutions, and the methods of legal thinking in Europe. It is clear that many of our current legal concepts and institutions come from theorists such as Aristotle, Ulpian, Aquinas, Hobbes and Savigny. The book will be of particular interest to scholars and students of legal history, jurisprudence, and European law, especially in the context of the origins of European legal culture. Moreover, it will also appeal to all lawyers working in both the common law and the civil law traditions wishing to gain a greater understanding of European legal heritage.

Queer Theory: Law, Culture Empire takes up the instability of the label 'queer' in order to consider what queer theory can bring to an exploration of the confines and openings provided by law, culture, and empire.

The book relates the normativity of law to law's internal sociality and shows the multi-layered nature of legal normativity.

This volume cross-examines mainstream approaches to studying legal culture (e.g. those of Friedman and Blankenburg). It includes debates over the concept of legal culture and a variety of case studies of different legal cultures.

This exciting collection looks at the theory and practice of legal borrowing and adaptation in different areas of the world: Europe,the USA and Latin America, S.E. Asia and Japan. Many of the contributors focus on fundamental theoretical issues. What are legal transplants? What is the role of the state in producing socio-legal change? What are the conditions of successful legal transfers? How is globalisation changing these conditions? Such problems are also discussed with reference to substantive and specific case studies. When and why did Japanese rules of product liability come into line with those of the EU and the USA? How and why did judicial review come late to the legal systems of Holland and Scandinavia? Why is the present wave of USA-influenced legal reforms in Latin Amercia apparently having more success than the previous round? How does competition between the legal and accountancy professions affect patterns of bankruptcy? The chapters in this volume, which include a comprehensive theoretical introduction, offer a range of valuable insights even if they also show that the