Invitation to Law and Society, Second Edition - (Chicago Law and Society) 2nd Edition by Kitty Calavita (Paperback)

About the Book

Published in 2010 and with over 8,700 copies sold, Calavita s book has already established itself as the leading introduction to the field of law and society. Everyone has some idea of what lawyers do. And most people have at least heard of criminologists. But, who knows what law and society is? It is, in fact, a rapidly-growing interdisciplinary field which turns on its head the conventional, idealized view of Law as a magisterial abstraction. Rather than look at law-on-the-books, the field focuses on law-in-action how law both shapes and manifests itself in the institutions and interactions of human society. This formative theme runs through Kitty Calavita s engagingly and concisely written book. Intended to introduce students and curious outsiders alike to the field, the book uses a conversational style to survey the field s prominent issues and distinctive approaches, from the ubiquity of law in everyday life to its potential and limits in effecting social change. For the second edition, Calavita has made changes throughout the book. updating the many illustrations and anecdotes used to clarify concepts and theories, so they may more directly resonate with the contemporary reader. There is also an entirely new chapter introducing the reader to the law and cultural studies movement that has become increasingly prominent in the field."

Book Synopsis

Law and society is a rapidly growing field that turns the conventional view of law as mythical abstraction on its head. Kitty Calavita brilliantly brings to life the ways in which law is found not only in statutes and courtrooms but in our institutions and interactions, while inviting readers into conversations that introduce the field's dominant themes and most lively disagreements. Deftly interweaving scholarship with familiar examples, Calavita shows how scholars in the discipline are collectively engaged in a subversive exposé of law's public mythology. While surveying prominent issues and distinctive approaches to both law as it is written and actual legal practices, as well as the law's potential as a tool for social change, this volume provides a view of law that is more real but just as compelling as its mythic counterpart.

With this second edition of Invitation to Law and Society, Calavita brings up to date what is arguably the leading introduction to this exciting, evolving field of inquiry and adds a new chapter on the growing law and cultural studies movement.

Review Quotes

"A good broad-brush account of some of the best work in the field and some of the prevailing concerns of law and society scholars."-- "Social and Legal Studies"

"A well-published author in the field of law and society, Calavita discusses the most common types of contemporary law and shows that laws related to everyday life experiences affect all people. . . . Recommended."-- "Choice"

"Calavita expertly summarizes many of the central themes of law and society scholarship as they have developed over the past fifty years. . . . She makes her case crisply, in 150 entertaining and conversational pages."-- "Law and Social Inquiry"

"Calavita weaves together the results of highly regarded research with real-life examples to lucidly connect some of the divisive social issues confronting us today to that thing we call 'the law.'"-- "Law and Politics Book Review"

About the Author

Kitty Calavita is chancellor's professor emerita in the Departments of Criminology, Law and Society, and Sociology at the University of California, Irvine. She is the author, most recently, of Appealing to Justice: Prisoner Grievances, Rights, and Carceral Logic.