Theory and Method in Socio-Legal Research - (Oñati International Law and Society) by Reza Banakar & Rosemary Hunter & Max Travers & David Nelken

About the Book

This book illustrates how a range of topics can be researched from a socio-legal perspective.

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"I found all 16 papers to be of high caliber, clearly written and organized, and this makes for engaging reading. Theory and Methods in Socio-Legal Research will doubtless prove fruitful for use in all courses in sociolegal studies, but particularly in those courses taught in British and American law schools that tend to ignore conceptual and methodological considerations." --A. Javier Trevino, Law & Society Review, Volume 41, Number 2

About the Author

Reza Banakar is a Reader in Law at Westminster University, London.
Max Travers is a Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Tasmania, Australia.

Reza Banakar and Max Travers have also edited An Introduction to Law and Social Theory published by Hart Publishing in 2002.