Academic

Tamanaha on Galanter on Law and Social Ordering

By Lawrence Solum

Brian Z. Tamanaha (St. John's University - School of Law) has posted A Holistic Vision of the Socio-Legal Terrain (Journal of Law and Contemporary Problems, forthcoming 2008) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

This brief essay articulates a thoroughly social perspective on law and legal institutions, a perspective reconstructed from the work of Marc Galanter. It shows how the place of law in society can be understood by attention to two "hemispheres" - the official legal system and the realm of social ordering-and their interpenetration and interaction. It lays out several core themes in socio-legal studies going back several decades, noting Galanter's seminal theoretical contributions, and argues that these themes remain central to an understanding of law and society.

Brief and recommended.

Full post as published by Legal Theory Blog on August 20, 2008 (boomark / email).