The Sociology of Law potential : exploring its scientific landscape

• The Sociology of Law (SoL) is an island of investigation squeezed between two large academic territories: the legal and the social sciences. They represent different knowledge interests based on separate ontologies, which make the epistemologies incommensurable. Law is an open normative science using interpretative, deductive methodology, while sociology has an empirical ontology built on social science methodologies in epistemological respect. The theoretical discourse to try to integrate legal dogmatic and sociology must be regarded as a dead end (Banakar, 2003; Cotterrell, 2006; Nelken, 2009, chs. 10 and 11).). The same can be said about the inside/outside dichotomy in SoL (Banakar, 2002, p. 18). SoL has a territory of its own, which is huge and to a large extent undetected and unknown. The purpose of this article is to investigate this varied landscape that is the home turf of Sociology of Law and explore the Field's contribution to knowledge. What makes it a separate entity? What is its potential?

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Juridik -- Juridik och samhälle (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Law -- Law and Society (hsv//eng)

Keyword

law

Norm Science

norms

scientific landscape

Sociology of Law

TRAINS

TRAINS

law

Norm Science

norms

scientific landscape

Sociology of Law

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)