Contemporary socio-legal studies empirical and global perspectives

Abstract

This volume is part of a series of seminars, interviews and publications that the editors have been organizing in the endeavor of bringing a highly abstract and general theory of society – such as Niklas Luhmann’s social systems theory – closer to more detailed discussions concerning specific legal fields and problems, and linking empirical investigation to legal doctrines and theories. In this volume, we maintain the focus on systemic-theoretical approaches, but also invite a wider range of other contemporary socio-legal theories and methods. The reader is asked to find the contrasts and complementarities between these diverse viewpoints. The book is organized in four main parts: one presenting some theoretical and methodological discussions on how to couple sociological and legal theory with empirical research, under systemic approaches; the second one presents examples of empirical research adopting a socio-legal background to look to the legal, political and economic systems; a third one focuses on the problems of inclusion/ exclusion in contemporary society; the fourth and final session discusses researches concerning the legal process and legal organization.