Legal consciousness and the sociology of labour law

Abstract

Building on recent calls to expand the field of empirical labour law research, this article seeks to delineate a special place for legal consciousness research within a new sociology of labour law. The idea that employment relations have become increasingly juridified has been used to justify important policy interventions such as reforms to the employment tribunal system, restricting the ability of workers to bring claims. Yet, we know remarkably little about work-related legal consciousness in order to assess the purported growth of 'litigiousness' in society and its implications for policy. This article provides an extended critique of a recent text in the field of legal consciousness studies, Nobody's Law by Marc Hertogh.1 What began as a straightforward review of Hertogh's book became a defence of an earlier, seminal work by Ewick and Silbey,2 which Hertogh seeks but ultimately fails to discredit. Ewick and Silbey's critical approach stands up well against close scrutiny. The debate centres upon issues of legal hegemony, and on epistemology and ontology in the sociological study of labour law.