Reconnecting law, economy and society in JLS and beyond

Abstract

This contribution discusses the continued relevance but changing appearance of research connecting law, economy and society in the socio-legal field. It uses the perspective of the Journal of Law and Society (JLS), which indeed seems to be a good place to start, as it kept the economy on the agenda throughout five decades of scholarly production so far. The development of socio-legal scholarship embracing the economic dimension is reconstructed in terms of ‘three generations’, which are linked with historical, realist and constructionist programmes coming to the fore at different times. The respective research paradigms and practices differ by their emphasis on ‘law in’, ‘law and’ or ‘law as’ in its relation to economy and society. This history and the present state of the field are illustrated with articles from the JLS and with regard to what our neighbours in law and economics were and are doing at the same time.