Routledge Handbook of Socio-Legal Theory and Methods

Description

Drawing on a range of approaches from the social sciences and humanities, this handbook explores theoretical and empirical perspectives that address the articulation of law in society, and the social character of the rule of law. The vast field of socio-legal studies provides multiple lenses through which law can be considered. Rather than seeking to define the field of socio-legal studies, this book takes up the experiences of researchers within the field. First-hand accounts of socio-legal research projects allow the reader to engage with diverse theoretical and methodological approaches within this fluid interdisciplinary area. The book provides a rich resource for those interested in deepening their understanding of the variety of theories and methods available when law is studied in its broadest social context, as well as setting those within the history of the socio-legal movement. The chapters consider multiple disciplinary lenses - including feminism, anthropology and sociology - as well as a variety of methodologies, including: narrative, visual and spatial, psychological, economic and epidemiological approaches. Moreover, these are applied in a range of substantive contexts such as online hate speech, environmental law, biotechnology, research in post-conflict situations, race and LGBT+ lawyers. The handbook brings together younger contributors and some of the best-known names in the socio-legal field. It offers a fresh perspective on the past, present and future of sociolegal studies that will appeal to students and scholars with relevant interests in a range of subjects, including law, sociology and politics. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of contributors PART I: Approaching socio-legal studies 1. Socio-legal theory and methods: introduction The organisation of the handbook 2. Traditions of studying the social and the legal: a short introduction to the institutional and intellectual development of socio-legal studies Introduction Institutions of law and society Individual paths in law and society/socio-legal studies Conclusion References 3. Uses and abuses of socio-legal studies Introduction: origin stories—the field’s and mine “Good” uses of socio-legal studies: verifiable patterns of socio-legal behavior—ideas, empirics and policy “Misuses” (or lack of use) of socio-legal studies Implications: the limits of disciplinary thinking and acall for rigorous multidisciplinariety References Cases Cited 4. The why and how to of conducting a socio-legal empirical research project Introduction Why socio-legal? An approach to the staging of socio-legal research projects: the how Issues of wider relevance Conclusion Further reading References 5. Writing beyond distinctions How to write beyond distinctions Have we ever not been critical? What is the context of the law? Why do we all fail? Why must legal essays be disappointing? The essay as body? How many am I? What comes first, the idea or the writing? The responsibility of writing beyond distinctions What was the final distinction again? Further reading References 6. Doing critical-socio-legal theory Introduction Theory and critical-socio-legal theory Doing theory and unlimiting law Conclusion Further reading References 7. ‘Indefensible and irresponsible’: interdisciplinarity, truth and #reviewer2 Socio-legal studies as problematic Interdisciplinary problems in action: acase study Our paper Self-critique Reviewer 2: on “reality” and the purpose of scholarship Reviewer 2 and “legality” Reviewer 2 and the irresponsible authors Conclusion References 8. Ethical awareness and socio-legal research in the UK Introduction The codes The process Problems with research ethics, SLSA principles, and RECs Risky socio-legal work and ethical ‘refusal’ Conclusions: strategies and support for socio-legal researchers Recommended reading References 9. On objectivity and staying ‘native’: researching LGBTQI+ lawyers as a queer lawyer Introduction Difficulties achieving objectivity and benefits of membership: auditing, access, authority, and the problem of categories The problem of objectivity Presence in research Intersections Conclusion Further reading References 10. The politics of research impact: a Scottish case study Introduction: the impact agenda Research impact: challenges and obstacles Post-devolution Scotland: criminology and the politics of research impact Knowledge production and dissemination in hot and cold climates Knowledge production in acool climate: researching stop and search Knowledge dissemination in aheated climate Pathways to impact Conclusion and further reading Suggested further readings References PART II: Disciplinary and theoretical relationships 11. Law and sociology Introduction Law and sociology nexus Observational research in court The National Court Observation Study Reflections on research design Court observations and socio-legal research Conclusion Acknowledgements Suggested further readings References 12. Law and social psychology methods Introduction Research on legal negotiation and procedural justice Antecedents of procedural justice in legal negotiation: the instant project Future directions Appendix A Further readings References 13. Socio-legal studies and economics Introduction Socio-legal studies and law and economics Post-crash law and economics Conclusion Recommended reading References 14. Law and anthropology Introduction Anthropology and ethnography Acase study: law and anthropology in arefugee camp Identity and positionality Law, anthropology and the future of interdisciplinarity in the UK Further reading References 15. Doing ‘law in/and development’: theoretical, methodological and ethical reflections Introduction Sixty years of law and development scholarship: an overview of the field Reflections on ‘doing’ law and development today: asocio-legal study of natural resource-based development in Mongolia, and how it came about Identifying the theoretical, methodological and ethical stakes of research: what, how and why Conclusion: prepositions versus conjunctions and why they matter for socio-legal research in law and/in development Suggestions for Further Reading: Reference list 16. Qualitative data and the challenges of interpretation in transitional justice research Introduction Naming the unknowable: qualitative methodologies in transitional justice research Challenges as findings: reflecting on qualitative methods in transitional justice research field experiences Some reflections on unsettling “the expert” in transitional justice research Recommended further reading Reference List 17. Reading law spatially Legal geography Methodology within legal geography Reading law spatially Applying the method Conclusion: imaginative leaps References 18. Legal concepts in flux: the social construction of legal meaning Introduction: socio-legal approaches to the study of legal change Exploring changes in legal meaning: using discourse analysis Demarcating law-changing ‘discourse’: the autonomy of legal meaning How to approach case studies for discourse analysis– tracing change in legal meaning through the case of the ‘infiltrator’ in Israel Case study findings Conclusion Further reading References Laws Cases Legislative Committee Meetings 19. Feminist approaches to socio-legal studies Introduction Writing feminist judgments Feminist judgment projects as socio-legal methodology The wider socio-legal significance of feminist judgments Conclusion and further references Further reading References 20. Intersectionality as theory and method: human rights adjudication by the European Court of Human Rights Introduction Intersectionality, methodology and method: an overview Methods Intersectionality and international human rights The European Court of Human Rights reinforcing intersectional discrimination against visibly Muslim women Conclusion Further reading References PART III: Methodological choices 21. Encountering the archive: researching race, racialisation and the death penalty in England and Wales, 1900–65 Introduction Encountering the archive Sources of crime history The case of Lee Kun Reconstructing the Lee Kun case from the archives Reading race in the Lee Kun case Conclusion Further reading References 22. Law, the environment and narrative storytelling Introduction Narrative storytelling and environmental harm Law and narrative storytelling Narrative method, environmental harm and NGOs Case study: ClientEarth versus the UK government Narrative analysis Stage 1: basic case story Narrative analysis Stage 2: discourse level Stage 3: interpretative context Conclusion: narrative method, environmental harm and beyond Further reading References 23. Legal aesthetics as visual method Introduction Overview: law as avisual phenomenon Case study: Tom Kaczynski’s ‘White Noise’ Wider relevance: towards areflexive legality Further reading References 24. A content analysis of judicial decision-making Introduction An introduction to content analysis Lessons from our experience The value of the method Recommended reading References 25. Intellectual property, biotechnology and process tracing: applying political research methods to legal study Introduction: studying the politics of law-making Process tracing: explaining legal change Process tracing in socio-legal research: theoretical and methodological synthesis Improving the analysis: lessons learned and refining the approach Process tracing and socio-legal research: the broader implications Conclusions and further reading Suggested further reading References 26. Experiments in criminal justice contexts Introduction Experimental designs Statistical analysis Case studies Validity in experiments Limitations of experimental methods Afinal word Recommended reading list References 27. Legal epidemiology, evidence-informed law and administrative data: new frontiers in the study of family justice Introduction Epidemiology Legal epidemiology and evidence-informed law Unto the breach Conclusion Further reading References 28. Socio-legal approaches to online hate speech Hate speech: adefinitional challenge Methodological approaches to researching hate speech online Apractical example: studying hate speech around elections Conclusion Further reading References Index