Jurisprudence and Socio-Legal Studies
Review of a book: Cotterrell R. Jurisprudence and Socio-Legal Studies: Intersecting Fields. New York; London: Routledge, 2024, 252 p.
Abstract
The review examines the main ideas of the newest book by Professor Cotterrell aimed at showing key points of intersection and common interest of jurisprudence and socio-legal studies, which are otherwise typically considered as distinct fields. It reflects and draws on the author’s work in these areas almost five decades. The book’s author discusses the issue of the division between Is and Ought, arguing in jurisprudence and other social sciences this division does not prevent interdisciplinary research. Theoretical jurisprudence should, according to Professor R. Cotterrell, go beyond abstract schemes and reasoning, beyond formal conceptual and doctrinal analysis. The schemes and concepts developed by legal science should be based on social reality and, moreover, reflect the diversity of this reality, which in the legal sphere finds its expression in legal pluralism. The book begins from exploring theoretical issues surrounding the enterprise of socio-legal research, its current scope, and its historical traditions, and directly compare juristic theory and socio-legal inquiry. Further, the reviewed book analyses the works of Ehrlich and other important founding fathers of legal sociology who offered important insights for socio-legal inquiry. The concluding chapters explore the history of interactions between jurisprudence and socio-legal research, and show points of convergence between these fields are increasingly important today. A main aim of the book is to show the current urgency of broadening juristic and social scientific interests in law.
References
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