Social Context and Social Location in the Sociology of Law

The sociology of law in the 1990s encountered uncertain terrain. The reconsideration of questions of race, class, and gender have destabilized traditional discourses of the previous 30 years. Global economic politics, restless divisions within both nation and state, and increasing demands from the marginalized have nearly paralysed the possibility for traditional theory to address the very real and serious problems faced by increasing numbers of people. The work in this text represents an evolving body of critical analysis of the law and its social context. Moving from Gayle MacDonald's overview of the traditional discourses of the sociology of law and the promise of critical theory, contributing authors offer insights into the effect of social context on the formation of law and the ways in which the particularlities of social location bear on the application of law and resistance to it.