Spring 2008

Successive sections of this course will focus on: classical theoretical contributions to the sociology of law; selected chapters in modern sociology of law; and a useful selection of empirical themes of law and law-related processes and structures to which the sociological theories will be applied. These empirical topics include, but are not necessarily limited to: law and economy; law and politics; law and culture; social structure and law; legality and legitimacy; the legal profession; law and inequality; and globalization and law. Many of the required readings for this course are primary sources (written by sociologists and/or actual examples of sociological research) to allow for an in-depth study of selected sociological perspectives. 

Prerequisites: The lectures, readings, and assignments for this course are extensive and of the highest academic rigor and sociological expertise. This course is primarily designed for sociology majors and minors at the senior and junior levels, but other students with sufficient background knowledge in relevant issues are welcome to sign up. This is not a course in law, but in the sociology of law. Participation in this class requires some background knowledge in sociology, especially in sociological theory. A necessary prerequisite for this course is any sociology 300-level course or consent of the instructor. Graduate and law-school students who wish to take this course must consult the instructor prior to enrolling in the course. 

Course Evaluations: My course evaluations are available from the Student Pages. 

Please note that the syllabus for this course is only handed out in class. 

Part I. Theoretical Foundations of the Sociology of Law

1) Law and the Rise of the Social Sciences
2) Max Weber on the Rationalization of Law
3) Emile Durkheim on Law and Social Solidarity

4) The Theoretical Move Towards the Sociology of Law
5) From Sociological Jurisprudence to Sociology of Law
6) Sociology of Law and the Antinomies of Modern Thought

7) Law and Economy: The Regulation of the Free Market
8) Law and Politics: The Role of Democratic Law
9) Law and Integration: The Legal Profession
10) Law and Culture: The Balance of Values Through Norms

11) Social Control: The Enforcement of Law
12) The Globalization of Law

BOOK

Mathieu Deflem. 2008. Sociology of Law: Visions of a Scholarly Tradition. Cambridge University Press. 

REQUIRED ARTICLES

These articles are all available online. Some of the readings can only be accessed from University servers or by proxy (USC) in Netscape, or by adding the following prefix to every linked article in a database to which a subscription is required: pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/login?url= e.g. http://www.jstor.org/ becomes http://pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/login?url=www.jstor.org/

Printing JSTOR articles: click on the article title, then click on PDF and print! 

Marx, Karl. 1846. Selection from The German Ideology: “The Relation of State and Law to Property.” Online from the Marxists.org Internet Archive. [only pp. 11-15 of the online text].& Marx, Karl. 1869. “Report of the General Council on the Right of Inheritance.” Online from the Marxists.org Internet Archive. 

Pound, Roscoe. 1943. “Sociology of Law and Sociological Jurisprudence.” The University of Toronto Law Journal 5(1):1-20.

Chambliss, William J. 1964. "A Sociological Analysis of the Law of Vagrancy." Social Problems 12(1):67-77.

Nonet, Phillipe. 1976. "For Jurisprudential Sociology." Law & Society Review 10(4):525-545.

Black, Donald. 1972. “The Boundaries of Legal Sociology.” The Yale Law Journal 81:1086-1100. 

Sandefur, Rebecca L. 2001. "Work and Honor in the Law: Prestige and the Division of Lawyers' Labor." American Sociological Review 66(3):382-403.

Deflem, Mathieu. 1998. “The Boundaries of Abortion Law: Systems Theory from Parsons to Luhmann and Habermas.” Social Forces 76(3):775-818. 

Deflem, Mathieu. 2006. "Global Rule of Law or Global Rule of Law Enforcement? International Police Cooperation and Counter-Terrorism." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 603:240-251.