Invitation to Law and Society
An Introduction to the Study of Real Law
Law and Society is a rapidly-growing interdisciplinary field that turns on its head the conventional, idealized view of the “Law” as a magisterial abstraction. Kitty Calavita’s Invitation to Law and Society brilliantly brings to life the ways in which law shapes and manifests itself in the institutions and interactions of human society, while inviting the reader into conversations that introduce the field’s dominant themes and most lively disagreements.
Deftly interweaving scholarship with familiar personal examples, Calavita shows how scholars in the discipline are collectively engaged in a subversive exposé of law’s public mythology. While surveying prominent issues and distinctive approaches to the use of the law in everyday life, as well as its potential as a tool for social change, this volume provides a view of law that is more real but just as compelling as its mythic counterpart. In a field of inquiry that has long lacked a sophisticated yet accessible introduction to its ways of thinking, Invitation to Law and Society will serve as an engaging and indispensible guide.
“Invitation to Law and Society is an excellent addition to the field. By using topical examples of social issues—filled with well-respected, high-quality examples of original empirical research—Kitty Calavita demonstrates the breadth and richness of the discipline. Refreshingly lucid, this book is a thought-provoking introduction to the touchstones of how and where ‘law meets society,’ as well as a fruitful resource that should be read through from start to finish.”--Laura Beth Nielsen, Northwestern University and the American Bar Foundation
“Invitation to Law and Society offers an insider’s guide to the law and society movement written by one of the most incisive and highly-regarded scholars in the field. Well-balanced with theories and examples, filled with key insights and helpful discussions, the book covers this legal movement and burgeoning discipline with great clarity and persuasiveness. Calavita writes as if she is taking part in a fruitful and engaging conversation with a trusted friend, challenging the reader to think hard about how law shapes, and is shaped by, its social context.”—Doris Marie Provine, Arizona State University and former director of the National Science Foundation’s Law and Social Sciences Program
Index
Law and Legal Studies: General Legal Studies | Law and Society
Sociology: Criminology, Delinquency, Social Control
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