Figurational Sociology of the Rule of Law: A Case of Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

AbstractThe rule of law is a juristic concept implying an image of an orderly society respecting the rights of individuals enforced by stable institutions. This image proved attractive in many parts of the world which have known little respect for individuals’ rights, notably in the Eastern and Central Europe after 1989. However, since 2010 in some of these societies, political forces have recently come to power whose actions challenge or undermine the rule of law. The crisis in Hungary and Poland is flagrant, but it is also imminent, for example, in Bulgaria and Romania. In this chapter, it is argued that Norbert Elias’s theory allows us both to theorise the rule of law as part of long-lasting social processes and to explain its crisis. The author proposes using Central and Eastern Europe as a laboratory for figurational sociology to make the case relatable for researchers studying the rule of law in other regions that have undergone systemic transformation.