The Study of Law in Society in Britain

Abstract

In 1968 Renato Treves and J.F. Glastra van Loon edited Norms and Actions, a book of essays by indigenous scholars describing “law and society” research in their countries. No account of work in Britain was included, probably because there was so little activity in the field at that time. Yet only eight years later remarkable changes seem to have occurred. Courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level have proliferated; the number of empirical research projects is expanding; new centers and institutes have been established, series of books and a specialist journal have been launched, and financial and institutional support is provided by the universities, research councils, and through governmental initiatives. Not too long ago Lon Fuller (1967:1) suggested that the growth of interest in studying the operation of the law in American society had “come to assume the proportions of something like an intellectual movement.” Some commentators are tempted to perceive recent British developments in like fashion. But whatever the truth of Fuller's analysis of the American setting, it is dangerous to apply it to the situation in Britain. It would be reassuring to think that British academics simply discovered (rather later than elsewhere) a novel field of inquiry and boldly set out to explore it, and that the clamor of current activity indicates a vigorous beginning has been made. This would allow us to predict a healthy future and the rapid enhancement of our understanding of the nature and operation of law. It is just as plausible, however, to regard the current developments as fortuitous and perhaps transitional—the product of a curious concatenation of institutional, political and social influences.