Studying at York
Law & society - LAW00068M
Module summary
This module introduces students to some of the key topics and themes that have been studied within Law & Society scholarship – a body of social scientific research that has explored law’s functioning within society.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2024-25 |
Module aims
This module uses a participatory approach to introduce students to some of the key topics and themes that have been studied within Law & Society scholarship – a body of social scientific research that has explored law’s functioning within society. These key topics include: the emergence and resolution of disputes; the social reality of lawyering; judicial decision-making; regulation and enforcement; legal consciousness.
Students will take an active role in class discussions to move beyond an understanding of law as merely a system of rules and doctrines and, instead, critically analyse law as a social phenomenon – one that influences, and is influenced by, society.
Students, with appropriate support, will take turns to lead the seminars. In doing so, they will develop their ability to read critically, to develop their own ideas about law’s relationship to society, to discuss those ideas with students and staff, and, ultimately, to present those ideas in written form.
Module learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of this module, you should be able to:
Subject content
- Critically evaluate key ideas within Law & Society scholarship;
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of law’s functioning within society;
- Critically assess the development and purpose of law and its interrelationship with society and other disciplines;
Academic and graduate skills
- Lead discussions and present ideas for discussion;
- Identify, retrieve and discriminate among sources of information relevant to questions about law and society;
- Synthesise and analyse a variety of information sources to develop further knowledge, construct arguments, draw conclusions supported by appropriate authority, and evaluate the merits of alternative arguments.
Module content
The sorts of issues that you will encounter may include:
1. Emergence and Resolution of Disputes
2. Lawyers and Legal Work
3. Judicial Decision-Making
4. Courts and social change
5. Organisations and Law
6. Regulation and Compliance
7. Actor network theory and the analysis of legal processes
8. Legal consciousness
9. Legal pluralism
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Students will receive feedback on their Formative assessment (an essay plan) by the week 10 of the semester (allowing them to use this in preparing their Summative assessment). Feedback on their Summative Assessment will be given not more than 4 weeks after its submission. All feedback will be written with the opportunity for the students to follow this up in a one-to-one meeting.
Indicative reading
Cotterrell, R. (2002) ”Subverting Orthodoxy, Making Law Central: A View of Sociolegal Studies” Journal of Law & Society, vol. 29, no, 4, pp. 632–44
Cowan D. and Wincott D.(eds) Exploring the ‘Legal’ in Socio-legal Studies (London: Palgrave, 2016),
Kagan, R. A. (1995) “What socio-legal scholars should do when there is too much law to study” Journal of Law and Society, 22(1), 140-148
Larson E. and Schmidt P. (eds) The Law and Society Reader II (New York: NYU Press, 2014)
Vago S. and Barken S. Law & Society, 11th edition (Abingdon, Routledge, 2016)