Law As a Social System (Oxford Socio-Legal Studies)

Modern Systems Theory Provides A New Paradigm For The Analysis Of Society. In This Volume, Niklas Luhmann, Its Leading Exponent, Explores Its Implications For Our Understanding Of Law. Luhmann Argues That Current Thinking About How Law Operates Within A Modern Society Is Seriously Deficient. In This Book He Lays Out The Theoretical And Methodological Tools Which, He Argues, Can Advance Our Understanding Of Contemporary Society And, In Particular, Of The Identity, Performance, And Function Of The Legal System Within That Society. In Systems Theory, Society Is Its Communications: They Are Its Empirical Reality; The Items That Can Be Observed And Studied. Systems Theory Identifies How Communications Operate Within A Physical World And How Different Sub-systems Of Communication Operate Alongside Each Other. Luhmann Uses Systems Theory To Address A Question Central To Legal Theory: What Differentiates Law From Other Parts Of Society? Unlike Conventional Legal Theory, This Volume Seeks To Provide An Answer In Terms Of A General Social Theory: A Methodology That Answers This Question In A Manner Applicable Not Only To Law, But Also To All The Other Complex And Highly Differentiated Systems Within Modern Society, Such As Politics, The Economy, Religion, The Media, And Education. This Truly Sociological Approach Offers Profound Insights Into The Relationships Between Law And All Of These Other Social Systems.--book Jacket. Introduction / Richard Nobles And David Schiff -- The Location Of Legal Theory -- The Operative Closure Of The Legal System -- The Function Of Law -- Coding And Programming -- Justice, A Formula For Contingency -- The Evolution Of Law -- The Position Of Courts In The Legal System -- Legal Argumentation -- Politics And Law -- Structural Couplings -- The Self-description Of The Legal System -- Society And Its Law. Niklas Luhmann ; Translated By Klaus A. Ziegert ; Edited By Fatima Kastner, ... [et Al.] ; With An Introduction By Richard Nobles And David Schiff. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.