Overview
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 volume he lays out the theoretical and methodological tools that, 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.In this volume, Luhmann uses systems theory to address a question central to legal theory: what differentiates law from other parts of society? However, 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.
Full Product Details
Author: Niklas Luhmann (, Prior to his death in 1998, Niklas Luhmann was Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Bielefeld University) ,
Klaus A. Ziegert (, Associate Professor of Jurisprudence in the Faculty of Law of the University of Sydney) ,
Fatima Kastner (, Associate Lecturer at the University of Hamburg Institute of Social Sciences) ,
Richard Nobles (, Reader in Law at London School of Economics and Political Science)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 16.20cm
, Height: 3.40cm
, Length: 24.20cm
Weight: 0.912kg
ISBN: 9780198262381
ISBN 10: 0198262388
Pages: 512
Publication Date: 25 March 2004
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
That a major volume bringing together his [Luhmann's] ideas has been made available in English is both very welcome and potentially influential Cambridge Law Journal ..an important analysis about the way in which law operates asa distinctive social system..the analysis of the book illuminates legal practice Cambridge Law Journal ..it is a 'must read' for serious scholars.. Cambridge Law Journal
Author Information
Prior to his death in 1998, Niklas Luhammn was Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Bielefeld University.
