Social theories of law and justice

Recommended Prerequisites

Basic skills in the field of social sciences are recommended. Considering that the seminars are lectured in English, it is a fundamental prerequisite that students have a knowledge of the English language that allows them an adequate comprehension and oral expression, as well as reading and interpreting academic texts. With regards to writing, students must have the appropriate skills to write in English, or Portuguese or Spanish.

Teaching Methods

Considering that the goals of this curricular unit include mapping approaches, theories and concepts and fomenting a critical interpretation, this curricular unit will switch between theoretical classes and debates among different professors and, within the possibilities, with national and/or international guests. In these debates, different approaches and perspectives will be presented. During these moments, student participation will be highly stimulated.

Learning Outcomes

General objective:

The general objective of this curricular unit is to map and critically discuss the main theoretical and epistemological debates in the sociology of Law and Justice.

Specific objectives:

1. promote the learn of key concepts and instruments of the Sociology of Law and Justice;

2. promote knowledge and critical understanding of the interactions among law, justice, society and politics;

3. promote an epistemological discussion on the studies of law and justice;

4. promote critical and articulated reading of classical and contemporary theory, both from North and South;

5. promote an interdisciplinary and comprehensive reading of law, focusing on the relations among law, humanities and science;

6. promote a comprehensive and critical reading on the different roles of law, namely as instrument of domination and social emancipation.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. Socio-legal studies, the sociology of law and justice, and the plurality of approaches

2. Classics, contemporaries and the criticism of the canon

3. What is law? The connections among law, justice, society and politics

4. The metamorphoses of modern law and its role in society

5. Sociology of law and interdisciplinarity

a) Sociology of law and science

b) Sociology of law and humanities

6. Modern law as an instrument of domination

a) Rationalisation, state and modern constitutionalism

b) Global constitutionalism

c) Law and capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy

d) Legality versus legitimacy

7. Law as an instrument of social emancipation

a) Subaltern constitutionalism and the law found on the street

b) Possibilities and limits of the transformative constitutionalism experiences

8. Challenges for the future of the sociology of law and justice: Can the law be post-abyssal?

Head Lecturer(s)

António Manuel Carvalho Casimiro Ferreira

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Assessment will be dynamic and bipartite: written work in English or Portuguese or Spanish (70%) and oral participation in class (30%): 100.0%

Bibliography

Banakar, R. & Travers, M. (Eds.) (2013). Law and Social Theory. Oxford: Hart Publishing.

Darian-Smith, E. (2013). Laws and Societies in Global Contexts: contemporary approaches. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Jasanoff, S. (Ed.) (2006), States of Knowledge. The Co-Production of Science and the Social Order, International Library of Sociology. London: Routledge.

Kapur, R. (2005), Erotic Justice: Law and the New Politics of Postcolonialism. Portland, Oregon: Cavendish Publishing.

Santos, B. de S. (2002), Toward a New Legal Common Sense: law, globalization, and emancipation. London: Butterworths.

Santos, B. de S. (2018), The End of the Cognitive Empire: the coming of age of epistemologies of the South. Durham and London: Duke University Press.

Sarat, A.; Anderson, M.; Frank, C.O. (2010), Law and the Humanities. An Introduction. New York: Cambridge University Press.