Research Handbooks in Law and Society series – serie

This comprehensive Research Handbook surveys the landscape of civil justice through a global and interdisciplinary lens. World-leading experts provide insight on law's shortcomings, the gap between aspiration and achievement, and the unmet needs of those who have been failed by the legal system as well as a hopeful vision for attaining justice.Chapters illustrate that the civil justice system is not a single entity but a multifaceted network of institutions and practices. They explore how civil justice is both a highly diverse and dynamic enterprise but also a broader social justice objective aimed at understanding, addressing and expanding the capacities of institutions to address civil wrongs. Presenting distinct perspectives on the field, contributors discuss theories and methods for studying civil justice and identify key avenues for future research.The Research Handbook on Civil Justice is an essential resource for scholars of comparative law, law and society, as well as the law of obligations and injuries. It is also beneficial for civil justice practitioners, policymakers, and foundation and trade associations interested in civil justice.

This timely Research Handbook offers significant insights into an understudied subject, bringing together a broad range of socio-legal studies of medicine to help answer complex and interdisciplinary questions about global health - a major challenge of our time.Interdisciplinary chapters explore both how the terrain of medicine can generate new questions about law, regulation and the state, and how the law intersects with health and medicine at every level. Bringing together leading international scholars, the Research Handbook assembles concrete case studies to suggest avenues for further research on socio-legal inquiries, such as the construction of disorders by law, the reparation of injuries, and how race and gender impact justice.The Research Handbook for Socio-Legal Studies of Medicine and Health will be an inspiring read for researchers, academics and graduate students in the fields of health law, socio-legal studies, and gender and sexuality.Contributors include: P. Arcidiácono, J. Barbot, L. Barrera, E. Bernheim, E. Brennan, B. Can, E. Chiarello, É. Cloatre, V. De Greef, N. Dodier, A. Doll, J. Edwards, A.-M. Farrell, J.A. Hamilton, R. Harding, J. Harrington, H.R. Hlavka, C.W.-L. Ho, K. Hoeyer, I. Iyioha, M.-A. Jacob, V. Karavas, A. Kirkland, J. Metzl, D. Moore, C. Morrill, L. Mulcahy, S. Mulla, T. Phillips, J. Piemonte, R. Singh, M. Suchman, M. Thomson, S. Westwood

This innovative and thought-provoking Research Handbook explores not only current debates in the area of gender, sexuality and the law but also points the way for future socio-legal research and scholarship. It presents wide-ranging insights and debates from across the globe, including Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Australia, with contributions from leading scholars and activists alongside exciting emergent voices.Chapters address a range of current arguments and issues, providing an enhanced theoretical framework and evolving understanding from a variety of feminist and queer perspectives. Relationship recognition debates and LGBT activism and scholarship are examined and discussed, as well as questions around bodily autonomy, kink identities, pornography and healthcare access rights. Research exploring the lived experiences of people facing challenges such as domestic violence, asylum, femicide and hate crime is also assessed.This Research Handbook will be an invaluable resource for researchers and students in the fields of law, sexuality and gender, as well as family studies, sociology, media and cultural studies, and medicine. Activists will also benefit from its scholarly insight into key policy debates and future strategy. Contributors include: L. Adler, C. Ashford, R. Auchmuty, A.A. Baboolal, R. Barberet, J. Cabrera, R. Collier, S. Cowan, T. Crofts, M. Duggan, P. Dunne, A. Dymock, S. Falcetta, D. Fenwick, H. Fenwick, S. Ferris, S. Gloppen, R. Harding, R. Hewer, A.C. Infanti, P. Johnson, M. Judge, U. Khan, C. Kitzinger, A. Kondakov, K. Lalor, T. Liu, A. Maine, C. McGlynn, M.F. Moscati, T. Mundy, A. Powell, L. Rakner, F. Renz, J.M. Scherpe, A. Schuster, S.M. Schuster, N. Seuffert, F. Simkiss, B. Simpson, D. Smythe, E. Tascioglu, F. Vera-Gray, M. Weait, S. Whittle, S. Wilkinson, G. Zago

In this timely Research Handbook, leading legal scholars join forces with political scientists to discuss court adjudication in common and civil law systems. Chapters cover topical problems and debates in judicial studies and examine the institutional framework within which judges operate.Developing a multi-disciplinary analysis that combines legal, socio-legal, and political science perspectives, this Research Handbook explores the transformation of the justice system, adopting a contextual approach to court adjudication. Expert authors explore the use of generative AI, normative expectations about judgement-making and the effect on inclusive or responsive judging, and the role of court presidents, judicial associations, and judicial councils. Ultimately, the Research Handbook advances the understanding of the judiciary by highlighting elements of the justice system that are conducive to trust and judicial legitimacy, while suggesting avenues for further research.The Research Handbook on Judging and the Judiciary is an essential reference for socio-legal scholars and students of law and society. Constitutional lawyers, political scientists engaged in research concerning the judiciary, judges and other stakeholders in the justice reform sector would also benefit from the discussions in this important resource.

This unique Research Handbook maps the historical, theoretical, and methodological concepts in sociology of law, exploring the rich and complex nature of this area of research. It argues that sociology of law flourishes due to its strong capacity for interdisciplinary engagement and links to other scientific concepts, methodologies and research fields.Composed as a set of enquiries into the current state of sociology of law, expert contributions cover diverse themes such as inequality and discrimination, crime and punishment, and social justice. Reflecting on recent publications in law and society, socio-legal studies and interdisciplinary law research, the Research Handbook revisits the specific role of sociology of law, its disciplinary boundaries and its relationship to both legal and social sciences.The comprehensive nature of the Research Handbook on the Sociology of Law will appeal to law and social justice practitioners and scholars, as well as students in legal and social science fields who are looking to understand current trends and future research in the discipline.

The study of law and social movements provides an ideal lens for rethinking fundamental questions about the relationship between law and power. This Research Handbook takes up that challenge, framing a more global, dynamic, reflexive, and contextualised phase of social movement studies.Featuring international and interdisciplinary contributions, chapters focus on democratic and authoritarian rule, social movement strategies, identities, social positions, and the relationship between narratives and power. This Research Handbook not only asks why movements succeed or fail, but more broadly how law and movements become conduits for entrenching or resisting power. Calling for novel approaches to law and social movements scholarship, it provides an expansive range of case studies on the topic, and grapples with questions of governmental regimes, power, and social change.This interdisciplinary Research Handbook will be of great value to sociologists, political scientists, and other sociolegal scholars with an interest in global perspectives on social movements, democracy, and authoritarianism. It will also be a relevant read for policymakers, activists, and legal professionals.

This interdisciplinary Research Handbook brings together leading scholars from different disciplines to explore art, culture and heritage law, their definition, protection and contestation. It critically assesses legal frameworks and ethical practices through four challenges: sustainable development, intergenerational equity, decolonisation and cultural rights.Adopting both a theoretical and practical approach, contributors debate the key areas in art, culture and heritage law, including the nature of cultural heritage, ethics and the art market, the development of international norms on the protection of cultural heritage, repatriation and its consequences, trafficking in peacetime and the intentional destruction of heritage and looting in wartime. Chapters discuss the significance of provenance research from both legal and ethical perspectives, outlining the changeable nature of heritage objects and the connections they can forge. This Research Handbook ultimately underscores the significance of cross-disciplinary research and public participation in cultural and heritage issues, drawing insights from law, criminology and sociology.The Research Handbook on Art, Culture and Heritage Law is a valuable resource for scholars and students of law, particularly those interested in the evolution of art and cultural heritage law. It is also a necessary read for those in related fields such as criminology, archaeology, museology and cultural studies.

Presenting diverse understandings of the origins and development of social welfare law, this globally informed Research Handbook embraces the inherent contradictions and complexities within the field. It emphasises the importance of ethical research and inclusivity and recognises the value of historical and contemporary methodologies.The Research Handbook on Social Welfare Law illustrates the breadth and depth of modern welfare research, examining approaches that challenge the traditional boundaries of social assistance in practice. Contributors, including those from the Global North and South, explore timely and fascinating case studies, including an analysis of social insurance in India, constitutionalism in South Africa and social care in the UK. They cut across varied legal and social contexts, informing future research on a global scale.This Research Handbook is crucial for academics and researchers focusing on social policy, particularly its patterns, histories and futures. It will provide rich rewards for students of law, social welfare and public policy.

Situating legal ethics in relation to classical sociology of law themes, this astute Research Handbook investigates ethics as a contested set of professional rules designed to protect clients and serve the public, revealing how they operate in action to shape lawyers’ relation to state and market power.Expert authors discuss how legal ethics can reflect and legitimate structural inequalities in the legal profession and wider society, exploring their institutionalization within specific social and political contexts. They assess the consequences of ethics enforcement on stratification and access to justice, as well as the influence of ethics in larger conflicts over democracy, authoritarianism, and the rule of law. The Research Handbook presents a broad range of global perspectives through empirical studies covering the institutionalization of legal ethics in South Africa, feminist lawyering in Turkey, the ethics of Christian lawyers in Australia, and the development of professional standards in European courts, among others. Based on this innovative work, the book provides a framework for understanding the sociology of legal ethics that distinguishes it from other research in the field by placing the social role of ethical rules and their enforcement at the centre of study.Scholars and students of law and society, legal ethics, sociology and sociological theory will greatly benefit from this compelling Research Handbook. Providing empirical insights into how lawyers understand and practice ethics in their daily work lives, and how ethics can serve to check abuses of government power, it is also an essential resource for practitioners and policymakers.

Bringing together current research from a diverse range of jurisdictions on family law, the Research Handbook on Family Justice Systems addresses the aims and boundaries of family justice systems. Delineating the common purpose of family law to achieve fairness for groups of people who live or have lived together, this Handbook is concerned with the rules referred to as ‘family law’, but also with the institutions comprising the operating system.This Handbook presents the view that a Family Justice System (FJS) is a living entity, working with and for a wide range of beliefs and practices, comprising far more than a set of rules and regulations, which can respond to a changing society, while also contributing to that change. Looking specifically at the FJS as an important and evolving element in the organisation of a society, with which sociologists, as well as lawyers and family sociologists are concerned, it explores how an FJS works in practice, what it tries to do and why. With contributions from the US, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Poland, Japan and China, this Research Handbook is an internationally relevant and comprehensive work. The Research Handbook on Family Justice Systems examines FJS in practice, making it highly pertinent to researchers, academics, practitioners, government lawyers, policymakers and government administrators in the fields of sociology and law with a special interest in family law and the FJS.

This Research Handbook presents a kaleidoscopic view of law and psychology as a multidisciplinary field of study and explores major themes at the intersection of these two scholarly traditions. Adopting an expansive approach, it examines important topics including theories of justice, morality, and legitimacy; social norms; system justification theory; and the role of emotion within law.Featuring contributions from a diverse array of expert academics, this Research Handbook showcases a number of sophisticated methodologies including field research, survey work, and novel statistical analyses. It explores not only how psychological research can affect legal doctrine and theory but also how legal doctrine and theory ought to influence psychological research. Individual chapters survey key areas such as jury decision-making, eyewitness testimony, false confessions, juvenile justice, and the role of social science research and standards of proof in the courtroom. Recently developed perspectives on law and psychology are also critically examined, demonstrating how decision-making processes can play a variety of roles in legal contexts.Thought-provoking, innovative, and authoritative, this Research Handbook will prove indispensable to academics, researchers and students in law and social and behavioral psychology. Legal practitioners looking to better understand the close relationship between law and psychology, which both take human behavior as their fundamental and core concern, will similarly benefit from this important resource.

The Editors of the volume, together with expert contributors from Australasia, Canada, Europe, UK, US, and elsewhere, adopt an interdisciplinary approach to the study of law, society and ageing to improve understanding on key issues in these fields. Organised thematically, chapters examine issues such as law, ageing and human rights; specialist legal services for older people; work and pensions; access to justice; health and wellbeing; care and support. Written in an accessible style, the Research Handbook on Law, Society and Ageing recognises diversity amongst older people and their various social contexts, showcasing debates on how these complexities should be addressed.Broad in scope and including contributions from a wide range of social, legal, gerontological, health, social welfare and social work disciplines, this Research Handbook is invaluable for scholars and practitioners in law, health, and social care. Activists and those interested in advocating for the rights of older people will also find the wide-ranging topics to be highly informative.