Module leader: Dr Rosie Harding
Module description:
Socio-Legal Theory introduces students to the key theoretical perspectives that support law and society research. The module will introduce students to the classical sociological thinkers that influenced the development of socio-legal research, sociological jurisprudence, American realism, structuralism and systems theory, critical perspectives, feminist legal theory and queer theory, the interpretive tradition, postmodernism and legal pluralism. Students will also be introduced to a range of key law and society texts, projects and writers, and encouraged to critically analyse socio-legal work.
Seminar topics:
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Introduction to Law and Society
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The emergence of law and society (classical sociologists, sociological jurisprudence, American realism)
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Structuralist approaches to law and society (structuralism, systems theory, consensus tradition)
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Critical perspectives on law and society 1 (critical theory)
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Critical perspectives on law and society 2 (ideology and legal consciousness)
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Interpretive approaches to law and society (symbolic interactionism, ethnomethodology, conversation analysis)
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Postmodernism and law (deconstruction, Foucault, governmentality)
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Feminist Legal Theory
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Queer Theory and Law
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Legal pluralism and Globalisation
Methods of assessment
Modules on the LLM programmes will be assessed in one of the following ways. As this website is set up in advance, it is not possible to specify which method of assessment will be implemented for each module.
Either:
Or
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One 3-hour written examination
If you'd like to find out how a module will be assessed in the forthcoming academic year please contact the LLM Programmes Administrator at Law-LLM@contacts.bham.ac.uk.