Law and Sociology Flashcards
What is meant by the social?
How law works in society itself=
- Deterrent
- Confirms power and relationships to power
- How justice actually operates
5 important academics on sociology
MARX WEBER DUKHEIM FOUCOULT HABBERMAS
How does MARX use law?
To understand and clarify the critique of capitalism -> it reproduces itself through law so indirectly influences all of society
What did MARX mean when he said the law has a capacity for ‘violence’
Not necessarily just physical violence:
- Ability to silence individuals who disagree with system by prison etc
- Has a monopoly on physical violence through institution such as the police
What did MARX think about the idea of human rights?
They were a hollow/imagined concept as under a capitalist system they only go as far as man as an individual, ‘egotistical man’
-> Can never offer true human emancipation whilst underpinned by capitalism
How did WEBER approach capitalism?
- In order for system to work it relies on a working class, likely to reject?
- Raises questions of AUTHORITY
What is the transition in authority in modern times?
- Previous reliance on charismatic leaders to legitimise ideologies
- Now we have the rational bureaucracy of a legal system, that regulates even those in power
WEBER’s 3 key providers of stability in society
i) Independent professional judiciary
ii) Separation of powers = checks and balance
iii) Legal legitimacy of democracy
What does DURKHEIM focus on in his sociological approach to the law?
Issues of individualism and its consequences = fragmentation of society
What does DURKHEIM mean by ‘fragmentation of society’?
- Rise of individualism as a response to constraints on working class
- Class divide and question of how societal bonds can be maintained when there is such a divide
What is DURHEIM’s only option to achieve social cohesion
Only can be done through secular morality
What other forms of social control does DURHEIM acknowledge?
Families, institutions, schools, workplaces
How does he compare law to reliogion?
Law is the new god, society as a whole no longer worships a god so worships itself instead
= the cult of the individual
How does FOUCOULT address law and power?
How society treats the law reflects how society perceives power
How does FOUCOULT suggest institutions are able to influence society?
- Institutions have influence over those in power, and those in power influence the law
- Institutions can indirectly influence law
