Search

In my paper I will argue that the history and present state of sociolegal knowledge is inseparable from its institutional and cultural background. By tracing the changeful history of "Rechtssoziologie" (sociology of law or socio-legal studies) in the Federal Republic of Germany and its constant struggle for recognition within the academic institutions and the traditional legal systems (especially in legal education), I will try to show how mainstream academic discourses and their institutional power influence the way socio-legal knowledge is (and can be) produced. From the very beginning, the field of Socio-legal Studies in Germany had to struggle for academic recognition on "the borderline" between the disciplines. Despite rather hostile conditions, it succeeded in gaining recognition during the 1970s and 80s. While "grand theory" of law (esp. Luhmann and Habermas) became popular even amongst mainstream scholars, and socio-legal scholars were influential particularly in constitutional law settings and law-making processes (many of them have even become judges of the constitutional court), the field little by little lost its strength within the institutions and fell into a crises by the end of the 90s. Contrasting these developments with the formation and history of the Law and Society movement in the US, I will examine similar objections, but also effective strategies of institutionalizing socio-legal knowledge on the boundaries of disciplines and mainstream legal discourse. As a theoretical framework for my historical analysis, I endeavour to take an institutional approach towards the concept of "discourse" in the works of Michel Foucault. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]