Seguendo come un'ombra il diritto. Riflessioni sull'impiego dello shadowing nella sociologia del diritto

The article intends to reflect on the application of the ethnographic technique called “shadowing” in the field of sociology of law. While adopting an empirical approach, this tool is particularly appropriate to understand social actors’ behaviour and to re-construct the complex network of interconnections between law and society. Starting from an analysis of the distinctive features of “shadowing”, this paper will present a summary of the findings resulting from a period in the shadow of a labour judge in an Italian court. The article aims to enhance an extended debate about the most appropriate qualitative research techniques to study the legal operators’ activities.