Foucault and Law: Towards a Sociology of Law As Governance

by Alan Hunt, Gary Wickham

Overview

'An inspirational work that will change the way we think about the legal order.' Professor Pat O'Malley, La Trobe University

'This lively and lucid book will do much to show the importance of viewing law as an aspect of governmentality.' Professor David Garland, University of Edinburgh

When he died in 1984, Michel Foucault was regarded as one of the most profoundly influential philosophers of his day. Although the law itself never formed a central focus for Foucault, many of the principal themes in his writings are concerned with issues of governance and power that are of direct relevance to the study of law. And yet, until now, Foucault's work has attracted only fleeting attention from the legal academy.

Foucault and Law corrects this oversight. Opening with a lucid, critical and unpretentious account of Foucault's work, Hunt and Wickham map out a terrain of methodological and theoretical principals, providing the groundwork for a new sociology of law as governance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780745308425
Publisher:	Pluto Press
Publication date:	01/20/1995
Series:	Law and Social Theory Series
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	5.32(w) x 8.46(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Professor Alan Hunt holds Chairs in Law and in Sociology at Carleton University, Ottawa and has published extensively on the critical legal studies movement

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PREFACE

PART 1 Michel Foucault: An Introduction

CHAPTER ONE: AN INTRODUCTION TO FOUCAULT;
I Meeting Foucault; II Foucault's Themes and Projects; II.1 Conditions of Possibility; II.2 Discourse, Discursive Formation and Episteme; II.3 Truth and Knowledge; II.4 Knowledge and Power; II.5 Power; II.6 The Problem of State Power; II.7 Discipline; II.8 The Problem of Disciplinary Society; II.9 From Discipline to Self-Discipline: From Power to Ethics; II.10 Government and Govermentality; II.11 Strategies, Programmes, Policies and Tactics; II.12 History, Archaeology and Genealogy III Foucault and Marxism IV Conclusion: The Problem of Modernity 

PART 2 Foucault and Law

CHAPTER TWO Law and Modernity;
I Introduction ; II Power and Law; III Sovereignty and Right; IV Discipline and Law; V Norms and Normalization;VI Law, Government and Governmentality; VII Foucault's Expulsion of Law; VIII The Destiny of Law 

CHAPTER THREE Critique of Foucault's Expulsion of Law; I Introduction; II Foucault's Imperative Conception of Law; III Sovereignty and Rights in Monarchical and Libera States; IV Beyond the Disciplinary Society Conclusion: The Dilemma of Freedom 

PART 3 Deploying Foucault for a Sociology of Law as Governance

CHAPTER FOUR Governance and its Principles; 
I Introduction; II A Basic Definition of Governance; III The Four Principles of Governance; IV Conclusion 

CHAPTER FIVE Law as Governance; I Introduction ; II The Four Principles of Law as Governance; III Conclusion 

CHAPTER SIX Method Principles for the Sociology of Law as Governance; 
I Introduction ; II The Four Method Principles of the Sociology of Law as Governance ; III Conclusion 

CHAPTER SEVEN Conclusion: The Sociology of Law as Governance at Work ; I Introduction; II The Police as a Topic for the Sociology of Law as Governance 

REFERENCES 
INDEX

Editorial Reviews

'An inspirational work that will change the way we think about the legal order.' Professor Pat O'Malley, La Trobe University 'This lively and lucid book will do much to show the importance of viewing law as an aspect of governmentality.' --Professor David Garland, University of Edinburgh

From the Publisher