Law and Society Association

Law and Society Association is an international organization of scholars, judges, lawyers, and policy makers dedicated to the study of law and its relationship to society, as examined by Émile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Karl Marx. The association's work is influenced by the ideas of Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, and Jurgen Habermas, among others, and is connected to the fields of sociology of law, anthropology of law, and critical legal studies, as developed by Stuart Hall, Bryan Stevenson, and Catharine MacKinnon. The Law and Society Association is affiliated with other organizations, such as the American Sociological Association, the American Bar Association, and the International Sociological Association, and has collaborated with Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, and the University of California, Berkeley.

● History

The Law and Society Association was founded in 1964 by a group of scholars and practitioners who were interested in the interdisciplinary study of law and society, including Philip Selznick, Harry Kalven Jr., and Jerome Skolnick. The association's early work was influenced by the Civil Rights Movement, the Women's Liberation Movement, and the Anti-War Movement, and was connected to the work of Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Gloria Steinem. The association's history is also tied to the development of critical legal studies, a movement that emerged in the 1970s and was influenced by the work of Duncan Kennedy, Mark Tushnet, and Katharine Bartlett. The Law and Society Association has also been shaped by the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and has been influenced by the work of Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson.

● Organization

The Law and Society Association is a non-profit organization that is governed by a board of trustees, which includes scholars and practitioners from a variety of fields, such as sociology, anthropology, history, and law, including David Garland, Sally Engle Merry, and Michael McCann. The association has a number of committees and task forces that focus on specific areas of interest, such as access to justice, human rights, and globalization, and has collaborated with organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Human Rights Watch. The Law and Society Association is also affiliated with other organizations, such as the International Association of Law Schools, the European Association of Law and Society, and the Asian Law and Society Association, and has worked with institutions such as the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and the Australian National University.

● Membership

The Law and Society Association has a diverse membership that includes scholars, judges, lawyers, and policy makers from around the world, such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor. Members of the association come from a variety of fields, including sociology, anthropology, history, and law, and are connected to institutions such as Harvard University, Stanford University, and the University of Chicago. The association also has a number of student members who are interested in the study of law and society, and has collaborated with organizations such as the National Science Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Members of the Law and Society Association are also affiliated with other organizations, such as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the British Academy.

● Annual Meetings

The Law and Society Association holds an annual meeting that brings together scholars, judges, lawyers, and policy makers from around the world to discuss the latest research and developments in the field, as examined by Karl Popper, Immanuel Kant, and John Rawls. The annual meeting features panels, workshops, and plenary sessions on a variety of topics, including access to justice, human rights, and globalization, and has been attended by dignitaries such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Angela Merkel. The meeting is also an opportunity for members to network and collaborate with one another, and has been hosted by institutions such as the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Michigan, and the New York University.

● Publications

The Law and Society Association publishes a number of journals and books that are dedicated to the study of law and society, including the Law & Society Review, which is one of the leading journals in the field, and has been edited by scholars such as Richard Abel, Austin Sarat, and Susan Silbey. The association also publishes a number of book series that focus on specific areas of interest, such as access to justice and human rights, and has collaborated with publishers such as Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and the University of Chicago Press. The Law and Society Association's publications are widely read and cited by scholars and practitioners around the world, and are connected to the work of institutions such as the Library of Congress, the British Library, and the National Library of Australia.

● Awards

The Law and Society Association presents a number of awards each year to recognize outstanding contributions to the field, including the J. Willard Hurst Award, which is given to a scholar who has made a significant contribution to the study of law and society, and has been awarded to scholars such as Stuart Hall, Bryan Stevenson, and Catharine MacKinnon. The association also presents the Stanley Cohen Award, which is given to a scholar who has made a significant contribution to the study of human rights, and has been awarded to scholars such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Law and Society Association's awards are highly prestigious and are recognized by institutions such as the Nobel Prize Committee, the Pulitzer Prize Board, and the MacArthur Foundation.

Category:Social sciences