Society And Legal Change 2Nd Ed
eBook - PDF

Society And Legal Change 2Nd Ed

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Society And Legal Change 2Nd Ed

About this book

In this first U.S. edition of a classic work of comparative legal scholarship, Alan Watson argues that law fails to keep step with social change, even when that change is massive. To illustrate the ways in which law is dysfunctional, he draws on the two most innovative western systems, of Rome and England, to show that harmful rules continue for centuries. To make his case, he uses examples where, in the main, "the law benefits no recognizable group or class within the society (except possibly lawyers who benefit from confusion) and is generally inconvenient or positively harmful to society as a whole or to large or powerful groups within the society."

Widely respected for his "fearless challenge of the accepted or dominant view and his own encyclopedic knowledge of Roman law" (The Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing), Watson considers the development of law in global terms and across the centuries. His arguments centering on how societies borrow from other legal systems and the continuity of legal systems are particularly instructive for those interested in legal development and the development of a common law for the European Union.

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Yes, you can access Society And Legal Change 2Nd Ed by Alan Watson in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Criminology. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Contents
  2. Foreword by Paul Finkelman
  3. Preface to the Second Edition
  4. Preface
  5. Abbreviations
  6. Chapter 1: Introduction
  7. Chapter 2: Roman Law: the System of Contracts
  8. Chapter 3: Roman Law: Patria Potestas
  9. Chapter 4: Roman Law: Further Points
  10. Chapter 5: English Law: Real Property; Tenure and Registration
  11. Chapter 6: English Law: Libel and Slander
  12. Chapter 7: Wider Perspectives
  13. Chapter 8: Legal Scaffolding
  14. Chapter 9: Legal Transplants
  15. Chapter 10: Causes of Divergence
  16. Chapter 11: Some Conclusions
  17. Chapter 12: Study of Legal Development
  18. Index