How do legal systems influence societies’ political, economic, religious, and cultural institutions? And how, in turn, is the law shaped by these broad social forces? What effects do their interactions have on criminal justice outcomes, identities, and power relations experienced personally, nationally, and globally? This course examines the relationship between Law and Society, rather than treating law as a fixed system of rules, we examine it as a lived and contested social phenomenon.

To address these questions, the course is divided into three sections. We begin with an introduction to the theories and debates surrounding Law and Society, equipping ourselves to analyze how laws are created, interpreted, and enforced, and how they influence and are influenced by social forces such as politics, economics, and culture.

Over the following two sections, we turn to substantive issues where these social forces shape both responses to crime and the development or contestation of rights within and between societies. We will explore how influences within states, embodying particular ideologies and values, react to societal concerns and attempt to regulate behavior. Specific issues include crime policy and legislation, policing strategies, surveillance and privacy, criminal justice reform, immigration, and crime.

We will also investigate how the law functions between ideologically and culturally diverse states as they attempt to advance (or resist) transnational legal norms to address common challenges, including international human rights, transnational, cyber, and environmental crimes, as well as security and the impact of technology. We conclude by reflecting on the future of national and global legal systems and how this future will affect us individually and collectively.