title: The Law and Society Reader II
author:  Erik Larson 
description: "<em>The Law &amp; Society Reader II </em>offers academics, students, and the general public a diverse, comprehensive window on some of the most innovative interdisciplinary scholarship on law produced in recent decades. It highlights how the field has become globalized and increasingly aware of the ways in which consciousness infuses legality. The <em>Reader </em>provides an accessible introduction to those new to the field and an indispensable overview for others already familiar with particular facets."-Richard Abel,editor of <i>The Law &amp; Society Reader</i>, 1995<br /><br />"<em>The Law &amp; Society Reader II </em>is a cornucopia of knowledge and insight on the biggest questions in the sociolegal tradition. Co-editors Larson and Schmidt have done a fabulous job selecting, organizing, editing, and introducing many of best articles over the last two decades into an invaluable resource for researchers and teachers. Every serious sociolegal scholar needs to have this volume."-Michael McCann,Gordon Hirabayashi Professor for the Advancement of Citizenship, University of Washington<br /><br />An important antidote to the still dominant approach in law schools that teaches legal doctrine via isolated appellate opinions. This book puts law, lawyers, and legal institutions in their social and cultural context. Larson and Schmidt provide an engaging follow-up volume to Rick Abels groundbreaking 1995 reader, effectively excerpting recent articles from the leading socio-legal studies journal, the <em>Law &amp; Society Review</em>.-Laura E. Gomez,University of California, Los Angeles<br /><br />"In this volume Larson and Schmidt have creatively captured the spirit and diversity of law and society research published over the last 20+ years."-Herbert M. Kritzer,editor, <i>Law &amp; Society Review</i>, 2003-07<br /><br />"Offering a stunning collection of disciplinarily diverse, cutting-edge research . . . this collection describes the way law works as a system of ideas, as a source of social identity, and as a force of social organization, inequality, as well as equality and social change. . . . The anthology will be very useful for students seeking access to this flourishing field of scholarship at both the graduate and undergraduate level, and others who simply want an overview of how law works."-Susan S. Silbey,Leon and Anne Goldberg Professor of Humanities, Sociology and Anthropology, MIT
zlib_text:  
  The Blackwell Companion to Law and Society. Sarat, Austin (ed). Blackwell Publishing, 
  2004. Blackwell Reference Online. 25 May 2007 
   
   
   
  Preface 
  The invitation to put together a one volume “companion” to a field as diverse as “law and 
  society” was, as one could readily imagine, both exciting and daunting. Taking up this 
  invitation provided a wonderful opportunity to survey the field, and to renew my acquaintance 
  with the range of work being done in it and the wonderful scholars doing that work. Editing 
  this volume was a re-education in itself. But the very range and diversity of scholarship posed 
  a substantial challenge. What to include? What not to include? How to represent the breadth 
  of theories, methods, and perspectives found in the law and society community? 
  These were formidable challenges. Despite the hard choices, inevitable omissions, and shades 
  of emphasis, I am satisfied that The Blackwell Companion to Law and Society does a 
  reasonable job in providing a guid