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Paperback Law and Society Book

ISBN: 1032986875

ISBN13: 9781032986876

Law and Society

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Recommended

Format: Paperback

$138.41
Releases 2/27/2026

Book Overview

This new edition of the landmark text Law and Society exposes readers to the dominant theoretical perspectives and sociological methods that are used to explain the interplay between law and society. This thirteenth edition continues to preserve Professor Vago's voice, while Steven E. Barkan's use of chapter outlines and summaries, learning objectives, key terms, and additional readings maintains the text's accessibility for today's readers. The book's foundational approach is brought fully up to date with current events and new studies throughout that illustrate how legal forces shape and influence society, and vice versa. These additions include:

New coverage of key Supreme Court decisions post-2020, including the Dobbs decision that allowed states to ban or severely restrict legal abortions New discussion of police and social control Updated coverage of law and inequality, especially discussion of changes in affirmative action policies, the new bans and restrictions on legal abortions, and new state laws regarding matters of gender identity and of diversity, equity, and inclusion in education and business New coverage of the growing use of artificial intelligence by the legal profession and its impact on legal practice and outcomes Expanded discussion of the rule of law and recent threats to it in the political sphere Expanded discussion of the use of law by and against social movements Expanded discussion of common and civil law systems and their differences Expanded discussion of juries

The thirteenth edition of Law and Society is a cornerstone companion for one-semester undergraduate courses in Law and Society, Sociology of Law, and Introduction to Law offered within departments of Sociology, Criminal Justice, and Political Science.

Customer Reviews

3 ratings

It's good once you get past chapter 1

When I read chapter one, I thought I was reading a foreign language. I decided to read the summaries first at the end of each chapter. This made reading much much easier and the topic friendlier.

Good Beginer's guide

The book is well written and researched but is very preliminary and recommended for beginers. Its a great starter book to those who are not familiar but are interested in the law from a sociological perspective. The author writes well and has thorough research and provides references for further information but can be somewhat repetitive.

A job well done

This is an excellent textbook. The language is clear, the ideas well exposed, and the subject covered in a most satisfactory manner. The sixth edition I have read contains an extensive and very useful bibliography. I'd recommend it whoheartedly for undergraduate courses on the topic. Some minor criticisms: first, I would have liked the section on theoretical perspectives to be more extensive, while the chapter on methods seems to me to be superflous, at least for undergraduates. Second, at the bottom of page 232, the information give is confusing. It talks about tons, without specifying whether metric or not. Further, it uses ounces, pounds and kilos, all very unclear. Thirdly, the sections on the socialist system are obsolete, insofar as those systems have practically disappeared. And, yes, although the author claims, at the bottom of p.1 that he has followed an eclectic apporach, "without embracing or advocating a particular position, ideology, or theoretical stance", the truth is that I feel I detect a very subtle but, nonetheless recognizable, "leftish" leaning. But those are minor shortcomings, whcih shrink to nothing in comparison with the very positive achievements of the textbook. Kudos!
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