Emile Durkheim: Law in a Moral Domain

Stanford University Press, October 1999

Posted: 16 Aug 1999

See all articles by Roger Cotterrell

Roger Cotterrell

Queen Mary University of London, School of Law

Abstract

'Emile Durkheim: Law in a Moral Domain' is the first book in English devoted to a comprehensive examination of the legal ideas of this classical social theorist. It sets out radically to challenge standard accounts of these ideas, drawing on a wide range of writings by Durkheim and his co-workers (including much material never translated into English). The book presents his legal thought as a unified, highly original and hitherto unjustly neglected contribution to the understanding of modern law. Durkheim seeks to uncover the moral foundations of Western law: he explains in relation to such fields as criminal, contract, property, succession, industrial and family law, the values that must underpin modern regulation, justifying these sociologically in terms of law's tasks and its historical development. The book also surveys the work of jurists who were closely involved in Durkheim's sociological project, but are little known in the common law world. Durheimian legal theory, according to this book's argument, is a rich, multi-facetted enterprise which, until now, has lacked proper recognition: more generally, many standard criticisms of Durkheim's sociology as a whole need substantial reconsideration in the light of his work on law.

Suggested Citation

Cotterrell, Roger, Emile Durkheim: Law in a Moral Domain. Stanford University Press, October 1999, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=171878

Roger Cotterrell (Contact Author)

Queen Mary University of London, School of Law ( email )

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London, E1 4NS
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+44 (0)207 882 3936 (Phone)
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