Perhaps more than any other social theorist in recent history, Niklas Luhmann's work has aroused extreme, and often antagonistic, responses. It has generated controversies about its political implications, its resolute anti-humanism, and its ambitious critique of more established definitions of society, social theory, and sociology. Now, however, a steadily growing number of scholars working in many different disciplines have begun to use aspects of Luhmann's sociology as an important methodological stimulus and as a theoretical framework for reorientating their studies. This collection of...

This volume brings together scholars and practitioners from the US and Europe specializing in juvenile justice alongside scholars from Africa and Asia who are working on human rights issues in developing countries or countries in transition. The book presents two types of papers: descriptive and analytical academic papers on whole systems of juvenile justice or aspects of those systems (aftercare, restorative justice, etc.), and papers which deal with efforts to promote reform through international activity and through efforts to utilize modern theory in national reforms in developing...

This volume brings together scholars and practitioners from the US and Europe specializing in juvenile justice alongside scholars from Africa and Asia who are working on human rights issues in developing countries or countries in transition. The book presents two types of papers: descriptive and analytical academic papers on whole systems of juvenile justice or aspects of those systems (aftercare, restorative justice, etc.), and papers which deal with efforts to promote reform through international activity and through efforts to utilize modern theory in national reforms in developing...

Recent developments in the European integration process have raised, amongst many things, the issue of linguistic diversity. This is regarded by some as a stumbling block to the creation and sustainability of a European democratic polity and to the fair working of its legal and social institutions. The 'question of language, ' in this sense, concerns the nature and role of public communication and public discourse, both as sources of information and understanding, and as modes of legitimacy in law and politics. Its solution involves an understanding of the role played by natural languages as...

Recent developments in the European integration process have raised, amongst many things, the issue of linguistic diversity. This is regarded by some as a stumbling block to the creation and sustainability of a European democratic polity and to the fair working of its legal and social institutions. The 'question of language, ' in this sense, concerns the nature and role of public communication and public discourse, both as sources of information and understanding, and as modes of legitimacy in law and politics. Its solution involves an understanding of the role played by natural languages as...

Across the world, political liberalism is being fought for, consolidated, and defended. Nations that have never enjoyed a liberal political society are constrained or inspired by international institutions to create one. Nations that have advanced towards and then retreated from political liberalism are pressed to regain lost ground. Nations that have recently shifted from authoritarian to liberal political systems are encouraged to lock in the transition through institutions and constitutions. Mature democracies are being encouraged to recover diminished freedoms in the face of terrorism and...

This collection is the first comparative and interdisciplinary study of constitutional politics and constitution-making in the Middle East. The historical background and setting are fully explored in two substantial essays placing the contemporary experience in the contexts, respectively, of the ancient Middle Eastern legal and political tradition, and of the 19th- and 20th-century legal codification and political modernization. These are followed by a general analysis of the treatment of human rights in relation to Islam in Middle Eastern constitutions, as well as a comparative scrutiny of...

This book examines the phenomenon of crafting transnational policing, defined as the different forms of engagement in policing reform by international donors, national governments, foreign police, and law enforcement agencies in the domestic policing agencies and programs of recipient countries. It includes peacekeeping in post-conflict situations, reconstruction and capacity building as part of nation- or state-building exercises, and the provision of technical assistance in relation to certain aspects of law enforcement. In each instance, there is a cross-border provision of resources with...

Can there be such a thing as a European sociology of law? The uncertainties which arise when attempting to answer that straightforward question are the subject of this collection, which also overlaps into comparative law, legal history, and legal philosophy. The richness of approaches reflected in the essays - including comparisons with the US - show the present state of socio-legal studies in Europe and map directions for its future development. Certainly we already know something about the existence of differences in the use and meaning of law within and between the nation states and groups...

In comparing existing research on Eastern and Central Europe, Central Asia, and Latin America, it is clear that legal developments in East and South Asian societies are somewhat under-researched. What this book contributes to the debate is an -area study- - interdisciplinary research pertaining to a particular geographical or cultural region. The region discussed here presents an ideal testing ground for legal pluralism, and for economic, cultural, and political influences on the role of law in development. The 'developmental states' of Asia are regarded as refuting both Latin American...