Law and Society

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.

Steven Vago was an integral part of the creation of an alcohol treatment program at Malcolm Bliss Hospital in St. Louis and became professor in the Department of Sociology at St. Louis University, where he taught for over 30 years. At the end of his teaching career in 2001, Professor Vago retired to Bellingham, Washington, with his wife, Kathe. Vago passed away in 2010, at the age of 73.

Steven E. Barkan is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Maine. His research and teaching interests include criminology, sociology of law, and social movements. In addition to his many publications in these areas, Professor Barkan is a past president of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP), served as chair of SSSP’s Law and Society Division, served on the council of the American Sociological Association’s Sociology of Law Section, and is a past president of the Textbook and Academic Authors Association.