Luhmann On Law and Politics Critical, Appraisals and Applications

Author: Michael King; Chris Thornhill
Publisher: Hart Publishing
ISBN: 9781841136240
Published In: February 2006
Format: Paperback , 216 pages
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
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A steadily increasing number of scholars across many different disciplines are now taking Niklas Luhmann's writings as a major theoretical source for their work. The collection of essays in this volume offers further evidence of this increasingly broad and enthusiastic reception of Luhmann, and it includes contributions from several distinct fields of inquiry - including social theory, political sociology, political theory, legal theory and social anthropology. It also marks a growing discrimination in the understanding of the complexity of Luhmann's ideas and a refined critical appreciation both of their breadth and of their limitations. Perhaps more than any other theorist in recent history, Luhmann's work has aroused extreme responses and stimulated diverse theoretical receptions. The publication of this book, however, is a clear indication that the preconditions of debate have been altered. Not every contributor to this volume can be described as a fervent supporter of Luhmann's theoretical approach, nonetheless all believe his vision to be original, fascinating and theoretically productive, and all thus insist that it warrants the committed and detailed consideration which this books offers.

Michael King is Professor in the School of Social Science and Law, Brunel University. Chris Thornhill is Professor of Politics at the University of Glasgow.

It is as much the way that an author's works are received as the works themselves which determines their importance. This collection edited by Michael King and Chris Thornhill makes worthwhile reading. This volume consists of highly diverse contributions concerning Niklas Luhmann's creative work. Certain of them are careful studies on this or that aspect of Luhmann's work, while others apply Luhmann's conceptual constructions in different settings. This book provides an opportunity to question the meaning and the range of Luhmann's output…

Luhmann represents, … a speculative revolution, and it is for this reason that he merits our attention.

Luhmann is one of the most important German sociologists of the second part of the 20th Century.

Hugues Rabault
Droit et Societé, No 65/2007