Foucault and Law: Towards a Sociology of Law As Governance (Law and Social Theory)

When he died in 1984, Michel Foucault was regarded as one of the most profoundly influential philosophers of his day. Although the law itself never formed a central focus for Foucault, many of the principal themes in his writings are concerned with issues of governance and power that are of direct relevance to the study of law. And yet, until now, Foucault's work has attracted only fleeting attention from the legal academy. Foucault and Law corrects this oversight. Opening with a lucid, critical and unpretentious account of Foucault's work, Hunt and Wickham map out a terrain of methodological and theoretical principals, providing the groundwork for a new sociology of law as governance. 1. An Introduction to Foucault -- 2. Law and Modernity -- 3. Critique of Foucault's Expulsion of Law -- 4. Governance and its Principles -- 5. Law as Governance -- 6. Method Principles for the Sociology of Law as Governance -- 7. Conclusion: The Sociology of Law as Governance at Work.