Journal of Law and Society The Leading British Periodical for Socio-Legal Studies
Centre of Law and Society The Home for Socio-Legal Resources and Activities

About the Journal

The leading British periodical for Socio-Legal Studies

Aims

The Journal of Law and Society has been the home for challenging, authoritative and topical contributions to socio-legal studies since its establishment in 1974 at Cardiff University.

The Journal is committed to publishing interdisciplinary research from a range of legal cultures as well as theoretical and methodological perspectives.

It is particularly interested in promoting meaningful contributions to contemporary socio-legal issues and concerns, such as challenges to democratic processes, constitutional development, human rights, civil participation, access to justice, and the contemporary role of legal education within a changing society.

As such, the journal appeals to legal researchers and practitioners as well as sociologists, criminologists, and other social scientists.

Socio-legal scholars have an important role to play in addressing social issues and contemporary challenges… and the JLS continues to be a vehicle for scholarship which has something special to say about the issues of the moment.”

Phil Thomas Founding Editor The Journal of Law and Society at 40

History

The story of the JLS is closely linked with that of socio-legal studies in the UK.

Both the Journal and socio-legal studies more broadly were conceptualised as spontaneous alternatives to the Law School establishment, its pedagogy, and its ideology.

Established in 1974 at Cardiff University, the Journal sought to open up something radically different to the many existing doctrinal journals that were available at the time. The JLS has integral and historical links with the broader community of socio-legal scholarship, including the Socio-Legal Studies Association, whilst also seeking to make its own contribution to this community. Top of its agenda has always been first class scholarship; quality alternative scholarship, expanding our understanding of law in society.

Today, the Journal’s authors and readership are truly international. The Journal now has quarterly issues with additional Special Issues discussing topics such as the intersections of law, science, technology and science; economic globalization and ecological localization; and the reconceptualization of regulation in the era of globalization. Recently, the Special Issues have been replaced by in-house Special Supplements based on work coming out of the Centre for Law and Society at Cardiff University, with which the Journal has a strong working relationship. The Journal has been at the forefront of socio-legal thought for decades with a noticeable shift to a more interdisciplinary focus, critically examining the intersectional relationship between academic disciplines.

1974

The Journal of Law and Society is Established

Publishing just two issues in its first year, the Journal was launched under its original title, The British Journal of Law and Society, which was ultimately replaced by the Journal of Law and Society in 1982.

1984

The Growth of the Journal

As its reputation grows within academia and legal practice, the Journal expands in both size and frequency, increasing to three and then quickly to four issues per year.

1986

The JLS Board

The editorial board has expanded rapidly since its early days, but it has always retained a strong representation from Cardiff Law School. Left to right, back row, Derek Morgan, Mike Levi, Philip Thomas, Penny Smith, Clive Unsworth, front row, Richard Lewis, Phil Fennell, David Burnet, Pauline McDonald.

1994

20 years of the JLS

After two decades, the Journal provides a key indication of how socio-legal scholarship developed between the mid-1970s and the mid-1990s. With increasing prominence of contributions on the theory and history of law, a wider range of “core” topics such as land, regulation, commercial, and intellectual property, the Journal demonstrates a steady growth in the breadth of topics that are beginning to be addressed from a socio-legal perspective.

1995

Launch of the Big Books Series

The Big Book Series provides contributions from notable authors that speak to major books that influenced them during their career. It began with an article contributed by Stewart Macauley, entitled Crime and Custom in Business Society.

2005

An Increasingly International Journal

With a growing shift from physical to online subscriptions, the Journal grows in prominence around the globe, with over half of its downloaders currently based overseas and a rapid increase in Journal contributions from outside the UK.

2015

The Centre of Law and Society is established

The Centre of Law and Society established a transnational research hub bringing together a diverse community of legal scholars, social and political scientists. Often working closely with the Journal, the Centre sponsors and promotes a number of research streams consisting of lectures, conferences, seminars, and postgraduate workshops to promote research excellence in socio-legal studies and sociology of law.