Socio-Legal Studies Association


Where law meets social sciences & the humanities

Socio-Legal Studies in Germany and the UK: Theory and methods

LSI, Faculty of Law, Humboldt University Berlin

24 September 2019

The SLSA and Humboldt University Berlin’s Law Department hosted an international workshop to explore the different traditions of socio-legal studies in the UK and Germany. The workshop was held  at the Humboldt University’s Law and Society Institute (LSI). 

Please visit the website for full programme and registration.


The workshop had three core aims:

  • to consider how different academic traditions and institutional contexts have influenced the development of socio-legal research in Germany and the UK;
  • to scrutinise theoretical and methodological approaches with a view to exploring similarities and differences in both contexts; and
  • to start an initial dialogue among participants, and to publish the research resulting from these interactions with a view to forging closer ties across the German and UK socio-legal communities, and to facilitating future connections and collaborations.

To achieve these aims, the workshop reflected upon the similarities and differences between German Rechtssoziologie and socio-legal studies in the UK, with particular focus on the historical development of such ideas and approaches, as well as on identifying points of connection. It aimed to generate initial conversations between scholars in these communities and to foster the continuation of such conversations subsequent to this event. Using the themes space, time, text and image to organise the contributions, participants discussed the relevant methodologies, theories and concepts used in the shaping of contemporary socio-legal studies in Germany and the UK.

Building upon the success of the previous SLSA-sponsored one-day workshop on ‘Socio-legal studies/sociologie du droit: methods, traditions, theories in France and the UK’ (Paris 2018), this workshop enabled discussions of the key contemporary trends and approaches in both German and UK socio-legal contexts.

For further information, please contact one of the organisers:

  • Dr Jen Hendry (University of Leeds)
  • This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (University of Westminster) 
  • This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Humboldt University Berlin) 
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