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Introduction

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Nobody's Law

Part of the book series: Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies ((PSLS))

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Abstract

Starting with a court case which provoked a wave of controversy, this study asks: how can we understand the erosion of legal legitimacy in cases like these? The chapter then discusses two different approaches to ‘legal consciousness’. The conventional (critical) approach focuses on why people—despite their criticism about the justice system—still turn to the law. It is argued that this approach has several important flaws. This study therefore follows an alternative (secular) approach and explores why people—because of their strong criticism—turn their back to law. The central narrative in this book is that the present public discontent with law and the justice system signals a process of ‘legal alienation’.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Rb. Limburg, 21 November 2014; ECLI:NL:RBLIM:2014:10041.

  2. 2.

    https://youtu.be/DNRTfhmDJ7g.

  3. 3.

    Retrieved from https://twitter.com, 24 November 2014 (anonymized by the author).

  4. 4.

    https://www.facebook.com/Petitie-tegen-de-120-uur-werkstraf-Pool-1551528541751061/.

  5. 5.

    https://www.rechtspraak.nl/Organisatie-en-contact/Organisatie/Rechtbanken/Rechtbank-Limburg/Nieuws/Paginas/4-vragen-en-antwoorden-over-het-vonnis-in-de-zaak-Meijel.aspx.

  6. 6.

    This book will focus on the ‘critical’ (or ‘hegemonic’) approach to legal consciousness, which has become the most popular and most influential approach in international law and society research. However, other researchers have also studied legal consciousness in relation to ‘identity’ and ‘legal mobilization’ (see Chua and Engel 2017; Engel 1998; McCann 2006).

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  1. Socio-Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Marc Hertogh

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  1. Marc Hertogh
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Hertogh, M. (2018). Introduction. In: Nobody's Law. Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60397-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60397-5_1

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