Law and (De)Civilization (Special Issue)
(2024) HSR Historical Social Research — Vol. 49, n° 2 (2024)
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- Abstract
- In this thematic issue we will be challenging the view of law which can be called “naively functionalist”, which we argue prevails in continental socio-legal studies. It consists in thinking of law as “normally” beneficial for social integration, stability, and welfare, as well as for individual well-being and mental robustness of individuals. Law is envisaged as essentially functional, with any effects of law to the contrary being regarded and dealt with as “pathologies”. If law is associated with inequalities increasing, minorities being excluded, levels of frustration and aggression rising, or democratic institutions failing, this is understood as a malfunction of law’s normal operation which simply requires correcting. The contributing authors will be joining us in reflecting on the ways in which law is interlinked with both civilization and de-civilization. Our thesis is that law can be both functional and dysfunctional in the sense of contributing to both civilization and decivilization, not as a result of its malfunctioning, but owing to the intrinsic connection between law and social power. Thus, in questioning the naïve functionalist view of law from the Eliasian perspective, we contest the idea of any intrinsic connection between law and civilization, and we propose to shift the focus onto the relation between law and power, viewed in its historical context. In particular, we will focus on the interconnection of law and de-civilization and examine cases of law working against civilization. Our main focus will be on official, state-made law, and the reason for it is the insistence on the civilizing effect of state-formation in the Eliasian sociology: we want to look closer into what Norbert Elias referred to as the “Janus face” of the state as a default lawmaker of modernity (see Elias, Ludes 2013, Vaughan 2000, Delmotte & Majastre, 2017) but also identify the regional (e.g. European) and global frames in which new forms of law emerge and clash with the state regulatory power, with ambiguous civilizational outcomes.
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Bucholc, M., Canihac, H., Delmotte, F., Van Krieken, R., & et al. (2024). Law and (De)Civilization (Special Issue). HSR Historical Social Research, 49(2). https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/216431 (Original work published 2024)