European Legal Cultures in Transition

Provides a novel methodological approach to the study of popular and professional legal culture within the European context.

Åse B. Grødeland (Author), William L. Miller (Author)

9781107050358, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 24 July 2015

590 pages, 1 b/w illus. 141 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 3.2 cm, 0.95 kg

'On the whole, the book is well written and clear, in spite of the complexity of the authors' theoretical framework. It furthers in many ways the understanding of the processes of convergence and divergence of European legal cultures and provides convincing explanations of the causes of these processes that could be further developed in future studies.' Liviu Damsa, Europe-Asia Studies

Are national legal cultures in Europe converging or diverging as a result of the pressures of European legal integration? Åse B. Grødeland and William L. Miller address this question by exploring the attitudes and perceptions of the general public and law professionals in five European countries: England, Norway, Bulgaria, Poland and the Ukraine. Presenting new findings, they challenge the established view that ordinary citizens and people working professionally with the law have different legal cultures. Their research in fact reveals that the attitudes of citizens in Eastern and Western Europe towards 'law-in-principle' are remarkably similar, whereas perceptions of 'law-in-practice' differ by country and often correlate with GDP per capita and country ranking in rule of law indices. Grødeland and Miller's innovative methodological approach will appeal to both experts and non-experts with an interest in legal culture, European integration, or European elite and public opinion.

Preface
1. One European legal culture or several?
2. Concept/meaning of 'law'
3. Law in principle
4. Law in action
5. Perceptions of legal outsiders
6. Perceptions of legal insiders
7. Legal change and legal transfers
8. Muslims and Euro-migrants as carriers of legal culture
9. Balancing civil rights against a 'war on terror'
10. The role of religiosity in European popular legal cultures
11. A European legal culture?
Appendix: data collection.

Subject Areas: Legal history [LAZ], Comparative law [LAM], Law [L], Politics & government [JP], Sociology [JHB], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]