| THE COURSE PROVIDES THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS (METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL) FOR A SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO LAW. THE GENERAL ASSUMPTION IS TO CONSIDER LAW NOT ONLY AS RULE OR SYSTEM, AS MAINTAINED BY FORMALIST TRADITION, BUT ALSO AS COMPLEX SOCIAL PRACTICE, IN WHICH LEGAL RULES LIVE IN THE DISCOURSES OF VARIOUS OPERATORS, IN THEIR BELIEFS, CULTURES AND INTERESTS. THE COURSE WILL ADDRESS FROM THIS PERSPECTIVE SOME KEY ISSUES OF SOCIOLOGY OF LAW: THE RELATION BETWEEN SOCIAL INTEGRATION AND CONFLICT, THE CONCEPTS OF RULE AND SANCTION, THE CONCEPT OF LEGAL SYSTEM, THE CONCEPTS OF ‘DEVIANCE’ AND ‘NORMALITY’, THE GLOBAL TRANSFORMATIONS, THE LEGAL PLURALISM. THE SECOND PART OF THE COURSE WILL FACE THE ISSUE OF COMMONWEALTH, THAT IS NOW PROPOSED AS AN ALTERNATIVE (BOTH IN THE DISCOURSES OF JURISTS AND IN THE PRACTICES OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS) TO THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPHERE, AND THE CENTRALITY OF PROPERTY RIGHTS, TRADITIONAL CORNERSTONES OF THE MODERN LAW OF THE STATE. |
