The Disorder of Law

A critical examination of contemporary theories of law, which encompasses an alternative theory of law and its interaction with the societal systems of which it forms a part. Beginning with the common association of Law with system and order, Charles Sampford questions whether the Law is in any meaningful sense a legal system. Finding little real theoretical support for this assumption, he constructs an alternative, non-systematic theory of Law, incorporating insights from other, most particularly sociological, theories. He aims to show how such a non-systematic theory can advance understanding of how the Law operates and how variations are generated and sustained.