Foucault And Law : Towards a Sociology of Law As Governance

'An inspirational work that will change the way we think about the legal order.'  Professor Pat O'Malley, La Trobe University

'This lively and lucid book will do much to show the importance of viewing law as an aspect of governmentality.'  Professor David Garland, University of Edinburgh

When he died in 1984, Michel Foucault was regarded as one of the most profoundly influential philosophers of his day. Although the law itself never formed a central focus for Foucault, many of the principal themes in his writings are concerned with issues of governance and power that are of direct relevance to the study of law. And yet, until now, Foucault's work has attracted only fleeting attention from the legal academy.

Foucault and Law corrects this oversight. Opening with a lucid, critical and unpretentious account of Foucault's work, Hunt and Wickham map out a terrain of methodological and theoretical principals, providing the groundwork for a new sociology of law as governance.