"Law and Society" is the term for scholarship using a variety of social science methods to study law and legal institutions. The unique contribution of this approach is its focus on meaning-making as a mechanism of legal effect. A foundational assumption is the need to focus on law in action rather than solely on law on the books. Key law and society concepts, including legal consciousness, law as legality, organizational legalization and organizational politics elaborate how law operates in action through meaning making.

This paper identifies and discusses key concepts in the law and society approach, explains the way law influences public health through meaning-making, organizational politics, and fundamental causes, and identifies ways the law and society approach can expand the research agenda for law and public health research.

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Author:

• Robin Stryker, PhD, University of Arizona

The original publication is available on on the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN): http://ssrn.com/abstract=2041527