Third ISA Forum of Sociology (July 10-14, 2016)

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The Living Legacy of Leon Petrażycki's Legal Realism for Sociology of Law and Other Social Sciences

RC12 Sociology of Law (host committee)

Language: English

Leon Petrazycki is credited for being the unrecognized father of sociology of law (Podgórecki). His legal realism is still influential in Russia and Poland. Outside Slavic countries, though, Petrazycki’s legal realism is largely unknown, owing to the very few translations available in Western European languages. That is why scholars used to compare American Legal Realism with Scandinavian one, rather than also include Polish-Russian Legal Realism. 
Finally, the editors (Pattaro and Roversi) of the 12th volume of the influential Treatise of Legal Philosophy and General Jurisprudence have introduced the historiographical concept of Continental Legal Realism to comprise both European realisms. Moreover, in this treatise an extensive introduction is provided to the ideas not only of Petrazycki but also of his most faithful pupils Jerzy Lande and Max Lazerson. 
Petrazycki’s legal realism characterizes itself, among others, for a multi-level approach to legal phenomena (psychological and sociological), for the adoption of a quasi-phenomenological method for devising scientific concepts, and for a sharp distinction of three possible approaches to legal phenomena: (1) psychosociological, (2) legal dogmatic and (3) legal political. Petrazycki’s conceptions have proven influential in anthropology (Malinowski, Kurczewski) and sociology (Sorokin, Timasheff, Gurvitch).   
The goal of this session is not only to explore the Wirkungsgeschichte of PetrazyckiÂ’s legacy but also to compare and cross-fertilize it with classical phenomenology, Scandinavian legal realism, as well as with contemporary or classical approaches in sociology, anthropology, human ethology and psychology. Posters: