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Moving From Integrative to Constitutive Theories of Law: Comment on Itzkowitz

NCJ Number
115723
Journal
Law and Society Review Volume: 22 Issue: 5 Dated: (1988) Pages: 963-967
Author(s)
C B Harrington
Date Published
1988
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article distinguishes between Stuart Henry's integrative theory of law and Itzkowitz's assessment (NCJ-115721) of this theory, followed by the author's own view of the debate.
Abstract
Henry's 'Private Justice' examines disciplinary practices in various workplace settings in the context of theoretical debates about the relationship between social structure and human agency, on the one hand, and the relationship between formal and informal law, on the other hand. The book challenges scholars to rethink how these relationships are conceptualized in a wide range of sociolegal theories, and it examines the organization of 'private justice' or nonstate law in workplace discipline. Itzkowitz affirms that Henry shows that 'existence' of private justice but argues that Henry's integrated theory of law is limited. He questions the utility of legal pluralism as a methodology or basis for integrated theory, and he is skeptical of the value of approaches that deconstruct relations of social control as opposed to those that predict which forms of law will prevail under certain social conditions. Itzkowitz wants an integrated theory of law that can predict which factors are likely to determine the form of law. 5 references.

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