ABSTRACT
The line between law and society becomes difficult to detect. Law comes to be seen as “imbricated” within social practices or relationships or even as “constituting” social reality, in a way that poses problems for the previous style of research. For different images of law and society necessarily condition the strategies recommended for producing social change and the extent to which regulation of social activity is thought desirable or possible. This chapter discusses the theoretical issues raised by Stuart Henry’s attempt to revive pluralist thinking in the sociology of law. Henry tells that he is interested in the different forms of “social control” in each organizational setting, and describes how each expected mode of control is penetrated by alien forms of reasoning and external sources of discipline. Henry argues that the alleged structural influences that form such an important plank of correspondence theory represent no more than the imposition by theorists and agents alike of structure upon reality.
