Niklas Luhmann's Theory of Politics and Law

by Michael King, Chris Thornhill

Niklas Luhmann's social theory stands in direct opposition to the dominant 'anthropocentric' traditions of legal and political analysis. King and Thornhill now offer the first comprehensive, critical examination of Luhmann's highly original theory of the operations of the legal and political systems. They describe how from the perspective of his 'sociological enlightenment' Luhmann continually calls to account the certainties, the ambitions and rational foundations of The Enlightenment and the idealized versions of law and politics which they have produced.

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Michael King (b.1942) is Emeritus Professor at the University of Reading, School of Law. He has also taught at Brunel Univerity (until 2006), Warwick University, SUNY (Buffalo), and at the European University Institute (Florence).