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1 Windsor Y.B. Access Just. 35 (1981)
The Gap Problem in the Sociology of Law: A Theoretical Review

handle is hein.journals/windyrbaj1 and id is 61 raw text is: THE 'GAP PROBLEM' IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF LAW: A THEORETICAL REVIEW David Nelken* Mr. Nelken describes how the 'gap problem' was originally formulated and why it came to be displaced under the brunt of theoretical criticisms. He argues that such attacks were exaggerated and that the 'gap problem' could serve as the starting point of investigation provided that claims about law were themselves treated as a source of data. Mr. Nelken describes how similar concerns remain part of the hidden agendas of supposedly more theoretical enquiries and that this is now admitted. He then suggests how the 'gap problem' could be reformulated so that it could take its place as an element of some of the most lively contemporary theoretical approaches to law, both Marxist and non-Marxist. More generally, the author's theoretical review has important implications for the conventional division of labour between 'socio-legal studies' and the 'sociology of law'. Le probleme de 1'6cart dans la sociologie du droit: un compte rendu theorique M. Nelken ddcrit de quelle faVon le probleme de l'cart (gap problem )futformu'd 0 l'origine et la raison pour laquelle ilfut ddlog0 sous le poids de critiques thgoriques. Il affirme que de tels assauts 6taient exaggrs et que le 'probleme de l'cart pourrait servir de point de dpart d l'enquete pourvu que les affirmations au sujet du droit soient elle-memes consid&es comme une source de donndes. M. Nelken demontre que de semblables preoccupations font partie du programme cachJ d'enquotes supposdment plus thdoriques et que cela est maintenant avoud. I! suggere ensuite comment le probleme de '&art' pourrait 9tre reformul6 afin d'etre reconnu comme un 61,ment des plus vigoureuses mdthodes thdoriques contemporaines d'aborder le droit, aussi bien marxiste que non- marxiste. En termes gdn'raux, le compte rendu th'orique de l'auteur a d'importantes implications pour le partage des tfches entre les 6tudes socio-juridiques et la sociologie du droit. 1. Introduction: Socio-legal Studies and Sociology of Law According to the conventional wisdom, a prominent aspect of the present organisation of the sociology of law is the intellectual and sometimes also institutional division of labour between those who draw on sociology to improve their understanding of the workings of law and those who are *Lecturer, Department of Jurisprudence, University of Edinburgh. (1981), 1 Windsor Yearbook ofAccess to Justice

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