German Association for Law and Society

The Association for Law and Society (VRuG) was founded in 1976 as the Association for the Sociology of Law. It promotes open dialogue between the legal and social sciences and aims, among other things, to help improve the interdisciplinary training of lawyers.

The original name of the association referred to legal sociology, i.e., the scientific study of the effects and meaning of law in society and the effects of society on law. Its historical roots in science in Germanyare associated with names such as Max Weber and Eugen Ehrlich. Since the 1950s, empirical legal research has developed in the Federal Republic as an important branch within the sociology of law. Internationally recognized theoretical work comes from, among others, Niklas Luhmann and Gunther Teubner. With its critical questioning of legal institutions, legal sociology has made a significant contribution to reforms in the judiciary and legal training.

In 2010 the association was renamed the Association for Law & Society. Legal sociology is understood today primarily in the sense of Anglo-American law and society research or socio-legal studies as an interdisciplinary and empirical legal enterprise. Research on law and society goes beyond classic sociological approaches and includes contributions from legal anthropology, economics, cultural studies, gender studies, political science, social psychology and others.

The association does not see itself as a classic university professors’ association, but offers a forum for everyone who deals with the relationship between law and society from the fields of law or other disciplines.