International Courts through a Sociological Lens

This chapter takes as its starting point the fact that law—both national and international—is informed and developed in society, and in turn helps to develop society. It examines how sociological approaches to the study of international courts and tribunals can enrich understandings of how these bodies function but also of international law more broadly. The chapter distinguishes sociological approaches from both legal and political science analyses, noting that the former focus on institutions in a broader sense as assemblages of practices within larger social fields or more generally as devices for ordering society. It introduces classical approaches to sociology, including interpretative sociology, structural formalism and systems theory, and Marxism and critical theory, highlighting how these approaches have provided a series of general studies of law and courts in society with considerable relevance for understanding international courts and society. The chapter then introduces more recent approaches, including the law and society movement and the study of transnational law. It highlights through this discussion how sociological approaches can give rise to different kinds of questioning which in some cases challenges widespread assumptions of what international courts are in the first place.