The Normal Order of Family Law
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19156759 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mark Henaghan (0000-0001-5983-1659, University of Otago, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 165-182 |
| Publication date | 2008-01-17 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Oxford Journal of Legal Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0143-6503 • E-ISSN: 1464-3820 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/ojls/gqm026 |
| OpenAlex | W1990427557 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
The title of this review article is a deliberate response to John Dewar's provocative article ‘The Normal Chaos of Family Law’.1 Dewar argues that ‘family law can be characterised as chaotic, contradictory or incoherent’2 and that this is normal because ‘family law engages with areas of social life and feeling—namely love, passion, intimacy, commitment and betrayal—that are themselves riven with contradictions or paradox’.3 For Dewar the main restraining force on the ‘chaos’ of family law is the ‘practices of legal and other professionals associated with its day to day interpretation, application and administration.’4 Whilst provocative, this account of family law is unsatisfying and unappealing. All law is about what particular lawyers and judges do in the particular case; there is always an interpretive element.5 At a deeper level, the ‘chaos theory’ distracts thinking from the development of a coherent theory of family law
Betrayal · Economics · Element (criminal law) · Family law · Feeling · Interpretation (philosophy) · Order (exchange) · Passion · Political science · Sociology · Conflict of Laws and Jurisdiction · Law · Legal principles and applications · Multicultural Socio-Legal Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Citations per year | 0.18 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2015 - 2018 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |