Book Review: Law and Society in a Populist age

Law and Society in a Populist age wants to be an answer to the rise in populism worldwide, as well as to the increasing role of technology and economics.

Israeli-American sociologist Amitai Etzioni edited previous work, even changing some previously-published essays extensively, in order to create this book published by Bristol University Press.

At the base the readers will find the law and society discipline, a movement that explains legal phenomena in social terms and of which the 89-year-old professor is a follower.

Etzioni examines what he calls «specific sources of alienation», such as the privatization of force and the concentration of private power. He adds that a major reallocation of power is needed, requiring a social change.

The author goes on to explore the concept of the common good and another up-to-date topic, the tension between privacy and security.

Even Brexit is seen in view of the rise of populism all over Europe, while technology and its rising importance is analysed in part four of the book.

Etzioni leads the Communitarian Network, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to support the moral, social, and political foundations of society.