A New Social Constructionism for Sociolegal Studies

In this essay I make a case for what I call a “moderate” and also an “empirically grounded” social constructionist approach, which I conceptualize as a further development of numerous strands of a longstanding and rich tradition. I argue that this approach, one I see as emergent now in cross-disciplinary work like that presented in this Symposium, can help to move scholarly discourse past the impasses posed by dichotomous, either/or thinking about law, society, and epistemology. To orient those unfamiliar with the pertinent scholarship, I begin with a sketch of the intellectual traditions and issues involved.