Legal Realism Regained

Legal Realism Revisited presents a comparison between two schools of American Legal theory – American Legal Realism and Critical Legal Studies – and argues that Legal Realism still holds the most promise for understanding and reforming law.

Wouter de Been works as a researcher for the Wiardi Beckman Foundation in Amsterdam, a research institution affiliated with the Dutch Labour Party.

Adam Shajnfeld:
"Wouter de Been provides a thorough and sophisticated look at oft-neglected elements of legal realism and critical legal studies, details differences between the two movements, and offers a compelling argument for the continuing vitality of certain components of legal realism. The author displays an impressive mastery not only of the movements themselves, but also of underlying concepts drawn from history, sociology, law and philosophy."

John H. Schlegel:
"Discussions of American Legal Realism as a movement in legal thought are numerous, but seldom enlightening. Wouter de Been's Legal Realism Revisited is a notable exception. His patient reconstruction of the topic is a model of the intellectual historian's craft. In particular, his discussion of the role of functionalism in realist writing clarifies many issues that earlier authors have left murky."

"Legal Realism Revisited is an ambitious book, which revisits the relationship between legal realism and critical legal studies in an interesting and provocative way. The discussion in the book is learned, thorough, and quite sophisticated." —Hanoch Dagan, Tel-Aviv University