Presents a series of distinct sociological inquiries into the formation of contemporary European law and society.

1. Introduction: law and the formation of modern Europe: perspectives from the historical sociology of law Mikael Rask Madsen and Chris Thornhill; Part I. Legal Institutions and European State Formation: 2. Fascism and European state formation: the crisis of constituent power Chris Thornhill; 3. The beginnings of constitutional justice in Europe Thomas Olechowski; 4. Judicialization in sociohistorical perspective - lessons from the case of France Antoine Vauchez; 5. Towards a sociology of intermediary institutions: the role of law in corporatism, neo-corporatism and governance Poul Kjaer; Part II. Law and Europe's Ideological Transformations: 6. Private, public and collective: the twentieth century in Italy from fascism to democracy Irene Stolzi; 7. Nazism and its legal aftermath: coming to terms with the past after World War II Ditlev Tamm; 8. Between socialism and liberalism: law, emancipation and 'solidarnö¿' Jacek Kurczewski; Part III. Law and the Supranational Reinvention of Europe: 9. Europe in crisis - an evolutionary genealogy Hauke Brunkhorst; 10. International human rights and the transformation of European society: from 'free Europe' to Europe of human rights Mikael Rask Madsen; 11. Lawyers and the transformations of the fields of state power: osmosis, hysteresis and aggiornamento Yves Dezalay and Bryant Garth.