China Social Science Review

No.2, 2025

 

 

Dai Wei and Hou Meng

 

Regarding the social science research on law, law and social science studies center on “law in action,” standing in contrast to legal dogmatics which focuses on “law in the books.” Existing context theory tends to criticize that legal dogmatics fails to adopt an epistemology perspective to “understand” law within the context of society, and it employs a social science approach to shift the introverted discourse system of law. Also, the theory overlooks ontological discussion on “law in action.” A comprehensive understanding of “law in action” calls upon a holistic interpretation: As for research objects, society and law are co-constitutive; In terms of research grounding, scholars should focus on legal practices and establish relations with related agents. To this end, a dynamic triangular relationship connecting empirical research, theoretical reflection and normative construction should be properly addressed.