Shackled by the legal sensus communis. On the difficulties of critically oriented sociology of law

Keywords: legal sociology, Pierre Bourdieu, legal doxa

English abstract: The Polish sociology of law is unfamiliar with the critical sociology of law as proposedby P. Bourdieu – one of the most acclaimed contemporary sociologists. Therefore the mainaim of the paper is to indicate the causes of this neglection. The text also points out waysin which Bourdieu’s approach can assist in describing and explaining the social functioningof the legal universe. There are several reasons for the lack of reception of Bourdieu’stheory. The lack of critical debates in the field of law is caused by the assumptions of thetheory. Its main goal is to uncover the mechanisms of domination. Bourdieu’s project givesan opportunity not only to disclose the mechanisms by which the law preserves existingsocial relations, but also to discredit its universality by showing that it favours dominantgroups and agents. As such, Bourdieu’s theory threatens the foundations of the field oflaw. Another reason for this negligence among the Polish sociologists of law is structuralin nature. Firstly, the problem lies in the location of the field of law in the field of power.Secondly, in a specific position that sociology of law holds at faculties of law: academicswho are working on that field are mostly lawyers entangled in legal thinking schemata (legaldoxa), legal sensus communis which is considered as indisputable in the field of law.