Every Whichway: New Directions for Canadian Socio-Legal Research.

Abstract

Barely three years ago, as chairman of the SSHRC's Consultative Group on Research and Education in Law, I released a report entitled Law and Learning. This report — in its diagnosis hardly more than a systematic compilation and empirical verification of “what we knew but could not tell” — contained a series of recommendations for the invigoration of Canadian legal scholarship. Several of these recommendations related to the need to diversify the types of legal research being conducted, to strengthen the research community by the development of networks and centres of activity, and to communicate the results of new research endeavours to relevant professional audiences, as well as to the public. For me, therefore, the establishment of the Canadian Law and Society Association and the publication of the Canadian Journal of Law and Society are events of special significance. I am pleased — indeed flattered — to be involved in these new and important enterprises, albeit in a largely symbolic way. My pleasure is only enhanced by being afforded both a platform for pontification (the Editor has absolved me from the obligation to provide footnotes), and a collective script to which I can add what amounts to a postscript to our report.