Policy, Research, and Funding: Socio Legal Studies in a changed Political Climate

In the current conservative political climate in Britain, the USA and elsewhere, spcio-legal scholars are under increasing pressure to display explicitly the practical relevance and usefulness of their research. 'Relevance' is usually taken to be indicated by the capacity of research findings to change social policy or to foreclose certain courses of action. But it is also important to turn the question around and as well as asking about the extent to which socio-legal research has changed governmental policies, we should always bear in mind that governmental policies, particularly about modes of funding, may change the character and fundamental utility of socio-legal research. The discussion is illustrated by reference to recent experience at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at Oxford University.