Description: This book promotes a relational understanding of the self. It explores how law can be transformed by focusing on the promotion and protection of caring relationships, rather than individual rights. This offers a radical and profound re-imagining of what law is about and what it should be trying to do. It moves from the theoretical into offering practical examples of how the law could be developed to enhance relationships, rather than undermine them.
Brief description: Jonathan Herring is a Fellow in Law at Exeter College, and Professor of Law at the Law Faculty, at the University of Oxford. He has written on family law, medical law, criminal law and legal issues surrounding care and old age. His books include: Vulnerability, Childhood and the Law (2018); Human Thriving and the Law (2018, with C. Foster); Medical Law and Ethics (2018); Criminal Law (2018); and Family Law (9th edition, forthcoming).
Review Quotes: 'The book is a beautiful exercise in reconsidering conventions regarding the distribution of power and benefits (focusing on caregivers), and what is 'normal' in law and life. In many ways, this book is a true credo, suggesting a new socio-legal theory and making it incumbent upon the readers to strive for a more decent and caring reality. The reader could not have imagined such a reality before starting this journey and cannot shake it once completing the book.' Sharon Shakargy, International Journal of Law, Policy and The Family