Critical Trusts Law: Reading Roger Cotterrell

In his 1987 article, ‘Power, Property and the Law of Trusts: A Partial Agenda for Critical Legal Scholarship,’ Roger Cotterrell outlined for the first time a critical, socio-legal approach to the law of trusts. Cotterrell’s work is as important as ever in posing questions of power, property, ideology and inequality, opening new perspectives on the broader societal significance of the effects of trusts law.

This edited collection revisits themes and theoretical perspectives in Roger Cotterrell’s now canonical work, bringing the theoretical insights of sociological and critical theory to the field of trusts. Themes explored include power in trusts law and practice, trusts and moral-distancing, ideology, and wealth inequality.

The collection will be of interest to trusts scholars looking for critical reflections on trusts law, theory and practice. The collection will be useful to both academic researchers and for those teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses on trusts law, private law theory, critical legal theory, and global capitalism.