Company Law in Context: Text and Materials by David Kershaw
| Author | Justin Borg‐Barthet |
| Published date | 01 May 2011 |
| Date | 01 May 2011 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.2011.856-4.x |
Zartaloudis, most particularly in the ¢nal chapter, tends to emphasise the law
while marginalising the state and the political as conceptual categories.This ten-
dency can be found in Agamben, whose appropriationof Schmitt de-emphasises
the problem of the state in favour of juridico-political ontology. Nonetheless, the
state and the politic al doremai n important problems forAgamben, particul arly in
terms of his diagnosis of contemporary politics and his attempts to respond to it:
in Homo Sacer, for example, he emphasises the dissolution of the ‘great State struc-
tures’ as demanding a new approach to politics, while inThe Coming Community
(University of Minnesota, 1991) he argues that the coming politics is a ‘struggle
between the State and the non-State (humanity)’ (84). Zartaloudis’s ¢nal chapter
does see some interesting gestures in the direction of political struggle, such as his
critique of the approach to law by the contemporary left and right, and the argu-
ment that what takes place after the exposition of the law is not a struggle ‘against
the idea of law, but against the messengers and the functionaries who claim to
representthe idea of law’ (306).These are, however, only glimpses of the political
implications of the study of the law and the illumination of its profanity, and it
would be interesting to see these suggestions developed in the future.
Power,L awand the Uses of Criticism makes awelcome contribution to the ¢eld of
Agamben scholarship and critical legal studies.Through a sustained focus on the
key ontological problem of law’s limit, and by drawing on a thorough and inti-
mate understanding of Agamben’s thought, it develops an important account of
Homo Sacer’s critique of the juridical tradition. In particular, Zartaloudis makes a
crucial contribution to the literature by highlighting the oft-neglected role of
study in Agamben’s ‘post-juridical’ politics, and examining its implications for
how we conceptualise the task of legal theory.
Daniel McLoughlin
n
David Kershaw, Company Law in Context:Text and Materials,Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2009, 822 pp, pb d33.99.
Students often complain that company law textbooks could be more engaging
and readable.The market is s aturated with rule-l aden works that are tremendously
useful, but not particularly goodreads. One might therefore be inclined to brush
o¡ the words ‘written in a lively and dynamic style’ which adorn the cover of
DavidKershaw’s Company L aw in Context.This would be a mistake. Inthis contri-
bution, students and teachers of company law will be relieved ¢nally to ¢nd a
textbook that is genuinely enjoyable to read.What is more, they will ¢nd a book
that guides them from the basic sources of the law through to extracts of articles
that address complex regulatory questions.This is all done in clear and accessible
terms.
In orderto contextualise company law, Kershaw uses the example of a ¢ctitious
business, Bob’s Electronics. As the bookprogresses the business grows from Bob’s
n
Adelaide Law School,University of Adelaide
Reviews
491
r2011The Authors.The Modern Law Review r2011The ModernLaw Review Limited.
(2011) 74(3) 479^501
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