Preface, Revisiting the Contracts Scholarship of Stewart Macaulay: On the Empirical and the Lyrical

Abstract

The preface to this book reviews the remarkable career of Stewart Macaulay, who along with his good friend Ian Macneil founded the school of thought known as relational contract theory. The preface also describes the contents of the book and discusses Macaulay’s contributions to teaching. REVISITING THE CONTRACTS SCHOLARSHIP OF STEWART MACAULAY: ON THE EMPIRICAL AND THE LYRICAL includes Macaulay’s seminal contracts article, Non-Contractual Relations in Business: A Preliminary Study, first published fifty years ago in the American Sociological Review, as well as extended excerpts from several other of his important contracts articles. Macaulay has also made major contributions in the field of law and society research more generally. The rest of the book consists of fifteen papers by leading and rising figures in contemporary contracts scholarship: Brian H. Bix, David Campbell, Jay M. Feinman, Robert W. Gordon, Claire A. Hill, Charles L. Knapp, Ethan J. Lieb, Li-Wen Lin, Deborah Waire Post, Edward Rubin, Carol Sanger, Robert E. Scott, D. Gordon Smith, Josh Whitford, John Wightman, and William J. Woodward, Jr. Following the preface is the book’s table of contents. The international, multi-disciplinary and multi-generational backgrounds of the contributors reflect the broad scope of Macaulay’s influence. Their pieces analyze and build upon Macaulay’s work and demonstrate that his impact on the field of contract law and theory continues to grow.

Keywords: Stewart Macaulay, relational contracts, non-contractual relations in business

JEL Classification: K12, K2