In law-and-society theory, the phrase ‘law in context’ points to the many ways legal norms and institutions are conditioned by culture and social organization. We see how legal rules and concepts, such as those affecting property, contract, and conceptions of justice, are animated and transformed by intellectual history; how much authority and self-confidence of legal institutions depends on underlying realities of class and power; how legal rules fit into broader contexts of custom and morality. In short, we see law in and of society, adapting its contours, giving direction to change. We learn that legal order is far less autonomous, far less self-regulating and self-sufficient, than is often portrayed by its leaders and apologists. This perspective encourages us to accept blurred boundaries between law and morality, law and tradition, law and economics, law and politics, law and culture. Accepting the reality of blurred boundaries leads to much puzzlement and controversy. Law loses some of its special dignity and some jurisprudential questions cannot be avoided.