Macaulay, Macneil, and the discovery of solidarity and power in contract law

Abstract

THIS PAPER IS AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WORK OF STEWART MACAULAY AND IAN MACNEIL AND A EVALUATION OF THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE THEORY OF CONTRACTS. ITS CENTRAL OBJECTIVE IS TO SHOW THAT THE RELATIONAL APPROACH TO CONTRACTS AIMS TO CHANGE THE FOUNDATIONS OF CONTRACT THEORY. IT IS NOT THE THEORY OF A PARTICULAR TYPE OF CONTRACT – THE RELATIONAL ONE - AS SOME AUTHORS IN BRAZIL INTERPRET IT, BUT AN EFFORT TO REFORM THE THEORETICAL BASIS OF THE STUDY OF CONTRACTS.