Defining the Space of Transnational Law: Legal Theory, Global Governance & Legal Pluralism

37 Pages Posted: 27 Sep 2011 Last revised: 21 Oct 2014

See all articles by Peer C. Zumbansen

Peer C. Zumbansen

McGill University, Faculty of Law; King's College London - The Dickson Poon School of Law

Date Written: September 26, 2011

Abstract

Transnational law, since its iteration by Philip Jessup in the 1950s, has inspired a league of scholars to investigate into the scope, doctrine, sources and practice of border-crossing legal regulation. This paper reviews much of this preceding scholarly work and attempts to contextualize it in debates around global governance and global constitutionalism. These debates are no longer confined to international lawyers or political scientists. Together with anthropologists, sociologists, geographers and legal philosophers and legal theorists, these scholars have been significantly widening the scope of their investigation. The current, multi - and interdisciplinary research into the prospects of political sovereignty, democratic governance and legal regulation on a global scale suggests a further continuation of such intellectual bricolage and collaboration. The here presented paper builds on a larger research project into the methodology of transnational law and suggests that we ought to revisit legal sociological insights into the emergence of legal pluralism to make sense of today’s co-evolution of ‘formal’ and ‘informal’, ‘public’ and ‘private’ laws – and social norms.

Keywords: Transnational Law, Global Governance, Legal Pluralism, Global Constitutionalism

JEL Classification: K10, K33

Suggested Citation

Zumbansen, Peer C., Defining the Space of Transnational Law: Legal Theory, Global Governance & Legal Pluralism (September 26, 2011). Osgoode CLPE Research Paper No. 21/2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1934044 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1934044

Peer C. Zumbansen (Contact Author)

McGill University, Faculty of Law ( email )

3644 Peel Street
Montreal, Quebec H3A 1W9
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.mcgill.ca/law/

King's College London - The Dickson Poon School of Law ( email )

Somerset House East Wing
Strand
London, WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

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