Mapping Global Legal Pluralism

Abstract

The effects of globalization on the law have recently given pluralist theories somewhat of a revival, with increased importance attributed over the last fifteen-odd years to doctrines falling under “Global Legal Pluralism.” The theories proposed by authors of this trend, however, vary significantly from one to another. This paper examines two such variations:

A) Paul Schief Berman proposes a procedural pragmatic approach that favors procedural mechanisms and sidesteps the result of certain substantive norms prevailing over others. Schief Berman considers such procedural mechanisms to be “jurisgenerative” in that they allow for new creative interventions and normative trends that facilitate a procedural dialogue of cross-fertilization. They thereby offer “formulas” for overcoming conflicts without reducing the plurality of a globalized world by imposing a unique or hegemonic solution.

B) Mireille Delmas-Marty, for her part, offers a theory intended to “organize” the somewhat anarchical phenomenon of global pluralism. Her theory would allow for an organization of the multiple without reduction to the identical- in other words, pluralism without a universal code of law. To this end, she identifies three interactive processes of decreasing hierarchical levels: unification, harmonization, and coordination.

This text was written in support of a lecture given at the University of Nagoya (Japan) in 2015 on the theme of pluralism.

Keywords: global law, pluralism