Legal Pluralism and Development: Scholars and Practitioners in Dialogue

Cambridge University Press, 5/28/2012
EAN 9781107019409, ISBN10: 1107019400

Hardcover, 270 pages, 22.8 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm
Language: English

Previous efforts at legal development have focused almost exclusively on state legal systems, many of which have shown little improvement over time. Recently, organizations engaged in legal development activities have begun to pay greater attention to the implications of local, informal, indigenous, religious and village courts or tribunals, which often are more efficacious than state legal institutions, especially in rural communities. Legal pluralism is the term applied to these situations because these institutions exist alongside official state legal systems, usually in a complex or uncertain relationship. Although academics, especially legal anthropologists and sociologists, have discussed legal pluralism for decades, their work has not been consulted in the development context. This book brings together, in a single volume, contributions from academics and practitioners to explore the implications of legal pluralism for legal development.

Part I. Origins and Contours
1. Historical perspectives on legal pluralism Lauren Benton
2. The rule of law and legal pluralism in development Brian Z. Tamanaha
3. Bendable rules
the development implications of human rights pluralism David Kinley
4. Legal pluralism and legal culture
mapping the terrain Sally Engle Merry
5. Towards equity in development when the law is not the law
reflections on legal pluralism in practice Daniel Adler and So Sokbunthouen
Part II. Theoretical Foundations and Conceptual Debates
6. Sustainable diversity in law H. Patrick Glenn
7. Legal pluralism 101 William Twining
8. The development 'problem' of legal pluralism
an analysis and steps towards solutions Gordon R. Woodman
9. Institutional hybrids and the rule of law as a regulatory project Kanishka Jayasuriya
10. Some implications of the application of legal pluralism to development practice Doug J. Porter
Part III. From Theory to Practice
11. Legal pluralism and international development agencies
state building or legal reform Julio Faundez
12. Access to property and citizenship
marginalization in a context of legal pluralism Christian Lund
13. The publicity 'defect' of customary law Varun Gauri
14. Unearthing pluralism
mining, multilaterals and the state Meg Taylor and Nicholas Menzies
15. The problem with problematizing legal pluralism
lessons from the field Deborah H. Isser.