{"title":"The theoretical puzzles of non-state legal phenomena","authors":"J. L. Fabra-Zamora","doi":"10.1080/20414005.2021.1935117","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article aims to establish a stable starting point for the theoretical discussion of non-state legal phenomena, ie, putatitive types of law that lack some of the distinctive features of state legal systems. First, it provides a guiding catalogue of paradigmatic examples of non-state legal phenomena and rehearses the problems associated with state-centred accounts. Second, it proposes a methodological approach to address the conceptual questions created by non-state legal phenomena. Finally, the article isolates three central theoretical puzzles generated by non-state law. These are the disputes about the existence of commonalities among all types of law, the distinction between law and non-law, and the explanatory centrality of norms. This trio of concerns sets the agenda for an explanatory-clarifying account of non-state legal phenomena.","PeriodicalId":37728,"journal":{"name":"Transnational Legal Theory","volume":"12 1","pages":"110 - 143"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2021-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/20414005.2021.1935117","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Transnational Legal Theory","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20414005.2021.1935117","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
ABSTRACT This article aims to establish a stable starting point for the theoretical discussion of non-state legal phenomena, ie, putatitive types of law that lack some of the distinctive features of state legal systems. First, it provides a guiding catalogue of paradigmatic examples of non-state legal phenomena and rehearses the problems associated with state-centred accounts. Second, it proposes a methodological approach to address the conceptual questions created by non-state legal phenomena. Finally, the article isolates three central theoretical puzzles generated by non-state law. These are the disputes about the existence of commonalities among all types of law, the distinction between law and non-law, and the explanatory centrality of norms. This trio of concerns sets the agenda for an explanatory-clarifying account of non-state legal phenomena.
期刊介绍:
The objective of Transnational Legal Theory is to publish high-quality theoretical scholarship that addresses transnational dimensions of law and legal dimensions of transnational fields and activity. Central to Transnational Legal Theory''s mandate is publication of work that explores whether and how transnational contexts, forces and ideations affect debates within existing traditions or schools of legal thought. Similarly, the journal aspires to encourage scholars debating general theories about law to consider the relevance of transnational contexts and dimensions for their work. With respect to particular jurisprudence, the journal welcomes not only submissions that involve theoretical explorations of fields commonly constructed as transnational in nature (such as commercial law, maritime law, or cyberlaw) but also explorations of transnational aspects of fields less commonly understood in this way (for example, criminal law, family law, company law, tort law, evidence law, and so on). Submissions of work exploring process-oriented approaches to law as transnational (from transjurisdictional litigation to delocalized arbitration to multi-level governance) are also encouraged. Equally central to Transnational Legal Theory''s mandate is theoretical work that explores fresh (or revived) understandings of international law and comparative law ''beyond the state'' (and the interstate). The journal has a special interest in submissions that explore the interfaces, intersections, and mutual embeddedness of public international law, private international law, and comparative law, notably in terms of whether such inter-relationships are reshaping these sub-disciplines in directions that are, in important respects, transnational in nature.