Legal pluralism in the 19th and 20th century

Abstract

Legal pluralism as a pre-modern and well-known phenomenon seemed to be domesticated by the 'modern state' with its sovereign position as creator of the law. Today the phenomenon is back. Today lawyers struggle not only with multiple levels of normativity (national law, European law, international law, legal networks without a state) but also with the cultural diversities of interpretation and practice.

Keywords

• multi-normativity
• legal pluralism
• sovereignty
• cultural diversity of law