COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A

GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO

GLOBALIZATION: AN INTRODUCTION

1
World Citizen Flag

“Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam - the belief that the entire world comes together to be one family”

The summer of 2018 witnesses Dhruv (14 years old), a US citizen of Indian origins residing
in California and Skandh (13 years old), also a US citizen of Indian origins residing in
Georgia spending their summer vacations in Bangalore playing online video games with
Brian (25 years old) from Rio, Brazil.

So what is globalization? We see high scale industrial activities undertaken by the developed
economy's MNCs operating in the territories of developing countries. Is this globalization?
The world is coming together to address issues like climate change, terrorism, global poverty
etc. If the world comes together to address any issue, is that globalization?

This is our reality today, that people, places, institutions are now vulnerable to be affected by
a greater number of factors than ever before and this is a result of a process/condition of
what?

This globalization phenomenon can be said to be a result of the technological advancements

made by the world in the past, the major outposts of the same can be aptly traced from the

1
Copyrighted free use, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=547647
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO

times of better navigation of the seaways, then to the telegraph and aeroplanes, and then to
the ultimate big bang by which the multiverse of the internet was brought into existence.

The destruction that followed the two consecutive world wars, imposed the fact that the
Nation States need to increase their interdependencies on each other so as to create a selfish
interest in the welfare of all Nation states.

DEFINING GLOBALIZATION

How do we define this term? Various scholars have attempted to define this term. However,
everyone has defined it from the perspective of his or her respective field of study- some have
defined it in terms of world economy, some have defined in terms of cultural exchanges,
some have defined it in terms of changing international relations, others have defined it in
terms of expanding articulation of human rights etc.

Also, the G-word signifies a force, a process, a condition (an end result) which gives rise to
the risk of developing circular definitions which would have little elucidatory power.2

William Twining refers „Globalisation‟ to those processes which tend to create and
consolidate a unified world economy, a single ecological system, and complex network of
communications that covers the whole globe, even if it doesn't penetrate to every part of it.3

ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF GLOBALIZATION

The numerous definitions of the phenomenon of globalization have highlighted four major
characteristics found common in them all, which are as follows:4

1. It necessitates the conception of novel social networks and activities. It is also

responsible for the proliferation of such activities that have the tendency to break the
stereotypical boundaries of tradition, politics, economy, culture and geography;
2. It is discerned that social relations, interdependencies and actions now have expanded
and stretched across the globe;

2
Manfred B. Steger, GLOBALIZATION: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION, (3rd ed. 2013).
3
William Twining,GLOBALISATION & LEGAL THEORY, (2000).
4
Id.
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO

3. This process is resulting in the intensification and expedition of social exchanges and
activities;
4. The three features given above are not only observed on an objective, material level
but also on the subjective plane of human consciousness.
Globalization is a phenomenon that is to be understood through the lenses of economics,
politics, culture and institutions. In this course, we will be focusing on not only the
emergence of Globalization but also its impact on the diktats of the laws and how the laws
have undergone changes because of this chimerical force.

SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTION

What is globalization according to you? (maximum 300 words)

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ACTIVITY

Read a newspaper and mark all the passages that you think deal with ‘law and globalization’.
This exercise will illustrate the point that legal lenses are essential to understanding society as
much as non-legal lenses are necessary to understanding law.

REFERENCES

1. Manfred B. Steger, GLOBALIZATION: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION, Oxford

University Press(3rd ed. 2013)
2. William Twining, GLOBALISATION & LEGAL THEORY, Cambridge University Press
New York (2000)

FURTHER READINGS
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO

1. George Ritzer, GLOBALIZATION: THE ESSENTIALS, Wiley-Blackwell Chichester (2011)

2. George Ritzer, SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY, (8 ed.) McGraw Hill New York (8thed 2011)
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO AND MS.
ELUCKIAA A.

THE THREE PHASES OF GLOBALIZATION

In Bangalore, while sitting in the conference room at Infosys Technologies Limited Campus,
which amidst the “pockmarked roads, sacred cows, horse-drawn cars and motorized
Rickshaws‟ jutted out as an entirely different landmass which could belong to any
multinational at any corner of the world, the renowned journalist Thomas L. Freidman had a
sudden epiphany when NandanNikelani told him that the playing field was being levelled for
countries at all levels of development, “levelling of the playing field” essentially suggested to
Friedman that “The World is Flat” or being flattened.

Some scholars try to limit globalization as a phenomenon of the 20th Century, containing the
phenomenon to a postindustrial world, some others stretch it merely to include the
groundbreaking inventions of the 19th century, some date it back to the inception of
modernity and the capitalist world as we know it to some 500 odd years ago, while some
others date it back to the medieval and possibly the ancient times of trade. The only thing we
generally agree upon is the fact that the general growth of awareness of deepening global
connections stands on historical roots.

While many scholars differ as to the specific timelines of the three phases of globalization,
often arguing that Globalization 1.0 covers the whole Imperial Era until the end of the First
World War, some say it only started with the determined imperialist expeditions of Europe in
the 17th and 18th Centuries, rather than in 1492. Some scholars choose to study globalization
eras dating it back to the ancient times of trade between the first civilizations and empires.

For example, David J. Bederman goes into a much more detailed description of Imperial
Globalization dividing it into three phases, Classical Antiquity (500 BCE to 500 CE), The
Age of Exploration and Colonization (1500-1770 CE) and the Age of Imperialism (1850-
1914 CE). While looking at the evolution of „World Law‟ in the context of commerce he
further classifies what we described as Globalization 2.0 into several phases to mark the rise
of the Transnational Corporations, the Bretton Woods System, and the rise of the New
International Economic Order.
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO AND MS.
ELUCKIAA A.

Friedman classifies the historic processes of globalization into three phases where the first
phase dates from Columbus's journey in 1492 to the 1800s. The Second Phase or Era, which
Friedman calls Globalization 2.0 stretched from the 1800s to 2000 interrupted by the world
wars. The dynamic force driving global integration in this phase, as Friedman points out, is
no longer the nation-state but individual economic tycoons in the form of Multinational
Corporations. The third phase marks the current era of globalization we have been living in
since the 2000s which escalate the whole idea of globalization to the most micro-cosmic of
human individualism. It enables individuals to collaborate and compete globally.

The reason that there is such diversity relating to the time-frame of the phenomenon of
globalization is simple. Globalization is an uneven and discursive phenomenon. People living
in different parts of the world are affected by the large-scale social, cultural and economic
changes it brings forth differently. Hence it is very difficult for scholars to agree on the
definition, trajectory, scale, causation and chronology of globalization.

Prof.Baxi, in his address to the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Sri Lanka, has
described the stages of globalisation. He said that the first phase of globalisation is the
„colonial imperialism‟ over long stretches of time and space throughout the world. He
described the second phase in great detail. He calls this phase as „globalism‟. According to
Prof.Baxi, this phase is marked by an International efflorescence of concern for human rights
and standards of international justice. The Emergence of United Nations system, enunciations
of human rights, UDHR and the expansion of human rights to collective groups- women,
indigenous peoples, specially-abled, prisoners, migrants, dispossessed people and also
children which was further extended to right of self-determination, economic and cultural
rights marks this phase. There were various declarations adopted like UN Declaration of 1975
concerning Scientific and Technological Progress in the Interest of Peace and for the Benefit
of Mankind, Tokyo declaration of 1971 addressed to the medical profession in dealing with
situations of torture, cruelty, degrading and inhuman treatment: 1982 General Assembly
Proclamation of the Code of Medical Ethics, the UN Committee on Crime Prevention, Code
of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, Lawyers and Judges: the 1986 Ottawa
Declaration on Health for All, New International Information Order, 1969 UN Declaration
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO AND MS.
ELUCKIAA A.

which proclaimed the duty on developed countries to give 1% of their GNP as aid volume
target and to ease the loan conditions to developing countries etc.

The third phase is the contemporary phase which is an Era of trade retaliation and debt
problem- market-friendly liberal ideologies-collective interdependence becomes the
collective dependence of the South on North. In this phase, the World is full of an endless
chain of shopping arcades or department stores. We are in pursuit of instant, technologically
mediated pleasures.

Most of the views on globalisation studies are from the developed countries perspective,
however, Baxi‟s views are from the developing country‟s perspective.

SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTION

Question:Prof. Baxi refers to the second phase of globalisation as?

(i) Age of Transnational Corporations
(ii) Age of Human Rights
(iii) Colonial Imperialism
(iv) Age of International Trade
Answer: Age of Human Rights. Prof. Baxi says that this phase is marked by International
efflorescence of concern for human rights and standards of international justice.

REFERENCES

1. Thomas L. Friedman, THE WORLD IS FLAT- A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 21ST

CENTURY(2005)
2. Thomas L. Friedman, THE LEXUS AND THE OLIVE TREE- UNDERSTANDING
GLOBALIZATION(2012)
3. Manfred B. Steger, GLOBALIZATION: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION, Oxford
University Press(3rd ed. 2013)

FURTHER READINGS

1. David J. Bederman, GLOBALIZATION AND INTERNATIONAL LAW(2008)

2. Fredric Jameson and Masao Miyoshi (eds.), THE CULTURES OF GLOBALIZATION(6th ed
2004)
3. Will Hutton and Anthony Giddens (eds.), GLOBAL CAPITALISM(Anthony Giddens, 2001)
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO AND MS.
ELUCKIAA A.

4. Frank J. Lechner and John Boli (eds.), THE GLOBALIZATION READER(5th ed., 2015)
5. Martin Walker, GLOBALIZATION 3.0, 31(4) Wilson Quarterly (2007), 16-24.
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO

GLOBALIZATION OF LAW

It is much debated if the law has a role to play in the process of globalization or if
globalization has affected the law. This is a chicken-egg problem. We live in a globalized
world. As activities become more globalized, legal systems and regulations also tend to
change and adapt to these globalized activities. In this segment, we will be discussing on
'globalization of law and legal regulations’.

INTRODUCTION: WHAT DO WE MEAN BY GLOBALIZATION OF LAW?

Does Globalization of law refer to a concept where the entire world lives under and follows a
single set of legal regulations? This is an idealistic situation. But you may find this quite
confusing and controversial as we have learned that laws and regulations are usually limited
by territoriality. Different countries follow different sets of laws and rules, thereby making it
a rather difficult concept to understand. For instance, when a person from India goes to
China, will she be governed by Indian laws or Chinese laws? With the advancement in
transportation, information and technology, movement of persons, goods, services and capital
has increased. As many international organizations aim to bring about harmonization of laws
among various countries, it’s still a distant goal.

Globalisation of law can take place in broadly three forms:

(1) Direct transfer of institutions and legal principles from one national system to
another: For instance, the adoption of democracy (as originated in Greece) by most
countries of the world, as recent as by Nepal in 2006.
(2) Imposition of a global legal principle upon administrative bodies and procedures in
independent countries: An example of this could include the imposition of various
World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and regulations to administer trade within and
among member states.Another example of this form could be the adoption of human
rights provisions in our Constitutions as a result of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR) which was initially designed as a common ideal to be pursued has now
become a parameter for evaluating behavior.Even the UNCITRAL Model Law on
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO

International Commercial Arbitration has had a profound effect in the framing of

arbitration laws across various countries.
(3) The adoption of national legal principles and concepts at a global level: An ideal
example of this form can be seen in how the principles of natural justice, which originally
developed as a part of the English Common Law, has now found its way into
international legal principles embodied in the UDHR1, the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)2, and the European Convention on Human Rights
(ECHR).3

EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION ON THE LAW

The notion of globalization has had an impact on certain fields of law and we will examine its
impact on commercial and contract law, public law and protective law.

Martin Shapiro in his article ‘Globalisation of Law’ has examined the process of
globalization in law in the following fields:

GLOBALISATION OF COMMERCIAL AND CONTRACT LAW

With the advent of globalization, we can see some movement towards a uniform global
contract and commercial law. With the rise in transnational contracts, the contracting parties
specify which laws will govern the contract and how the disputes can be settled. The courts
of each country or at least most of the countries are now prepared to enforce such global
commercial law. The success of such global commercial law is mostly based on the
incentives for uniformity, predictability and transparency. The mergers and acquisitions of
companies have accelerated the growth of global commercial law.

GLOBALISATION OF PUBLIC LAW

The process of globalization has an impact on administrative law and constitutional law as
well. The new apparatus of administrative law now maximizes the public participation in the
administrative policy-making policies and at the same time imposes an obligation on the

1
Article 10, Universal Declaration on Human Rights
2
Article 14, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
3
Article 6, European Convention on Human Rights
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO

bureaucracies to make, the information and their investigation which they have relied on for
enacting public policy, publicly available.

The written constitutions, in the era of globalization, insist on separation of powers,

guarantees individual rights, establishes constitutional courts and ensures judicial reviews.
The American model of bill of rights and judicial review has now become the global model.

GLOBALISATION OF PROTECTIVE LAW

We can see the globalization in the realm of torts, product standards, consumer protection,
labour protection, and most recently in environmental law as well with the changes in
technology and the industrial revolution. The consumer goods like automobiles etc are very
complex and these days we cannot employ the rule of caveat emptor. Even in the business
organizations, instruments like share, bonds and other securities, the rules applicable to such
instruments and corporate governance rules are there to afford protection to the investors.
Globalisation of protective law here refers to the worldwide increase of legal protection
against the ill effects of technical, economic and social factors which are too complex, distant
or powerful against the individual cannot protect himself/herself alone. However, the global
patterns in the field of protective law are not uniform. There is an ongoing conflict between
globalization of market and globalization of protective law.

CAN THERE BE GLOBAL LAW?

The current stage of harmonization shows that although having a globalized law is far from
reality, we can see a trend of harmonization.

We can take the example of the European Union General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR). The framework of the GDPR has caught up with the idealistic notion of global law
and also seems to have defied the traditional forms of globalization of law discussed earlier.
As we all know, the GDPR aims at protecting individual personal data and regulate how
personal data is collected, handled, processed and used. A very interesting implication of this
regulation is how it has an increased territorial scope. Article 3 of the GDPR imposes GDPR
compliance not only to companies located within the EU, but also companies outside the EU
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO

who process data of EU subjects in certain situations.4For instance, if an Australian company

processes data of EU individual, then irrespective of its lack of presence in the EU, it would
be subject to GDPR compliance. This means that if any company in the world seeks to collect
and process personal data of any EU subject, they would have to comply with the GDPR.
What is even more surprising is that even if a corporation has no direct business in the EU, if
they service clients in other regions who process data of EU subjects, the corporation can be
subject to GDPR compliance if the data of EU subjects has been shared with them. For
instance, if an Indian company provides services to an US-based company, and this US-based
company collects and processes personal data and information of EU subjects, the Indian
company shall be subject to GDPR compliance if the US-based company has shared the data
of EU subjects with it.

Even the recently released Justice BN Srikrishna Committee report on Data Protection5along
with the Draft Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018,6suggested a privacy law for India, which
has drawn its inspiration from the GDPR. In the wake of Cambridge Analytica scandal,
almost all the countries are strengthening their data protection laws.

4
General Data Protection Regulation, Article 3 (2016).
5
SaveOurPrivacy, ‘Srikrishna Committee Report And Draft Data Protection Bill – Initial Statement’, LiveLaw
(25 Dec 2018), https://www.livelaw.in/srikrishna-committee-report-and-draft-data-protection-bill-initial-
statement/.
6
The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018, (25 Dec 2018),
<http://meity.gov.in/writereaddata/files/Personal_Data_Protection_Bill%2C2018_0.pdf>.
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO

DISCUSSION FORUM

Do you envisage a truly global law in the near future?

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SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

Question 1:Kindly assess if the following statements are true or false:

(i) UNCITRAL has helped in the globalization of law.
(ii) WTO has not contributed to globalization of law.
(iii) Lex Mercatoria is not a result of globalization of commercial law.
Answer 1:
(i) True
(ii) True
(iii) False

Question 2:Do you think if there is a conflict between globalization of markets and globalization of
law? Support your answer with reasons. (maximum 500 words)
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REFERENCES

1. Shapiro, Martin, ‘THE GLOBALIZATION OF LAW’, Indiana Journal of Global Legal

Studies (1993) Vol. 1, Issue 1, Article 3, (25 Dec 2018)<
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO

https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=ijgls>.
2. Terence C. Halliday and Pavel Osinsky, ‘GLOBALIZATION OF LAW’, Annual Review of
Sociology, (2006) Vol. 32, 447-70, (25 Dec 2018)
<https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/29737747.pdf>.
3. Pierrick Le Golf, ‘GLOBAL LAW: A LEGAL PHENOMENON EMERGING FROM THE
PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION’, Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies (2007) Vol. 14,
Issue 1, Article 7, (25
Dec2018)<https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1347&context
=ijgls>.
FURTHER READINGS

1. Reuven S. Avi-Yonah and M. S. Barr, ‘GLOBALIZATION, LAW AND DEVELOPMENT:

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW (Globalization, Law and Development Conference)’,
Michigan Journal of International Law, (2004) Volume 26(1), 1-12.
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO

GLOBALISATION AND LEGAL THEORY

Globalization has given new dimensions to numerous fields. One of these numerous fields is
law. However, the legal jurisprudence has responded in bits and pieces to the challenges
posed by the globalization. Globalization is a notably complex process and its effects are
already inescapable. The three themes of the globalization pose a fundamental challenge to
the legal theory.

First, the interdependence and globalization challenge the black box theories. The central idea
of black box theories is that the nation states or legal systems or societies are impenetrable
and discrete. These entities can only be analyzed in isolation. They can be studied either
externally or internally. Globalization has challenged the central idea of black box theories in
two ways. The first challenge is that with the advent of globalization, the municipal law can
no longer remain unaffected by the outside legal influences. The best example could be the
effect of the European Convention on the Human right. The other instances could be the
effect of the WTO and other transnational religious law on the internal relation between the
legal person, local person and the state. Similarly, the twin doctrine of non-interference into
the internal matter of a sovereign nation and national sovereignty is also questioned by the
globalization. The central theme of these theories is that the domestic laws are self-sufficient
and the public international law is restricted to the external relationship between two
sovereign states. However, these theories sound contradicting to the modern facts.

The second challenge to legal theory challenges the mainstream Anglo-American legal
theory. This theory emphasizes two types of legal order which are public international law
and municipal state law. However, in a globalized era, the portrait of the law must deal with
much more complicated issues. The municipal state law or public international law are not
adequate enough to deal with the issue of environment, communications, natural resources,
international crimes and basic human rights and need at the global level. Therefore there is a
need for new ordering at a global level to deal with these complicated issues at the global
level.

The third challenge that globalization poses to the legal theory is the formation of the
conceptual structure and the meta-language of legal theory that can transcend the legal
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO

cultures. Numerous attempt has been made in past to create a universal legislative dictionary.
For instance, Austin theory was based on principles, notion, and distinctions that were
prevalently found in the mature system. Sociological jurist such as Maine, Tonnies tried to
develop a meta-language for comparing cultures and different legal system in terms of forms
of law and stages of development. However, the mainstream legal theory still does not
address the problem of cultural pluralism transnationally.

A general jurisprudence can be considered globally oriented if it can present an overall

picture (normative, descriptive, analytical and explanatory) of law as a phenomenon in the
current world. This picture can be created from numerous viewpoints. However, in order to
achieve a same, a general jurisprudence should not only focus on traditional public
international law and municipal legal system but also emphasize regional, transnational, local
and global ordering. This new legal order can solve the problem of legal pluralism not only
within different cultures but also beyond municipal legal systems. The idea of
interdependence challenges the fundamental premises of black box normative and descriptive
theories that consider the normative legal order as self-sufficient. If the understanding of law
as the discipline is to be advanced in the current world, then even the local phenomenon
needs to be analyzed at the world stage. The term globalization does not mean
homogenization. The biggest challenge which globalization poses to the contemporary
general jurisprudence is the adjustment of relationships of globalization with cultural and
ethical pluralism. Most importantly, contemporary general jurisprudence requires a
satisfactory conceptual structure and a meta-language that can penetrate specific legal
cultures.

We will discuss Willam Twining’s examination of the theory of Hart, Dworkin, Rawls,
Finnis, Austin, Bentham, Kelsen and Llewellyn in a globalization era in the subsequent
weeks to come.
 COURSE: LAW & JUSTICE IN A
GLOBALIZING WORLD
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TOPIC: GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND
ODISHA LEGAL THEORY (WEEK 2)
INSTRUCTORS: PROF. RAO

SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTION

Question:Match the challenges to legal theory with the advent of globalization as identified by Prof.
William Twining:

i. First challenge to legal theory a. Mainstream Anglo-American legal

theories classification of municipal law
and international law.

ii. Second challenge to legal theory b. Developing a meta-language of legal

theory.

iii. Third challenge to legal theory c. Municipal law being affected by outside
legal influences.

Answer:
i. First challenge to legal theory- c. Municipal law being affected by outside legal influences.
ii. Second challenge to legal theory- a. Mainstream Anglo-American legal theories classification
of municipal law and international law.
iii. Third challenge to legal theory- b. Developing a meta-language of legal theory.

REFERENCES

1. William Twining, GLOBALISATION AND LEGAL THEORY, Cambridge University

Press (1st edn 2000).

FURTHER READING

1. B. Tamanaha, A GENERAL JURISPRUDENCE OF LAW AND SOCIETY(Oxford, Oxford

University Press, 2001)
2. T. Pogge, REALIZING RAWLS (Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1989) and WORLD
POVERTY AND HUMAN RIGHTS (Cambridge, Polity Press, 2002)
3. P. Singer, ONE WORLD, THE ETHICS OF GLOBALIZATION, 2nd edn (New Haven,
Yale University Press, 2004).