This course discusses situations, theoretical and empirical, in which law is made primarily outside state power. It reviews instances of private ordering and governance that enjoy a relatively important autonomy from state law. The absence of the state as a possible cause of ethical issues will be entertained. Other parts of the course will proceed at a higher degree of abstraction, asking for instance whether the orderings identified properly deserve to be called law. It will thereby delve into preliminary questions, too often neglected, that influence how the debate is framed on the existence and whereabouts of non-state law: Why does “being law” matter? How do definitions of what law is matter? What makes a definition of law a good definition? Can something be relatively law but not fully? Who decides on what law is and for whom are such pronouncements authoritative?"
- Teacher: Thomas Schultz