Fernanda G. Nicola

This book provides a practical introductory guide to comparative law. Fernanda G. Nicola and Günter Frankenberg present and examine conventional and critical approaches to legal comparison, exploring its ramifications in the field and political effects. Comparative Law begins by outlining the theory and methodology of this critical legal practice. Chapters present real-world problems that the law faces in eight specific fields: property (informal property), contracts (specific performance), tort (wrongful birth), family law (same-sex marriage), administrative law (COVID-19 measures), constitutional law (veiling), legal transfers (gun control), and legal histories (indigenous property claims). Whilst examining various approaches to legal comparison, Nicola and Frankenberg crucially recognize how legal knowledge can be perpetually reconstructed, abstracted, and re-contextualized in diverse settings across space and time. Pairing real-world contemporary examples with established legal principles and practices, this book is an essential resource for teachers and students of comparative law and legal anthropology. Its practical case application will also be of interest to political scientists and journalists engaged in international legal regimes, problems, and solutions.

Misuses of Comparative Law in International Development examines how comparative law has been deployed by international organizations, governments, and NGOs to legitimize legal reforms that entrench inequality and reinforce power hierarchies. These reforms often align development agendas with neoliberal and authoritarian logics. The book exposes the flawed assumptions—such as convergence, efficiency, and legalism-that underpin transnational reform projects like the World Bank's indicators and the harmonization initiatives of the EU and OECD. It shows how these frameworks misrepresent local contexts and silence alternative legal traditions. Introducing a new typology of misuse-from cannibalization to epistemic impoverishment—it reveals how comparative law frequently operates as a tool of domination rather than emancipation. Bridging critique and utopia, the book re-characterizes these misuses as social constructions and reimagines comparative law as a vehicle for equitable, context-sensitive, and redistributive legal reform.

Misuses of Comparative Law in International Development examines how comparative law has been deployed by international organizations, governments, and NGOs to legitimize legal reforms that entrench inequality and reinforce power hierarchies. These reforms often align development agendas with neoliberal and authoritarian logics. The book exposes the flawed assumptions—such as convergence, efficiency, and legalism-that underpin transnational reform projects like the World Bank's indicators and the harmonization initiatives of the EU and OECD. It shows how these frameworks misrepresent local contexts and silence alternative legal traditions. Introducing a new typology of misuse-from cannibalization to epistemic impoverishment—it reveals how comparative law frequently operates as a tool of domination rather than emancipation. Bridging critique and utopia, the book re-characterizes these misuses as social constructions and reimagines comparative law as a vehicle for equitable, context-sensitive, and redistributive legal reform.

This book provides a practical introductory guide to comparative law. Fernanda G. Nicola and Günter Frankenberg present and examine conventional and critical approaches to legal comparison, exploring its ramifications in the field and political effects. Comparative Law begins by outlining the theory and methodology of this critical legal practice. Chapters present real-world problems that the law faces in eight specific fields: property (informal property), contracts (specific performance), tort (wrongful birth), family law (same-sex marriage), administrative law (COVID-19 measures), constitutional law (veiling), legal transfers (gun control), and legal histories (indigenous property claims). Whilst examining various approaches to legal comparison, Nicola and Frankenberg crucially recognize how legal knowledge can be perpetually reconstructed, abstracted, and re-contextualized in diverse settings across space and time. Pairing real-world contemporary examples with established legal principles and practices, this book is an essential resource for teachers and students of comparative law and legal anthropology. Its practical case application will also be of interest to political scientists and journalists engaged in international legal regimes, problems, and solutions.