Constructing power through law: Private law pluralism and harmonization in the global political economy

摘要

In this paper, I explore two central characteristics of the mobilization of law in the global political economy - the role of legal pluralism and the importance of legal expertise. The interaction of these two factors goes a long way towards explaining the ways in which legal norms, actors, and institutions have been enrolled to construct and organize powerful actors in the global economy. In order to explore these dynamics, the article focuses on the area of private international law and analyzes the ongoing effort to harmonize the legal rules governing secured credit. This case study helps to highlight the connections between legal expertise and projects of political economic power, and to work out a fundamental dynamic generated by legal pluralism - the combination of continued conflicts between powerful actors in a context of shared understandings of the basic rules of the global economic system. I conclude by considering the obstacles presented by these dynamics for projects that aim at harnessing international economic law to the needs and interests of the weak.