Beyond the ‘Moments’ of Law and Development: Critical Reflections on Law and Development Scholarship in a Globalized Economy

Abstract

Abstract This paper aims to review and assess the contributions and limitations of law and development (L&D) as a field of legal scholarship in relation to the constitution of the international economy and global economic governance. It seeks to reflect on the theoretical and methodological contributions of L&D theory and practice on the development of international legal scholarship, particularly in the rapidly evolving field of international economic law. The intersections of economic theory, jurisprudence and legal theory and the institutional practice of development agencies and international economic organizations which are the focus of L&D scholarship provide a useful interdisciplinary prism through which developments in the regulatory framework of the global economy can be studied. Mapping the ways in which what Trubek and Santos call the three overlapping spheres of L&D – economic theory, legal theory and institutional practices – enables us to chart, understand and, where necessary, contest, the shifts in development theory and policy and institutional practice that influence and shape legal reform and scholarship.