A New Introduction to Comparative Law

This thought-provoking introduction to the study of comparative law provides in-depth analyses of all major comparative methodologies and theories and serves as a common sense guide to the study of foreign legal systems. It is written in a lively and accessible style and will prove indispensable reading to students of the subject. It also contains much that will be of interest to comparative law scholars, offering novel insights into commonplace methodological and theoretical questions and making a significant contribution to the field.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction I. About this Book II. Legal Culture in Focus III. Structure of the Book 2. Comparative Law as a Discipline—A Short History I. History of Comparative Law in a Nutshell II. Comparative Law in the Twenty-first Century 3. Comparative Law—Definitions and Distinctions I. Challenge of Further Definition II. Comparative Study of Law III. The Theory of Comparative Law 4. Comparative Law—One of the Legal Disciplines I. Part of a Larger Field of Knowledge II. A Member of the Family of Legal Studies III. Comparison and Fields of Law IV. Difficulty of Demarcation 5. Why Compare? I. Starting Points—Creating Added Value II. Comparison as a Cross-border Form of Knowledge Acquisition III. Comparison as Thinking Outside the Box IV. Basic Knowledge-interests V. Integrativity and Contradictivity VI. Practical v Theoretical Approach VII. Pedagogical—Comparison in Teaching and Learning Law 6. Basic Strategies in Comparison I. Introduction II. Scope—From Macro to Micro III. In Time and Space—The Time Dimension IV. Quantity V. The Diversity of Legal Systems—Transnationality VI. Cultural Dimensions and their Overlapping VII. Methodological Choices of Theoretical Nature VIII. Functionality—Functional Comparative Law IX. Structural Dimension X. Systematic Approach XI. Critical Study Approaches—Two Examples XII. Depth of the Study—Decisiveness of the Knowledge-interest XIII. Research Ethics XIV. Comparative Methodology—Heuristics? 7. Comparing—Differences and Similarities I. Need for a Yardstick for Comparison— TertiumComparationis II. Differences and Similarities III. Culture and Explanation IV. Economic Factors V. Historical Factors VI. Geography and Climate VII. Other Factors VIII. Differences between Explanatory Factors IX. The Presumption of Similarity? 8. Comparison—Obstacles and Difficulties I. Comparative Research—Between the Familiar and the Foreign II. Research Data Related Problems III. Pitfalls in Research-material Processing and Analysis IV. Side-step to Theory: Comparing Laws, but what Laws? V. Legal Comparison—A Particularly Risky Business? VI. Comparison as a Learning Process 9. Macro-comparison I. Basic Blocks of Macro-comparison II. Constructing Macro-constructs III. Grouping Legal Systems IV. Macro-constructs and Methodology V. Finally 10. Legal Evolution? I. Is there Evolution in Law? II. Problems in Macro-comparison III. Limits of Legal Evolution? II. General Requirements III. History-related Factors IV. Nature of Legal Thinking (Legal Mentality) V. Factors Related to Societal Ideology VI. Cultural Factors VII. Finally