Interdisciplinary Comparative Law

Rubbing Shoulders with the Neighbours or Standing Alone in a Crowd

Elgar Studies in Legal Research Methods

Jaakko Husa, Professor in Law and Globalisation, Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, Finland

Comparative law scholars have long recognised the importance of looking beyond legal texts and incorporating interdisciplinary methods into the study of law, yet in practice such use of non-legal methods has remained modest. Interdisciplinary Comparative Law illuminates why the doctrinal approach to legal research has retained its strong position, offering a critical analysis of the difficulties of interdisciplinarity.

‘It is a serious, and original, attempt to examine interdisciplinarity amongst the academic legal fraternity and makes many very pertinent observations, as one might expect from one of Europe’s leading comparative lawyers.’
– Geoffrey Samuel (Kent)

‘Interdisciplinary Comparative Law provides a synoptic account of the ways in which comparative law scholars use – and misuse—the methods of other academic disciplines, economics, history, and literary theory, among others. Learned and thoughtful, with many illuminating examples and novel insights, it shows that resorting to interdisciplinarity is both unavoidable and problematic. This is a must-read for serious comparativists.’
– Richard Kay, University of Connecticut, US

‘A profound meditation on how comparative law can and should overcome its “loneliness” by going beyond doctrinal study and embracing interdisciplinarity – engaging disciplines such as history, linguistics, literature, economics and social theory. The book also discusses how the comparativist studies international, transnational and global law. It maps out a paradigm shift in comparative law scholarship.’
– Albert H.Y. Chen, University of Hong Kong

‘Jaakko Husa’s book describes interdisciplinarity as a double-edged sword to the comparative study of law. This openness towards interdisciplinarity and awareness of its limitations are key features of this book. Thus, readers gain inspiring insights into a variety of other disciplines while also benefiting from Husa’s expertise as one of the most prolific comparative lawyers today.’
– Mathias Siems, European University Institute, Italy