Perhaps we need to go beyond the usual gestures of outrage and take the step of analyzing the genesis of a “new legal culture” rather than merely a “crisis of law.” The semantics of legal culture offer the great advantage of being able to detach themselves from normative evaluations in order to enable a precise description and explanation of normative orders—as is necessary for a culturally inspired and critical analysis of law.

The aim is to shed light on a change of perspective for which we do not yet have fixed terms (neo-imperialism, neo-colonialism, etc.), but which can no longer be understood as a mere phenomenon of deviation from traditional legal concepts. Contributions come from American studies scholars, legal sociologists, and legal theorists. We look forward to lively participation in this exciting analytical process.

Program and link to follow shortly.