Legal Pluralism and Development Scholars and Practitioners in Dialogue

Previous efforts at legal development have focused almost exclusively on state legal systems, many of which have shown little improvement over time. Recently, organizations engaged in legal development activities have begun to pay greater attention to the implications of local, informal, indigenous, religious and village courts or tribunals, which often are more efficacious than state legal institutions, especially in rural communities. Legal pluralism is the term applied to these situations because these institutions exist alongside official state legal systems, usually in a complex or uncertain relationship. Although academics, especially legal anthropologists and sociologists, have discussed legal pluralism for decades, their work has not been consulted in the development context. This book brings together, in a single volume, contributions from academics and practitioners to explore the implications of legal pluralism for legal development.

• First collection devoted to exploring the implications of legal pluralism in the context of development policy

• Includes contributions from leading scholars who have written on legal pluralism, as well as development practitioners who have worked in the context of legal pluralism

• Combines the views of scholars who have been critical of the World Bank's development activities, alongside development professionals from the World Bank who have engaged in development activities