This Article examines the different meanings of Ehrlich’s idea of living law in relation to current debates about legal pluralism. It distinguishes three aspects of Ehrlich’s concept as these have been elaborated in the later literature: "law beyond the law," "law without the state," and "order without law." This retrospective shows that Ehrlich was not principally concerned with defending the rights of ethnic or autonomous communities as such. In taking his work further, it is important to recognize to what extent official and unofficial law are even more interdependent today than in his day. But we may still find his work of relevance to thinking about the normative challenges of plural legalities.

Editor-in-Chief: Hannes, Sharon
2 Issues per year
Issues
Volume 14 (2013)
Volume 13 (2012)
Volume 12 (2011)
Volume 11 (2010)
Volume 10 (2009)
Volume 9 (2008)
Volume 8 (2007)
Volume 7 (2006)
Volume 6 (2005)
Volume 5 (2004)
Volume 3 (2002)
Volume 2 (2001)
Most Downloaded Articles
- On the Use and Abuse of Blackstone -- A Comment on Professor Schorr by Kreitner, Roy
- Global Investment Regulation and Sovereign Funds by Chalamish, Efraim
- Targeted Killing by Statman, Daniel
- Corporate Governance under State Control: The Chinese Experience by Wang, Zhaofeng
- Governments as Investors of Last Resort: Comparative Credit Crisis Case-Studies by Hertig, Gerard
Eugen Ehrlich, Living Law, and Plural Legalities
David Nelken1
1Cardiff University
Citation Information: Theoretical Inquiries in Law. Volume 9, Issue 2, Pages 443–471, ISSN (Online) 1565-3404, DOI: 10.2202/1565-3404.1193, June 2008
Publication History:
- Published Online:
- 2008-06-23


















Comments (0)