Author Description

This book explores the tension in East Asia between, on the one hand, the trend towards a convergence of legal practices in the direction of a universal model, and, on the other hand, a reassertion of local cultural practices, including those which define different group identities, and which give substance to different ideas about what constitutes justice. The trend towards convergence arises in part from globalisation, from rule of law programs promulgated by institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank, who are keen to ensure a reasonable level of global conformity in the legal underpinnings of commercial activity, and from widespread migration in the region, whilst the opposing trend arises in part from moves to resist such globalisation. This book explores a wide range of issues related to this key problem, covering especially well China, where resolving differences in conceptions about the rule of law is a key issue as China begins to integrate itself into the World Trade Organisation regime.