Homo Juridicus: On the Anthropological Function of the Law

By: Alain Supiot

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Synopsis: In this groundbreaking work, French legal scholar Alain Supiot examines the relationship of society to legal discourse.He arguesthat the law is how justice is implmented in secular society, but it isnot simply a technique to be manipulated at will: it is also anexpression of the core beliefs of the West. We must recognize itsuniversalizing, dogmatic nature and become receptive to otherinterpretations from non-Western cultures to help us avoid the clashof civilizations. In Homo Juridicus, Supiotdeconstructs the illusion of a world that has become "flat’’ andundifferentiated, regulated only by supposed "laws" of science andthe economy, and peopled by contract-makers driven only by thecalculation of their individual interests. Such a liberal perspectiveis nothing but the flipside of the notion of the withering away of lawand the state, promoted this time not under the banner of the strugglebetween classes, but rather in the name of the free competition betweensovereign individuals.Supiot’s exploration of the development of the"legal subject"—the individual as formed through a dense web ofcontracts and laws—is set to become a classic work of social theory.