Law and Modernization in the Developing World
David M. Trubek, Professor of Law
John Ohnesorge, Associate Professor of Law
 
The seminar will explore changing ideas about law's role in the process of economic development and the law reform and external development assistance practices these ideas have inspired. The idea that a "modern" legal system is central to economic development can be traced back to the 19th century. After World War II, this idea became the basis for organized assistance by bilateral and multilateral development assistance agencies. Today, bilateral agencies like USAID and international financial institutions like the World Bank devote substantial resources to "law and development" and the "rule of law". While billions are being spent, the enterprise rests upon a wealth of assumptions about the definition of law, the relationship of law to market activity, the role of the state in economic governance, the definition of modernity, and the efficacy of external intervention. Because both the assumptions and the policies and practices of the agencies based on them have changed over time, there have been several different approaches to "law and development" policy and practice. This seminar looks at changing legal and economic ideas and development assistance practices, surveys critiques of current models, looks at experience on the ground in areas such as Northeast Asia, Latin America and the former Soviet Union, and explores ways that reform practices might avoid some of the pitfalls of the past. 
 
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