The growth of international law in the post-World War II era stemmed partly from the belief that universal norms would make life for the entire world's population safer, more equitable, and more conducive to each person's acquisition of basic material needs. Starting in the sixties and seventies, some scholars and activists challenged this assumption and established the school of "cultural relativism," a model that pays deference to local cultural traditions and favors them over international human rights norms. Scholars tried to create and practice a middle-ground approach between universalism and relativism, whereby the most egregious violations would be prevented through assimilating only jus cogens norms into indigenous groups' existing cultural traditions. Such efforts at combining a few select international norms with local cultural traditions largely failed. Culture in Law and Development presents a provocative new solution to the seemingly intractable problem of combining international norms with local cultural traditions by changing culture through law and development. In this book, Lan Cao demonstrates how the gradual expansion of customary international law (CIL) provides a model for changing culture in ways that protect and advance local populations. The book adopts a holistic view of development and argues that cultural norms that impede the human capabilities of the poor, women, and other marginal groups should be changed. The book reveals how a more conscious, coordinated effort on such change can succeed while non-violative local traditions are otherwise honored and preserved. Cao proposes that cultural change does not have to constitute cultural disrespect, and that local societies only benefit by a careful combination of externally wrought change and internally fostered tradition.

This book explores recent developments in the concept of hybridity through a multi-disciplinary perspective, bringing ideas about legal plurality together with the fields of peace, development and cultural studies. Analysing the concepts of hybridity and hybridization, their history, their application in law and legal studies, and their implications for thinking and rethinking legal plurality, the book shows how the concept of hybridity can contribute to an understanding of the processes that occur when different normative or legal orders or frameworks confront each other.

With over 40 million people still enslaved around the world, this book takes a closer look at the role of culture in society and how certain practices, beliefs or behaviors are fueling human trafficking beyond what the law can curtail.

This book explores the history, culture, rights and the effects of globalization on indigenous people in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Africa from an evaluative and critical perspective. Unlike discipline-based textbooks, this volume seeks to contribute to the social discourse around indigenousness and to engage readers in a shared sense of humanity and empowerment for these groups of individuals. Among the issues addressed are: who indigenous people are, culture and colonization, self-determination, the impact of legal theory and judicial decisions, land rights, poverty, lack of healthcare, international human rights law, tourism, treaties, and globalization. The book concludes by addressing what it means to be an indigenous person in the 21st century, and calling upon policymakers to recognize the importance of preserving indigenous people's territories, languages, cultures and collective rights.

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