This lecture will feature Professor Shyamkrishna Balganesh presenting his recent paper, “Legal Internalism: A Behavioral Theory,” co-authored with Prof. Taisu Zhang. The paper offers a provocative comparative account of why lawyers and judges across very different legal systems tend to treat law as a coherent, self-contained, and authoritative system, even when legal scholars often challenge that view. Drawing on examples from the United States, China, Germany, England, Japan, and India, it argues that this “internalist drift” reflects not only jurisprudential commitments, but also the professional incentives, status, and institutional interests of legal actors. The lecture will be of particular interest to graduate students and scholars working on legal theory, comparative law, legal history, sociology of law, and the relationship between legal practice and legal academia. We warmly invite all interested students and researchers to join the discussion.

Co-Hosts: RCLIP, Waseda University Institute of Comparative Law

Location: Waseda University Campus Building 8, Room 606

Language: English

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