Now in its second edition, this textbook presents a critical rethinking of the study of
comparative law and legal theory in a globalising world, and proposes an alternative model.
It highlights the inadequacies of current Western theoretical approaches in comparative law,
international law, legal theory and jurisprudence, especially for studying Asian and African
laws, arguing that they are too parochial and eurocentric to meet global challenges. Menski
argues for combining modern natural law theories with positivist and socio-legal traditions …

Comparative Law in a Global Context makes at least two other, significant, contributions the
discipline of comparative law as well. First, it has obvious implications for comparative
method, demanding a contextual understanding that penetrates far into both the history and
social behaviour of peoples. It comes as something of a relief, in these circumstances, when
the author accepts that:'[c] omparative lawyers must be allowed to speculate, even to make
mistakes', given that 'intricate cultural knowledge is rarely served on a silver platter'(at 67) …