5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

Law in the age of the Anthropocene is positive law, i.e. social engineering aimed at shaping the world rather than revealing its natural structures. From then on, law becomes an instrument of governance, and the rule of law slips into rule by law, which makes it particularly operational in authoritarian contexts, as a matter of legitimization, control, effectiveness and even predictability. However, it is only in certain circumstances that the law becomes an instrument of authoritarianism. This is true of references to the rule of law, which can be used without political exploitation or be subject to instrumentalist misuse.

Firstly, we are interested in the functioning of the judicial institutions that occupy political space in the name of the rule of law. These institutions are concerned to demonstrate respect for procedures and the rule of law; however, they may participate in a repressive State policy. This is how the rule by law replaces the rule of law (Shapiro, 2007; Ginsburg and Moustafa, 2008).

Secondly, we examine the rule of law as a lexicon of development promoted by multiple actors calling for legal reformism, institutional modernisation, and the strengthening of “good governance” (Atlani-Duault, 2005; Pétric, 2012). We consider both the display of development objectives and the marginalization of criticism and specific actors within cooperation projects.

Joint session - preferred - or regular.