Law and the Empire. Some Reflections about Legal Aesthetics and Comparative Law

Abstract

According to numerous authors, legal globalization seems to be divided between two opposing outlines. On the one hand, the idea of a multiform and diversified legal framework made up of national laws, customs, and traditions. On the other hand, an immense global order which, despite sectoral differences, maintains its compact and homogeneous physiognomy. The aim of this contribution will be to illustrate such antinomy using the conceptual tools of legal aesthetics. As it will be shown, the phenomenon of globalization results first of all in a ‘crisis of the gaze,’ which determines a different way of observing the relationships between law, economy and politics. If at the basis of the legal phenomenon there is, first of all, a certain way of perceiving the ‘other,’ it is then necessary to understand the reasons that join so closely law and aesthetics