Beyond Law

Migration is by no means a new phenomenon. In the Americas, it has been an essential factor that has shaped societies and culture in important ways. As emigration increased, more complex and diverse flows of persons ensued. People sought to leave their countries in search of better economic opportunities, protection from different forms of persecution, higher status, and education. The arrival of these people enriched the lifestyles of receiving societies, while globalization has deeply impacted migration patterns rendering migration as a viable option for qualified workers. Simultaneously, emigration continues to be a last resort for thousands of people. Information and awareness of the possibilities and ways of life in other countries have contributed to spark the dream of leaving one’s suffering and encountering one’s dream.

The study of informal mechanisms of dispute resolution –from community justice in slums to systems of “traditional” justice within indigenous communities—has been at the heart of sociology and anthropology of law in the global South for several decades. Indeed, several of the foundational studies of contemporary sociolegal research in the 1970s theorized and empirically documented practices of informal, nonstate justice as a means to criticize legal theory’s monolithic conception of law as state law, and to offer instead theories of legal pluralism that now are part of our analytical toolkit. In Latin America, the issue of informal justice also became part of the political agendas of grassroots movements and popular organizations and NGOs. From the viewpoint of these movements and organizations, community-based justice offered excluded populations a grassroots, egalitarian alternative to the biased and inaccessible official system of justice.

 In the new millennium, issues of global justice have become central to both scholarly and political debates. In the face of growing inequality within and among countries, questions related to the redistribution of wealth and assets and the criteria and means to best accomplish it are back on the agenda of movements, governments, international institutions and nongovernmental organizations across the world. Largely the result of the criticisms and proposals made by transnational networks of activists and organizations fighting against neoliberal globalization over the last few years, this trend has resulted in lively discussions not only on public policy at the national and global scales, but also on theories of social justice as they apply to issues of redistribution. As shown by the articles included in this issue and the work of such theorists

For ten years, Beyond Law has brought law and society scholarship from Latin America and other areas of the global South to an English-speaking audience. It has established itself as a unique forum for scholars from around the world who are interested in fostering South-South and South-North dialogue on legal and social issues from a critical, innovative perspective. Beyond Law´s aim is to publish first-rate work which cuts across disciplines, national borders and institutional boundaries. For 25 years now, its host organization, the Latin American Institute for Alternative Legal Services (Instituto Latinoamericano de Servicios Legales Alternativos, ILSA), has fomented dialogue among scholars and activists at the forefront of discussions in both academic and non-govermental circles, from Latin America and elsewhere.

The political institutions in Latin America have undergone a profound remodeling over the past 25 years. At the heart of these changes is the need to adjust to the demands of economic liberalization and intenationalization. The judicial power is perhaps the one body of the entire state system to undergo the most generalized repairs. For some time now ILSA has been concerned with this process. Over the past five years ILSA has promoted a permanent forum on the policies of the multilateral banks vis-a-vis the administration of justice. This electronic forum communicates more than 150 researchers and legal operators in several countries of Latin America. In the year 2000, ILSA promoted the International Essay Contest on the Reform of the Administration of Justice. This initiative should enrich the understanding of the determinations of this process, of its modalities and projection. As a result, the contest bases were designed to propitiate varied views and dissimilar approaches. With great satisfaction we dedicate this issue of our magazine BEYOND LAW to present the results of this contest. The essays we received addressed particular developments that offer a regional idea of the process; some opted for analyzing the whole of the reform processes. There is a marked interest in terms of criminal and ethnic perspectives, as is notorious the little emphasis placed in most essays on the implications of the administration of justice for women, with one notable exception. We shall speak more on this later.