Modernity and the Law: A Late Twentieth Century View

This Article explores Roberto Unger’s understanding of the specific significance that modernity has for law. It provides an account of the distinctions among customary law, bureaucratic law, the modern liberal rule of law ideal, and the unraveling of the rule of law in postliberal societies. It compares his views with those of other major theorists of modernity and with legal theorists. Finally, it discusses his speculations about then future developments and the relationship between central institutional and philosophical issues.