David Friedman's comparative study of radically different legal systems — Icelandic sagas, Jewish law, Romany law, Somali xeer — arguing that private law can function without a state monopoly.
Legal pluralism in action: Friedman examines how legal systems operated successfully without a centralized state enforcement mechanism — Icelandic Commonwealth's private prosecution, Jewish law governing communities across national boundaries, Romany courts. The implicit argument: law doesn't require the state; market and social mechanisms can produce legal order. Empirically rich challenge to the legal positivist assumption that law requires a sovereign.
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