A Momentary Glimpse of the Moon of the Bliss: A Conceptual Framework of Justice within the Semantic Tapestries of Legal Pluralism

• Author: Mohammed Subhan Hussain
• Position: Independent Scholar
• Pages: 425-444

e Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law

ISSN: 2338-7602; E-ISSN: 2338-770X

http://www.ijil.org

© 2019 e Institute for Migrant Rights Press

I would like to thank Tanja Herklotz and Sarah Holz for their encouragement, support, and

words of wisdom. is paper is dedicated to Professor Werner Menski. ough Emeritus now,

Professor Menski and his work instilled in me a spirit of curiosity, for which acknowledgment

is due.

a momEntary glimpsE of thE moon of Bliss:

a concepTUal Framework oF JUsTIce wIThIn The semanTIc

TapesTrIes oF legal plUralIsm

Mohammed Subhan Hussain

Independent Scholar

E-mail: hussain_subhan@outlook.com

is paper examines the political-legal debates surrounding legal pluralism’s e-

cacy to counter injustice. Managing legal pluralism’s competing forces vis-à-vis a

plurality-conscious framework has become increasingly challenging. Yet amidst

unyielding state-centric etatism, reform-orientated activists yearn to glimpse the

moon of bliss. is famous kahani (story) is simple: Little Krishna demands the

moon as a toy. His mother, Yashoda, holds up a mirror so he sees the moon’s

reection in it and can play with it. Although pluralists yearn for the moon, the

modalities and scope of legal pluralism, within the lacunae of international law,

must be reassessed. Plurality-conscious justice is needed to overcome the myopia

that has characterized complex legal landscapes, enabling pluralists to glimpse

the moon of bliss, but never the full moon of justice.

Keywords: heterogeneous pluralities; hybridization; justice; legal pluralism; replica-

tion

VI Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law 425-44 (July 2019)

426

Hussain

e challenge today is the strengthening of this already functioning

participatory process, on which the pursuit of global justice will to a

great extent depend. It is not a negligible cause.1

INTRODUCTION

is paper seeks to establish that law is not a watertight entity captur-

ing the entirety of life, but rather an internally plural phenomenon,

evolving through situation-specic scrutiny and lived experiences.

Managing the competing forces of legal pluralism vis-à-vis a plurali-

ty-conscious framework has become an increasingly dynamic, inter-

nally vigilant, extremely liquid, and highly explosive process. Howev-

er, amidst unyielding state-centric etatism, reform-orientated activists

yearn for a momentary glimpse of the moon of bliss.2 While such “bliss”

denotes hope for a rational “glocalized” legal order, it leaves activists

“only to be irritated and disappointed when reality yields merely a mir-

ror image of what was desired.”3 Although Mother Yashoda’s trick en-

ables Krishna to enjoy the comfort of a toy moon, it is reminiscent of

“a non-verbal strategy of diversity management, deeply relevant for the

global rhetoric of global justice.”4 With competing forces of replication

(ocial law) and hybridization (living law) in some sense cultivating

myopia5 amidst justice centricity, the modalities and scope of legal

pluralism, within the lacunae of international law, must be reassessed.

What is a justice-based framework if the needs of individuals are dis-

regarded? Is it an impartial modus operandi intertwined with judicial

choreography, seeking to redress the oppressed, or as Professor Emeri-

1. A S, T I  J 410 (2009).

2. is famous kahani (story) is easily told: Little Krishna demands the moon as

a toy and his mother, Yashoda, cleverly holds up a mirror so that he sees the

moon’s reection in it and can play with it.

3. Werner Menski, Still Asking for the Moon? Opening Windows of Opportunity

for Better Justice in India, 49 V  R  Ü. 125-47, 125

(2016).

4. Id.

5. Joanne Connaghan, Law, Harm and Redress: A Feminist Perspective, 22 L.

S. 319-39, 319 (2002).