Mundlak, Guy; Finkin, Matthew W. --- "Introduction to the Comparative Labor Law Handbook" [2015] ELECD 798; in Finkin, W. Matthew; Mundlak, Guy (eds), "Comparative Labor Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015) 1

Book Title: Comparative Labor Law

Editor(s): Finkin, W. Matthew; Mundlak, Guy

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781000120

Section Title: Introduction to the Comparative Labor Law Handbook

Author(s): Mundlak, Guy; Finkin, Matthew W.

Number of pages: 18

Extract:

Introduction to the Comparative Labor Law Handbook
Guy Mundlak and Matthew W. Finkin



1. THE CHALLENGE OF COMPARATIVE WORK AND THE
HANDBOOK'S OBJECTIVES
We begin with a rumination on the organic nature of law. Law has a shelf life. As the
society in which law is embedded changes, parts of the law wither away or become
vestigial; parts are extended or renewed in novel application; new law is fashioned
whole, to commence the life cycle afresh. Consequently, the study of law, when not
totally fixated on the here and now, is inherently comparative. Students of the law look
to the before and the after ­ to discern change, to explore reasons for change, to ask
whether there is need for change, and to see how it all fares.
But some look beyond their borders; for counterpoints, parallels, or counterfactuals.
This adds another dimension. It confronts differences in legal systems and cultures ­
sometimes superficial, sometimes not ­ sometimes couched in vernaculars that lack
equivalents or are so steeped in the unspoken that the meaning can and often does elude
even the astute non-native. But the non-native, in open-eyed wonder, may give voice
and form to that which has become so ingrained in a foreign system, is so much a
matter of second nature to those who live in the system that those who live in it fail to
appreciate its significance. These are the challenges and rewards of studying law
comparatively.
Unlike ancient institutions long subject to comparative legal ...