The functional approach in comparative socio-legal research: reflections based on a study of plural work regulation in Australia and Indonesia
Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: This paper examines the potential use and limits of Zweigert and Kötz's classical functional approach in comparative law for an empirical socio-legal research project. The project involves a comparison of the formal labour laws and informal norms and institutions which regulate restaurant work in the cities of Melbourne, Australia, and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The paper argues that the functional approach is a necessary but incomplete method for overcoming the many issues of comparability between the two research sites; the method requires both extension of its analytical steps and explicit explanation of its limitations.
Author: Petra Mahy
Institutions: University of London, SOAS University of London
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2368628631