A Private International Law Perspective of “Alterity” with Horatia Muir Watt’s Discours sur les Méthodes du Droit International Privé
(2024) Leading Works in Law and Anthropology — ISBN: [9781003221845], published
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- Authors
Brachotte, Sandrine 
- Abstract
- This chapter presents Horatia Muir Watt's book Discours sur les méthodes du droit international privé (des formes juridiques de l’inter-altérité), freely translated as Discourse on the Methods of Private International Law (Legal Forms of Inter-alterity), as a potential leading work in law and anthropology. The book demonstrates the aesthetic, political, and ethical dimensions of private international law (PIL) methods, ranging from the most exclusive to the most open attitude towards what is foreign to the forum. It also advocates for the use of the most open methods to manage cultural diversity in Western states. PIL would thus become the interface of state law through which cultural identity claims are addressed. In this regard, Muir Watt envisages the PIL concept of foreignness (extranéité) as a form of alterity (altérité). This chapter argues that this work foregrounds the technical legal meaning of alterity, which can be fruitfully compared with its anthropological counterpart, generally associated with the notion of ‘othering’. For this comparison could renew the discussion in law and anthropology about alterity and its legal recognition.
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Citations
Brachotte, S. (2024). A Private International Law Perspective of “Alterity” with Horatia Muir Watt’s Discours sur les Méthodes du Droit International Privé. In Alice Margaria & Larissa Vetters (eds) (ed.), Leading Works in Law and Anthropology. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003221845-11