Manuel Gomez on Alternative Thinking

I have spent my entire adult life in close contact with the law.  I have been able to see, learn about, and experience the legal system through different lenses offered by my formal training as a lawyer and legal scholar, by my legal practice, and obviously by my teaching and advising.  Such experiences have reassured my notion that the conventional picture of law as an orderly pyramid of official institutions arrayed in a clearly defined hierarchy that regulates and controls social life is not accurate.  The traditional representation has a significant symbolic value but fails to capture the true richness and complexity of the tangle of multiple — sometimes competing, sometimes intertwined — normative and regulatory systems that serve a similar function in contemporary society. To understand the real value of these “layers” of law and social order, and their important contribution to the functioning of our modern society, we need to develop thinking strategies that go beyond the conventional methods, many of which view law as a self-referential immutable discipline that is insulated from the influence of any external forces.  In my view, law — broadly construed, not just the official kind — has a symbiotic relationship with many other disciplines and with the social, political, and economic realities.  Law has an impact on society and is simultaneously affected by it.  The best way to capture this kaleidoscope of possibilities is by looking at the relationships that arise through different lenses, and to think about them alternatively.  I very much look forward to continuing this exploration with like-minded colleagues from different disciplinary paths and professional experiences.