Impact of Market Ideology on Transnational Contract Law

As world trade expands to the remotest of venues, commercial laws that encompass transnational jurisdictions become increasingly important. The appropriateness of these laws rely, inter alia, on the strength of the assumptive base supporting such transnational laws of commerce. As this article explains, transnational contract law\u27is not the product of the Immaculate Conception; it is the anachronistic progeny of certain European laws that emerged during the Industrial Revolution. As such, transnational contract law inherits many of the characteristics of its progenitors. Those characteristics, however, become awkward when viewed through a contemporary institutional context that diverges from the prevailing social arrangements of the Industrial Revolution

Unconscionability and the Contingent Assumptions of Contract Theory

In 1971, W. David Slawson estimated that 99% of all contracts do not resemble the Platonic ideal of a document of jointly negotiated terms, but rather are lists of terms presented by one party to the other on a pre-printed form.2 Although this estimate is forty years old, it underestimates our cur-rent market exchange situation; the pervasiveness of form contracts stipulat-ed by one party has increased.3 Contract law generally provides for the enforcement of such contracts, allowing the powerful party to essentially govern over consumers and weaker parties.4 Classical contract theory allows for this enforcement of contracts based upon a number of assumptions about human nature and the bargaining process

Unconscionability and the Contingent Assumptions of Contract Theory

In 1971, W. David Slawson estimated that 99% of all contracts do not resemble the Platonic ideal of a document of jointly negotiated terms, but rather are lists of terms presented by one party to the other on a pre-printed form.2 Although this estimate is forty years old, it underestimates our cur-rent market exchange situation; the pervasiveness of form contracts stipulat-ed by one party has increased.3 Contract law generally provides for the enforcement of such contracts, allowing the powerful party to essentially govern over consumers and weaker parties.4 Classical contract theory allows for this enforcement of contracts based upon a number of assumptions about human nature and the bargaining process

Are Introductory Courses A Proper Venue for Deep Thought about the Discipline?

An introductory course is the discipline\u27s handshake; it is the greeting that either seals the deal or in varying degrees convinces the learner that this discipline has little usefulness. Given the huge stakes in forming a strategy for the introductory course, how should we structure the course? The argument in this paper is that we should encourage students to think deeply about the discipline. In other words, we should encourage an appreciation for the complexity of the vocabulary, the underlying assumptions, and the kinds of evidence relied on in the discipline in question

Mobbing in the Workplace and Individualism: Antibullying Legislation in the United States, Europe and Canada

“Mobbing” refers to systematic behavior directed toward an employee over a long period of time that results in serious harm to the victim. Legislative responses to mobbing behavior in Sweden, France, Canada, and Belgium have responded in various ways to alleviate the conditions that create the psychological harm caused by this workplace phenomenon. The more muted response in the United States is linked to the individualistic assumptions prevalent in American culture that place responsibility for harmful conditions frequently on the choices of the person experiencing the harm