“Critical Legal Thought: An American-German Debate” An Introduction at the Occasion of Its Republication in theGerman Law Journal25 Years Later

Abstract

On the occasion of the republication of the “blue volume,” containing the proceedings of the 1986 “Critical Legal Thought: An American-German Debate” Conference at the University of Bremen Law School, much or little might be said as to the significance, promises or learned lessons of that event. The original conference conveners, like the editors of the ensuing volume, do much of that in the following pages. In fact, their recollection of the motivations and ideas driving the transatlantic event provides a marvelous view into the evolving mystery of legal thought, education and professionalism - on both sides of the Atlantic. The two accounts rightly embed the mid-1980s conference in a much larger historical context. Christian Joerges’ much-referenced account reaches back deep into the constituting phases of nineteenth-century German legal thought. David Trubek's essay is a thoughtful critical assessment of both the gaps and the overlaps between the German and the American legal cultures in the lead-up to and of the globalizing aftermath of the event.