Sociology of Commercial Arbitration: Tools for the New Times

Abstract

In this study, the authors argue for a more refined methodology in research on commercial arbitration. Drawing on new developments in international commercial arbitration, they seek to create a typology of various aspects of legal conflict resolution and, as a consequence, to increase the relevance of empirical work on this topic. The article identifies three key areas of tensions, which generate new developments in commercial arbitration and cannot be addressed from the perspective of the existing sociological paradigms. First, the tension between procedural formality and flexibility can be observed, as reflected in the well-established judicialization trend, combined with a recent renewed interest in mediation and ‘soft’ hybrid procedures. Second, the confluence of global and local factors (as seen in the American and Asian ‘waves’ in arbitration) affects, inter alia, the professional culture of arbitration practitioners. Finally, the tension between public and private interests and values, which influences procedural preferences and solutions in the field of commercial arbitration, can be identified.