ALC/CILIS Reading Group Semester 1/2026: Creative Approaches to Asian Law

In recent decades, the study of Asian law has consistently attracted interest from elite Western law schools and dedicated research centers. However, the term "Asian law" remains complex. Should it be viewed as a “mere projection of Western ideas,” given the extensive transplantation of Western [European] legal concepts into modern Asian legal systems as a consequence of colonialism and later globalisation? Or should it be understood as a distinct species of law in its own right, shaped by the cultural, economic, and political contexts of individual Asian societies, which have vernacularised their understanding of these transplanted ideas in markedly different ways? These complexities are further compounded by the plurality of identities within Asian societies and the varying positionalities of the scholars who study them.

These intricacies animated the design of the ALC/CILIS Reading Group 2026 reading list. We are aware that the term “Asian law” has always carried a contested meaning, thus, giving rise to a wide variety of approaches. However, rather than treating this contestation as a hindrance, we believe that it – coupled with scholars’ personal struggles with identity and positionality when writing about law in Asia – can itself become a source of inspiration that has the potential to stimulate the appearance of more creative approaches that could challenge orthodoxies within our understanding of law that were once celebrated as progressive.