Theory in practice in a global age: what legal theory can and cannot do

This comment focuses on the strengths and limitations of legal theory in relation to the development of legal scholarhsip more generally. It draws principally on the U.K. experience. It challenges the cult of "pure" theory and argues that a much broader, historically aware, perspective is required if we are to make sense of keywords or phrases like "rule of law", "democracy" and "justice".