(2011) JLP 64: 149-172

 

LEGAL PLURALISM AND THE GOVERNABILITY OF

FISHERIES AND COASTAL SYSTEMS

 

Svein Jentoft

 

Abstract

 

Conditions for, and limits of, governability of fisheries and coastal systems cannot be properly understood without an examination of legal pluralism. Governing systems that do not take legal pluralism into account are likely to fail. This article discusses how interactive governance theory and legal pluralism may benefit from each other and how legal pluralism can be assessed from a governability perspective. Interactive governance theory offers a conceptual framework for investigating legal pluralism and how it contributes to governability, whereas the legal pluralism literature provides perspectives on normative orders that interactive governance theory should emphasize and for which governance actions should account.