Special Workshop Abstract

Carla Faralli

Scandinavian realism in general and its theorists in particular (Axel Hägerström, Vilhelm Lundstedt, Karl Olivecrona, and Alf Ross) did not exert the same influence everywhere. We can take as evidence of this diversity the number of translations done: this is a telling indicator, especially in view of the fact that most of the work in question was originally written in such little-known languages as Swedish and Danish. There is to date no translation of Hägerström, Lundstedt, or Olivecrona in French, and only a few of Ross’s essays have been so translated. Hägerström and Lundstedt have not been translated into Italian or Spanish either (apart from some passages in anthologies), whereas Olivecrona’s and Ross’s major works, as well as some of their essays, have translations in both of these languages. The dearth of English and German translations shouldn’t come as a surprise, since some of the most significant Scandinavian realist works came out in one or the other of these two languages in the original.

Moving to the critical studies, we can easily assess that the greatest focus is on Ross, followed by Olivecrona, Hägerström, and Lundstedt. The special interest accorded to Ross can, in my opinion, be accounted for by noting that his works have been considered examples, not only of a particular theory of law, legal realism, but also of analytical philosophy at large, as have been the works of Hart and von Wright.

This explains why in France – where the impact of Scandinavian realism has been extremely limited, because legal philosophy lacks a consolidated tradition in this country – Ross drew the attention of Kalinowski; it also explains why Ross’s works, together with those of Hart and Von Wright, helped the analytical method to take hold in the Buenos Aires school in Argentina; and it explains why in Italy Ross has been a focus of interest by scholars like Giacomo Gavazzi and Mario Jori, whose approach to legal theory is analytical.