ABSTRACT
The metaphor of maps is a compelling one for understanding law, and part of the reason for this is that the metaphor operates at different levels. Law can be seen as a map or a route to a destination, and in the present volume Brian Langille uses the metaphor to argue for a new map for international labour law. Alternatively, the metaphor can be used to emphasize the structural and functional similarities between law and maps, which is how Boaventura de Sousas Santos (2002) uses it. He is concerned with the way that maps and law systematically distort the landscape; both maps and the law provide a structure for making sense of the complex reality in which we live and, in making sense of that reality, distort it.
