ABSTRACT
The view of hybridity from law and new governance is employed as a backdrop against which to critically appraise hybridity in peace and development studies. The conceptual underpinnings of hybridity are most clearly articulated in postcolonial theory, in particular, postcolonial cultural theory, with regard to modern cultural, social and political relationships. Trubek and Trubek refer to situations of complementarity and rivalry between law and new governance as varieties of 'coexistence', whilst reserving the label hybridity for transformative relationships where law and new governance develop together. Programmatic development provides an alternative lens through which to view the joint operation of modes of governance, specifically, in terms of the potential for progression from situations of complementarity or rivalry to transformation. With regard to hybridity in legal scholarship, specific understandings have developed in fields including constitutional law, regulatory governance and human rights.
