ABSTRACT
The multiple worlds which can be observed in the global realm gain the status of normative orders to the extent that they are legally framed and stabilised. They become normative orders when they are condensed and given form through a coherent arrangement of rules, reflecting specific structures of expectations (Erwartungsstrukturen), 1 which are linked to the deployment of legal sanctions as a means of establishing compliance with these expectations upon the basis of a hierarchy of norms. The function and set-up of law is, however, different within different types of normative order which again reflect the different location and function of normative orders within world society. Nonetheless, certain general features of law common to all types of normative order in world society can be pinned down. In the following, these features are reconstructed through reference to the concepts of hybridity, fragmentation, heterarchy and inter-contextuality. Against this background, a key distinction is introduced between the internal and external dimensions of the law of normative orders. The former is oriented towards the internal stabilisation and condensation of such orders, while the latter is oriented towards the establishment of compatibility between a given normative order and other normative orders. The different function of the internal and external dimensions of law implies that the relative weight of normative and cognitive structures of expectations differs within the two dimensions. The orientation towards internal condensation is closely linked to the upholding of normative expectations, whereas the orientation towards external compatibility constitutes a structural setting in which adaptability through the reliance on cognitive approaches tends to dominate.
