he makes it clear that it is in the assertion of jurisdiction itself that these norm-generating communities
seize the language of law and articulate visions of future worlds. 40 If
jurisdiction is, literally, the ability to speak as a community, then, he
suggested, we can begin to develop a “natural law of jurisdiction,”41 where
communities claim the authority to use the language of the law based on a
right or entitlement that precedes the particular sovereignties of the present
moment. Such jurisdictional assertions are significant because, even though
they lack coercive power, they open a space for the articulation of legal norms
that are often subsequently incorporated into official legal regimes. Indeed,
once we recognize that the state does not hold a monopoly on the articulation
and exercise of legal norms, we can see law as a terrain of engagement, where
various communities debate different visions of alternative futures