The theme of this issue of Theoretical Inquiries in Law is the need to recognize the overlap between three current socio-legal developments: legal pluralism — or the granting of recognition to different forms and forums of dispute-resolution; the privatization of law — or the move towards the decentralization of law making; and multiculturalism — the delegation of authority to sub-state communities. This issue suggests that the thinking taking place in each of the three spheres calls for close ties to the work conducted in the other two. The work of Eugen Ehrlich, the founder of the sociology of law, might be thought to be particularly relevant to these interconnecting themes.