Law Review: The significance of “folkways and mores” in international lawAmartya Bag, Folkways and Mores: Their Significance in International Law (February 14, 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1552670 The words ‘folkways and mores’ got popularized through the work of an American sociologist William Graham Sumner in his book Folkways: A Study of the Sociological Importance of Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals in 1906. According to Sumner folkways are ‘habit of the individuals and customs of society which arise from efforts to satisfy needs, they are intertwined with goblinism and demonism and primitive notions of luck and so they win traditional authority.’ There is no doubt that both the phenomenon of globalisation and modernisation has their impact on the tradition and norms of the people. The greater question lies whether folkways and mores have any significance in this present day and whether they evolve in the way they used to do earlier. This paper tries to give an overview of the concept of folkways and mores and their relevance in the modern world with reference to international law.
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