i first conceived of this book when I was a Fellow at the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, New Jersey. Many thanks to Danielle Allen, Joan Scott, and Michael Walzer for their gracious hospitality and our countless conversations that shaped this project at its outset. I also wish to thank my colleagues at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, an institution with an unparalleled group of international legal scholars and legal theorists from whom I have learned so much. Over the years, I have had discussions about the various themes and arguments that comprise this book with many friends and colleagues. Thanks to Roy Adams, Andrew Arato, Jutta Brunée, Vincent Chiao, Jean Cohen, Dennis Davis, Ron Daniels, David Dyzenhaus, Karen Engle, Willy Forbath, Evan Fox-Decent, Judy Fudge, Michael Ignatieff, Karen Knop, Brian Langille, Frédéric Mégret, Ed Morgan, Guy Mundlak, Anne Norton, Jennifer Orange, Umut ?zsu, Gaetano Pentassuglia, Kerry Rittich, Michel Rosenfeld, Brad Roth, Andr?s Saj?, Kim Scheppele, Brian Tamanaha, Bal?zs T?th, and Renata Uitz, as well as, of course, Michael Trebilcock, for always advising to throw deep. Special thanks go to Patrick Healy, Courtney Jung, Zoran Oklopcic, Arthur Ripstein, David Schneiderman, and the two anonymous reviewers at Oxford University Press, all of whom read the entire manuscript with care and provided me with invaluable comments and advice. I am also grateful to Evan Rosevear and especially Patrick Healy for their research assistance, and Nancy Bueler for her exceptional administrative assistance. I would also like to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, for providing me with valuable research funding.