Guenter Teubner

Gunther Teubner (born 30 April 1944 in Herrnhut, Germany) is a prominent German legal scholar and sociologist of law, best known for his contributions to the social theory of law, legal sociology, legal pluralism and transnational governance.

Early life and education

Teubner studied law and sociology of law in Germany, with further studies and visiting positions abroad. He developed an interest in bridging legal doctrine and sociology, drawing on influences such as Niklas Luhmann and systems‑theory.^[1]  

Academic career

• From 1977 to 1981, Teubner was Professor of Private Law at the University of Bremen in Germany.  
• Between 1982 and 1991 he was associated with the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.  
• From 1993 to 1998 he held the Otto Kahn‑Freund Chair of Comparative Law and Legal Theory at the London School of Economics.  
• Since 1998 he has been Professor of Private Law and Legal Sociology at the Goethe University Frankfurt (Frankfurt/Main).  

Research focus and contributions

Teubner's work spans several interrelated fields:

• He is known for pioneering “autopoietic law” or “law as an autopoietic system”: the idea that legal systems are self‑referential and self‑producing systems within society.^[2]  
• He has developed the concept of societal constitutionalism, arguing that constitutional-type norms and structures can emerge beyond the state, within social systems, corporations, networks and private law contexts.^[3]  
• He has extensively explored legal pluralism, globalization of law, networks of contract and transnational governance, challenging the state‑centric view of law and pointing to the fragmentation of global legal orders.^[4]  
• In recent years he has engaged with digitalization, algorithmic networks and hybrid human‑algorithmic actors, raising questions of responsibility, liability and law in socio‑digital systems.  

Selected works

Some representative publications include:

• Law as an Autopoietic System (1993)
• Global Law Without a State (1996)
• Regime‑Collisions: The Vain Search for Legal Unity in the Fragmentation of Global Law (2004, with Andreas Fischer‑Lescano)
• Constitutional Fragments: Societal Constitutionalism and Globalization (2012) These works illustrate his interdisciplinary reach and influence in legal theory and sociology.^[5]  

Honors and positions

Teubner holds many honorary distinctions and has delivered major lectures in his field. For instance, he gave a public lecture on “Human‑algorithm associations as Hybrids: Who is acting? Who is responsible? Who is liable?” at the Allens Hub, UNSW, in 2023.