Symposium—Contract as Promise at 30: The Future of Contract Theory
Pluralism is on the agenda of contract theory. Maybe pluralism is a budding movement, the next big thing; maybe it is just a rehashing of pragmatic muddling through that either shuns or doesn’t deserve the name “theory.” But whatever our predilections or eventual evaluations, it is worth noting that pluralism has become a question for theorists interested in contracts. Some of the scholars articulating what I will call pluralism have adopted this moniker themselves; others have developed pluralist insights without calling on the label. This paper has two goals. The first is to draw together a number of works that develop a pluralistic view in contract theory and to map out some of the different approaches they offer. The second goal is to take some combination of those pluralistic insights further (some will say, aside) in developing a relatively encompassing (though woefully preliminary) pluralistic conceptualization of contract. . .