A Sociology of International Investment Law

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Weber characterized formally rational law as having facilitated the rise of modern markets because it respected property and contracts. A staple in the law and development literature, Weber’s analysis of the conditions giving rise to capitalism in the ‘West’ often is conscripted to advance arguments that less developed and developing states need only mimic those same paths to economic success. But things are not that simple. Weber’s contributions to a variety of fields of knowledge (law, economics, sociology, methodology) equip us with tools of analysis that are largely overlooked in the field of investment law.</jats:p>