The Meme, in the sense used by Beck and Cowan, is a whole conglomerate of ideas and values that self-perpetuate and cling to each other in a somewhat consistent worldview. Individuals begin life in a primitive or Archaic meme, and grow through the Tribal and Warrior memes as they mature in developed nations. Adults are mostly at the Traditional meme, the Rational/Modern meme, or the Pluralist/Post-Modern meme. Some have advanced to the Integral meme or higher.
When a group of people is at a given meme level, they tend to associate with each other and create institutions that perpetuate their meme. This is true in the area of law as it is in other systems of life.
The Traditional meme sees the world as pretty black and white and wants everyone to live by the rules. They tend to favor religious institutions of law. It is easy to observe in other cultures, where we can point to Sharia (Islamic) law for example. However the remnants of this religious worldview are present in most American courtrooms today. (And courtrooms elsewhere that I've seen depicted.) Just sit in a courtroom, or look at a picture. Erase the people. Then look at the room. You have the altar, the chancel, the altar rail, the pews... Yes, in all but name, it is a traditional Christian church! And after seeing the architecture, it should be no surprise to recall the fervor over posting the 10 Commandments in Courthouses, and other inclusions of Christianity.
(While looking for an image to accompany this blog, I came across this interesting syllabus which focuses on the transition from the Traditionalist to the Modernist meme, http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://academic.shu.edu/honors/James%2520I.jpg&imgrefurl=http://academic.shu.edu/honors/2103.html&usg=__8fAkSqviDTbGJaiDF01d_GAIYTs=&h=450&w=330&sz=25&hl=en&start=97&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=hs7U_I3axYIbaM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=93&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlaw%2Bimages%2Bfree%26start%3D80%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US%26rlz%3D1I7GPEA_en%26ndsp%3D20%26tbs%3Disch:1 )
The Modernist/Rational meme sees all the downside of allowing religion to be in charge of civil affairs--including law. Here the emphasis is on having rules that are independent of religion and stand on their own. The US Constitution was created by Modernists. However, there are also downsides to the Rational view. Among them is the adversarial nature of the law. Having Capitalism as their economic model, with an implied economic darwinism, it was natural to again favor competition as a model for legal disputes.
Enter the Pluralists. While Traditionalists are satisfied with God having predetermined rules and judgments, and Modernists want the parties to compete, Post-Modernists want the parties to be satisfied with the outcomes of legal processes. This is a driving force behind mediation, but the Pluralists do not limit themselves to mediation. Basically Pluralists maintain that everyone deserves respect and input into their outcomes, even if they are the admitted guilty party.
As a reader, I hope you can see how one worldview/meme grows into the next. The Traditionalist view--putting God in charge--really is superseded by the Modernist view, allowing impartial judges and juries to determine the outcome of the legal fight. Both are smaller than the Pluralist ideal of having all parties grow and gain from the dispute.
Today there are so few people operating above the Pluralist/Post-Modernist level that I cannot say what social systems, including legal systems, will be coming in our future.
Lalia
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