Le "folk law" et l'infrastructure

Lecture by Amelia Thorpe, professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and 2025-2026 fellow at the Paris IAS, organized by the Observatory on Cycling and Active Mobility at the University of Lausanne.

Presentation

This lecture argues for an understanding of street governance as the interaction between formal rules and regulations, road infrastructure, and what I call “folk law.” Drawing on legal pluralism, legal consciousness, performativity, and prefiguration, I use the term “folk law” to describe conceptions of appropriate street use that derive their authority not from courts or legislators, but from customs and social acceptance.

Although some cities have made progress in reducing the social, economic, and environmental costs of car use, change in many cities is far too slow. Given both the importance of law in defining and evolving norms of street use and the limits of its ability to induce change, there is an urgent need to better understand how citizens' engagement with law and infrastructure could foster the transition to more sustainable urban forms and practices. Infrastructure and legality are deeply intertwined, and “folk law” can be more important than formal law in shaping how streets are used and understood.

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