CULTURAL AND LEGAL STUDIES AS A METHODOLOGY OF LEGAL RESEARCH: CONCEPTUALIZING CULTURAL AND LEGAL IDENTITY

Abstract

The purpose. The aim of this article is to reveal the methodological potential of cultural and legal studies in the conceptualization and examination of cultural and legal identity. Research methods. The study was conducted within an interdisciplinary methodological approach (at the intersection of philosophy, philosophy of law, jurisprudence, cultural studies, and history). The comparative legal method was employed to analyze constitutional texts in order to identify the specifics of national legal cultures and institutional identity. Results. The article provides a comprehensive theoretical and methodological analysis of the phenomenon of cultural and legal identity through the lens of the modern interdisciplinary paradigm of cultural and legal studies. It is substantiated that contemporary legal science requires moving beyond a narrow normative understanding of law, positioning it not only as a system of formal prescriptions and state institutions, but also as a complex cultural phenomenon. The study examines the methodological potential of expanding the source base of jurisprudence by incorporating cultural artifacts-fiction, media discourse, art, monuments of traditional culture, and the digital environment. It is demonstrated that it is through such sources that society constructs its ideas of justice, legitimacy, and legality. Particular attention is paid to the conceptualization of the binarity of cultural identity. It is proven that the binary nature of identity manifests at several levels: sociological (through the fundamental “Us vs. Them” opposition, inclusion, and exclusion), structural (the interaction between the static socio-code of a community and the dynamic processes of its reconstruction), ontological (the combination of a subjective sense of belonging and objective normative-institutional frameworks), and spatial (the dichotomy of material and immaterial cultural dimensions). The role of cultural and legal identity as a key mechanism for ensuring the ontological security of society – guaranteeing the predictability of social existence, the stability of the legal order, and the continuity of the community in the context of contemporary geopolitical and sociocultural transformations -is clarified. Conclusions. Law is a form of culture and a mechanism for reproducing the value culture of a specific community. Cultural identity defines the axiological space by shaping ideas about core social values, while law institutionalizes these values within a normative order. Furthermore, cultural identity acts as a specific filter through which the interpretation, implementation, and application of law occur.