Abstract

This paper aims to analyze some developments in comparative methodology in the 21st century, and its prospects as a necessary tool for comparative research in times of complexity and technology. The knowledge of different methods represents a requirement for comparative research on complex topics. From this point of view, we can consider functionalism not as mainstream, but only one of the methods followed by legal scholars for comparative analysis. The methodology has been enriched with new approaches, from interdisciplinarity to quantitative analysis, with the aspiration to achieve a deep comparison, also with the aid of new research technologies. These developments, which make it possible to distinguish between new and old methods, can be put to the test, and questioned, in the study of differences also through the use of negative dialectics.