In an arguably post-Washington Consensus era, horizontal learning is promoted as a new strategy for development by an interdisciplinary movement that includes critical law and development scholars. Horizontal learning describes a process-oriented approach that emphasises networking amongst global South nations leading to legislative development and policy experimentation. As a means to explore this new development approach, this paper examines India's attempt to appropriate, for use in a draft mining bill, elements of the law of a similarly situated developing country, South Africa. The case study suggests that a failure to retain the underlying social and political policy motivations for the model legislation can undermine the ability of the new legal regime to effectuate its policy goals.
