This contribution considers the Kelsenian project of a legal science of positive law against the backdrop of a striking shift in orientation away from a distinctively Kelsenian theoretical and methodological framework for the comprehension of positive law. The authors examine and problematize contemporary formulations of legal positivism which have a tendency to simplify, downplay, disengage from or renounce an unambiguously Kelsenian conceptualisation of law as a normative order. In so doing, the authors clear the ground for a critical reconstruction and assessment of the continued relevance of Kelsenian legal science for contemporary legal theories positive law.