4 cr.

5:30 - 7:45 p.m. Thursday

Class requires at least Senior Standing
Class meets with ANTH-E475, ANTH-E675, and FOLK-F755

Focusing on the relationship between law and society cross-
culturally this course examines systems developed by societies,
small and large, for resolving conflicts and for maintaining
continuity and stability over time. Consistent with the values and
structures of a society, legal systems set standards and establish
rules, but they also provide for the negotiation or resolution of
disputes and differences through courts or other dynamic sites of
interaction.  Moreover, in most societies one finds more than one
legal system operating, creating a situation of legal pluralism.
Building on these perspectives, the class will explore
anthropological studies of law within the following categories:
early studies by anthropologists of legal systems
considered “customary,” “folk,” or “indigenous,”; more recent
studies that take up problems such as “legal pluralism,” “law and
colonialism,” or the relationship between indigenous systems and the
state, or “access to justice” in any context. We will conclude with
attention to questions of human rights and intangible cultural
property. The course emphasizes the actual performance and practice
of legal issues in courts or other contexts. The various legal
systems represented in the readings and presentations will include
selected ones from Native American, African, Trobriand Islands, and
Islamic societies, as well as studies addressing contemporary issues
such as human rights, gender and law, cultural justice, and
intellectual property. Guest speakers will speak on specific
problems in the anthropology of law.

Students will write reviews of specific readings and present them in
class. Two papers will be required: one short paper at mid-point
through the semester, and one long paper (20 pages) at the end of
the semester on a specific legal system in a specific culture, or,
on a specific problem in the anthropology of law identified in the
class (e.g., legal pluralism, human rights, gender and law,
restorative justice, etc.).

Readings will be available through e reserves and textbooks.
Additional readings will be placed on reserve.

Texts:
Cowan, Jane, M.B. Dembour, Richard Wilson, eds. Culture and Rights:
Anthropological Perspectives. Cambridge University Press. 2001.

Sarat, Austin & Thomas Kearns, eds. Law in the Domains of Culture.
University of Michigan Press. 1998.

Stoeltje, Beverly, ed. Women, Language, and Law in Africa. Special
Issue of Africa Today. Vol. 49. 2002.

(This list of texts could change.)