Nafziger, James A. R. --- "Introduction to comparative law and anthropology" [2017] ELECD 1592; in Nafziger, A.R. James (ed), "Comparative Law and Anthropology" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 1

Book Title: Comparative Law and Anthropology

Editor(s): Nafziger, A.R. James

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781955178

Section: Chapter 1

Section Title: Introduction to comparative law and anthropology

Author(s): Nafziger, James A. R.

Number of pages: 14

Abstract/Description:

At the congested intersection of law and anthropology today, legal pluralism and anthropological eclecticism are prominent, perhaps even paramount. If, indeed, the roads from law lead plainly to anthropology, as the jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. famously observed, there is significant traffic in both directions. The chapters in this book demonstrate the mutuality, though certainly not congruence, between the two disciplines. By integrating insights from anthropology and kindred social sciences about social ordering as well as systems of knowledge and power within diverse cultural contexts, the concept of legal pluralism enriches our understanding of law and institutions, not only in a purely normative sense, but also in the actual practices of particular societies and the world at large. One can readily appreciate why, for over a half century, such “interdisciplinary study – the analysis of questions across the divide between disciplines – has come to dominate legal scholarship.” Reciprocally, insights from the legal profession help shape the contours of social and cultural anthropology. Of course, the concept of legal pluralism, derived from empirical investigation and analysis across a disciplinary divide, must do more than simply alert us to the breadth, diversity and complexity of social controls. It must help reveal the issues and choices that the broadened field of analysis entails for individuals, communities, governing authorities and intergovernmental organizations. For example, if “the law,” at least in nontotalitarian societies, can be seen as a flexible language that extends beyond authoritative rules to control deviant behavior, then its social impact may entail individual actions in pursuit of