The Power of Law in a Transnational World: Anthropological Enquiries

Published by Berghahn Books 2009

The Power of Law in a Transnational World

Anthropological Enquiries

Edited by: Keebet von Benda-Beckmann , Franz von Benda-Beckmann and Anne Griffiths

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781845459161

Overview
Contents

About this book

How is law mobilized and who has the power and authority to construct its meaning? This important volume examines this question as well as how law is constituted and reconfigured through social processes that frame both its continuity and transformation over time. The volume highlights how power is deployed under conditions of legal pluralism, exploring its effects on livelihoods and on social institutions, including the state. Such an approach not only demonstrates how the state, through its various development programs and organizational structures, attempts to control territory and people, but also relates the mechanisms of state control to other legal modes of control and regulation at both local and supranational levels.

Author / Editor information

Keebet von Benda-Beckmann is head of the Project Group Legal Pluralism at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany. She also is an honorary professor in Leipzig and Halle. Her research in Indonesia and the Netherlands focuses on legal pluralism, social security, governance and on the role of religion in disputing processes.

Franz von Benda-Beckmann is head of the Project Group Legal Pluralism at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany. He also is an honorary professor in Leipzig and Halle. His research in Malawi and Indonesia focuses on property and inheritance, social security, governance and legal anthropological theory.

Anne Griffiths has a personal chair in Anthropology of Law at the University of Edinburgh in the School of Law. Her major research interests include anthropology of law, comparative and family law, African law, gender, culture and rights. She has been awarded research grants from the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council), the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (USA), the Annenberg Foundation (USA), the British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust, the Commonwealth Foundation, the Carnegie Trust and the American Bar Foundation.

Keebet von Benda-Beckmann is head of the Project Group Legal Pluralism at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany. She also is an honorary professor in Leipzig and Halle. Her research in Indonesia and the Netherlands focuses on legal pluralism, social security, governance and on the role of religion in disputing processes.

Reviews

“…essential reading for scholars interested in understanding sociopolitical change under globalization in the early 21st century…I recommend [this volume] for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in legal anthropology, political anthropology, the anthropology of the state, and globalization. Several chapters could also be creatively woven into courses on the anthropology of religion.” · PoLAR

"...there is much common ground between the contributors, and the variety of contexts and situations are valuable for showing how the unifying themes… work out on different grounds." · Journal of Legal Pluralism

"This fascinating collection of articles sheds new light on the way law exercises power in a transnational world, from the crises of terrorism to the subtle introduction of new law within development projects. This set of articles provides new evidence of the important insights offered by legal pluralism and anthropological methodologies for understanding the nature of transnational, national, and local systems of law." · Sally Engle Merry, New York University

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	iv
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	vi
Introduction THE POWER OF LAW Franz von Benda-Beckmann, Keebet von Benda-Beckmann and Anne Griffiths Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
POWER OF LAW AS DISCOURSE Claims to Legitimacy and Higher Morality
1 THE MILITARY ORDER OF 13 NOVEMBER 2001 An Ethnographic Reading Carol J. Greenhouse Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
2 LAW AND THE FRONTIERS OF ILLEGALITIES Laura Nader Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	54
3 SELECTIVE SCRUTINY Supranational Engagement with Minority Protection and Rights in Europe Jane K. Cowan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	74
4 THE GLOBALIZATION OF FATWAS AMIDST THE TERROR WARS AGAINST PLURALISM Upendra Baxi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	96
5 HUMAN RIGHTS, CULTURAL RELATIVISM AND LEGAL PLURALISM Towards a Two-dimensional Debate Franz von Benda-Beckmann Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
AT THE INTERSECTION OF LEGALITIES
6 LEARNING COMMUNITIES AND LEGAL SPACES Community-based Fisheries Management in a Globalizing World Melanie G. Wiber and John F. Kearney Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
7 PROJECT LAW – A POWER INSTRUMENT OF DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES A Case Study from Burundi Markus Weilenmann Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	156
8 HALF-TOLD TRUTHS AND PARTIAL SILENCE Managing Communication in Scottish Children’s Hearings Anne Griffiths and Randy F. Kandel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	176
RELIGION AS A RESOURCE IN LEGAL PLURALISM
9 KEEPING THE STREAM OF JUSTICE CLEAR AND PURE The Buddhicization of Bhutanese Law Richard W. Whitecross Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
10 BALANCING ISLAM, ADAT AND THE STATE Comparing Islamic and Civil Courts in Indonesia Keebet von Benda-Beckmann Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	216
11 KINGS, MONKS, BUREAUCRATS AND THE POLICE Tibetan Responses to Law and Authority Fernanda Pirie Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	236
Notes on Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	254
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	259

Language: English
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 280
Keywords: Development Studies; Anthropology (General)

eBook

Published: May 1, 2009
ISBN: 9781845459161