Law and Culture

3 units

We live in an age when social policy is increasingly displaced into the realm of law, when justice and equality are matters of courtroom debate rather than public discussion. Legal language has become a key resource in all kinds of struggles over livelihood and ways of life. In this course, we study the cultural dimensions of law and law's changing relationship to state power, the global economy, social movements, and everyday life. We approach law as a system of rules, obligations, and procedures, but also a cultural practice, moral regime, and disciplinary technique. How are relationships between legal, political, and economic realms structured and with what consequences? How does law provide tools for both social struggle and social control? What does anthropology contribute to research on these issues? In exploring these questions, we combine readings from classical legal anthropology with recent ethnographic work from around the globe.