The SAGE Handbook of Cultural Anthropology is the first instalment of The SAGE Handbook of the Social Sciences series and encompasses major specialities as well as key interdisciplinary themes relevant to the field. Globally, societies are facing major upheaval and change, and the social sciences are fundamental to the analysis of these issues, as well as the development of strategies for addressing them. This handbook provides a rich overview of the discipline and has a future focus whilst using international theories and examples throughout. The SAGE Handbook of Cultural Anthropology is an essential resource for social scientists globally and contains a rich body of chapters on all major topics relevant to the field, whilst also presenting a possible road map for the future of the field. Part 1: Foundations; Part 2: Focal Areas; Part 3: Urgent Issues; and Part 4: Short Essays: Contemporary Critical Dynamics.

Anthropology of Law

Anthropology of law
Alan Smart

Introduction

This essay has two goals. The first three sections address law in a classic comparative anthropological manner, exploring the range of variation across time and space of legal institutions, ideas and processes. This goal requires attention to something that no longer exists but was the focus of early ethnographic research: stateless societies. The following three sections consider theoretical approaches still widely used in the anthropology of law. Far from covering the full range of current approaches, they are selected in part because I can draw on my own research to illustrate them. In doing so, I consider a number of broad questions. What did the field's pioneers say that is still relevant for studying ...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles