Anthropology of Law
"Introduction to the Anthropology of Law: Law and Development"
Inhalte: In this course we discuss how law affects the social life of persons and organizations. We will explore this in situations in which social actors may have to deal not only with the law of the state, but also with customary or religious law, and increasingly also with transnational law.
We focus on the use of law for development purposes. Legal regulation and institutions have been used as a major instrument for economic and social change from the colonial period onwards. They are not only employed by governments and international development agencies, but also by NGOs and religious movements.
The course will discuss the significance of law in development theory and practice and the waves of legal engineering projects that have taken place from colonial times until the present. By looking at the social practices in which law is being used, we will explore the merits of seeing law as an instrument of social change. This will be shown with illustrations from major development programmes concerning land reform, structural adjustment and attempts to bring about good governance and democracy. This will form the basis for discussing the intended and unintended consequences when new law is introduced into situations that are already characterized by legal pluralism and the problems resulting from the conflicts between different legal orders. This in turn allows us to look at the cultural understandings of the various laws involved in processes of law and development and at the resulting social changes.
Leistungsnachweis: Grundlagenschein, fachspezifische Fremdsprachenqualifikation.