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Social Anthropology and Law

Social Anthropology and Law 128 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW [Vol. 28 LAW & ANTHROPOLOGY SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND LAW. Ian Hamnett (ed.). London: Aca­ demic Press, 1977. Pp. viii, 234. Reviewed by Richard L. Abel* This collection of six essays, selected from seventeen presented at a 1974 A.S.A. conference, illustrates the strengths and weaknesses of interdisciplinary work in law and anthropology. Both qualities re­ flect the undeveloped theoretical structure of contemporary scholar­ ship. That this should be the primary stumbling block is not surprising. Legal theory is not readily adapted to th e new interdisci­ plinary endeavor (though it has nevertheless been extremely influ­ ential), for it tends to be highly normative, ethnocentric and divorced from social reality. Anthropological theory has always been overshadowed by the concern with ethnography and the effort required to produce an adequate description of social behavior in exotic societies. In these circumstances, the search for adequate theory takes what seem to me to be a number of wrong turns. First, there is the temptation to construct straw persons who are promptly, and read­ ily, knocked down. Thus Hamnett, in his Introduction, criticizes an­ thropologists for reducing law to social control (p. 4); yet few contemporary scholars still http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png American Journal of Comparative Law Oxford University Press

Social Anthropology and Law

Abel, Richard L.
American Journal of Comparative Law , Volume 28 (1) – Jan 1, 1980
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Publisher
Oxford University Press
Copyright
© 1980 by The American Association for the Comparative Study of Law, Inc.
ISSN
0002-919X
eISSN
2326-9197
DOI
10.2307/839743
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

128 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW [Vol. 28 LAW & ANTHROPOLOGY SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND LAW. Ian Hamnett (ed.). London: Aca­ demic Press, 1977. Pp. viii, 234. Reviewed by Richard L. Abel* This collection of six essays, selected from seventeen presented at a 1974 A.S.A. conference, illustrates the strengths and weaknesses of interdisciplinary work in law and anthropology. Both qualities re­ flect the undeveloped theoretical structure of contemporary scholar­ ship. That this should be the primary stumbling block is not surprising. Legal theory is not readily adapted to th e new interdisci­ plinary endeavor (though it has nevertheless been extremely influ­ ential), for it tends to be highly normative, ethnocentric and divorced from social reality. Anthropological theory has always been overshadowed by the concern with ethnography and the effort required to produce an adequate description of social behavior in exotic societies. In these circumstances, the search for adequate theory takes what seem to me to be a number of wrong turns. First, there is the temptation to construct straw persons who are promptly, and read­ ily, knocked down. Thus Hamnett, in his Introduction, criticizes an­ thropologists for reducing law to social control (p. 4); yet few contemporary scholars still

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American Journal of Comparative Law – Oxford University Press

Published: Jan 1, 1980

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