Sociological and Anthropological Approaches to Law
A number of researchers at the Centre carry out research on topics that require them to engage in fieldwork and to make use of ideas and models developed by sociologists and anthropologists of law. They investigate law in its social context, formal and informal social practices, and the nature of law in culturally and historically diverse settings.
Research Topics
Comparative studies of legal cultures
Legal cultures in transition: the impact of the European Union (Dr Marina Kurkchiyan and Agnieszka Kubal)
An international research team, sponsored by the Norwegian Research Council, is examining the extent to which local legal cultures are responding to the integration processes of the EU. How different are the legal cultures among EU member countries and their near-neighbours? Is there a tendency towards the convergence of legal cultures and the emergence of common patterns of behaviour and ways of thinking about law? Are there variations in the responses to EU harmonisation?
As a part of this project, Marina Kurkchiyan is conducting research on legal consciousness in England, Poland and Bulgaria in order to identify what is unique in the way in which people construct their concepts of law. She is asking whether it is possible to identify differences between these countries in the meanings that people attach to law.
Russian legal culture (Dr. Marina Kurkchiyan)
A series of studies have been carried out scrutinising formal institutions of conflict resolution and examining the way in which they have changed and evolved. Others have examined the cultural context of law by analysing popular attitudes and behaviour in relation to the handling of disputes.
Social order and conflict resolution
Tibetan law and conflict resolution (Dr Fernanda Pirie)
Two related projects have involved extensive investigation into methods of conflict resolution, patterns of order and state-society relations in both Ladakh and Amdo (the Tibetan areas of India and China). Fernanda Pirie is currently analysing the nature of the Chinese state and the methods it employs in its governance of the Tibetan population.
The English Bar
The Bar: an anthropological study (Dr Fernanda Pirie)
The body of professional barristers has a long history, exceptionally strong traditions, highly specialised practices, ethics and standards. In her new research project Fernanda Pirie is asking how the internal structures, practices, beliefs and values of the Bar and its members relate to the practice and provision of justice and to the survival of the profession through a period of extensive review and reform.
The development of law: historical and anthropological comparisons
Non-state law (Dr Fernanda Pirie, Dr Paul Dresch, Dr Judith Scheele, Dr Malcolm Vale)
In this research project, based at St. John’s College, a group of anthropologists and historians is combining to explore the nature of law as it develops, largely through the creation of texts, beyond or before the rise of the state. Anthropological examples from the Middle East, North Africa and elsewhere and being analysed by comparison with historical examples, particularly from Medieval Europe.
Within Oxford Transitional Justice Research Dr. Phil Clark and others are using anthropological and sociological approaches to the study of justice and transition in societies recovering from mass conflict or repressive rule.
Students and Associates working in this area
