Programme

This course introduces students to key concepts of legal anthropology to comprehend the relationship between legal processes and other aspects of cultural, social and political life in the pluralistic context.
The intent of this course is a focus on themes regarding the complexity and the challenges posed in law by the increasing cultural diversity within our societies. Students will be stimulated to reflect on the implications of an anthropological understanding of the law and different legal traditions as investigated by anthropologists and to try to use these notions in concrete situations.

Core Documentation

June Starr, Jane F. Collier, 2018, History and Power in the Study of Law: New Directions in Legal Anthropology, Cornell University Press, (pdf in Jstor open access, selected articles)

Merry Engle S., 1992, Anthropology, Law, and Transnational Processes, Annual Review of Anthropology Vol. 21 (1992), pp. 357-379 (pdf in Jstor)

Unni Wikan, 2008, Delitti d’onore. La storia di Fadime, Antropologia (http://www.ledijournals.com/ojs/index.php/antropologia/article/view/162)

Fusaschi M. 2014, “Luoghi della migrazione e corpi della tradizione. Aggravanti e attenuanti culturali in materia di modificazioni dei genitali femminili”, in Studi emigrazione/Migration Studies, (in pdf)

Type of delivery of the course

Seminar lectures are planned. The presence and active participation of students are essential

Attendance

Attending is recommended but not mandatory

Type of evaluation

For attenders students, a paper to be discussed in class on a topic decided upon during the course. For non-attenders: an oral interview. It is also possible to submit a written paper, to be agreed with the lecturer, no later than the end of the course.