Folk Law: Essays in the Theory and Practice of Lex Non Scripta / Edition 1

by Alison Dundes Renteln

Overview

In every culture there exists unwritten law--obligations and prohibitions that are understood and passed on, and transgressions that are punished. Folk Law, a comprehensive two-volume collection of essays, examines this meeting place of folklore and jurisprudence. The contributors explore the historical significance and implications of folk law, its continuing influence around the globe, and the conflicts that arise when folk law diverges from official law.
The collection begins by defining various forms of "folk law," drawing on examples from many cultures. The second section provides historical profiles of pioneering figures in the study of folk law. Following sections examine field research techniques used to identify folk laws; aspects of folk law within the realm of rituals, songs, and other forms of expressive culture; instances where folk law comes into conflict with national law, and the role of folk law in the international arena. The volumes also include description and analysis of two approaches to folk law--the rule approach, in which scholars dissect the codes that underlie folk law, and the case approach, in which researchers examine specific cases involving folk law.
Valuable for students and scholars of law, folklore, or anthropology, this extensive casebook marks a rare interdisciplinary approach to two important areas of research.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780299143442
Publisher:	University of Wisconsin Press
Publication date:	09/15/1995
Series:	Folklore Casebks.
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	1054
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.80(h) x 2.30(d)

About the Author

Alison Dundes Renteln is professor of political science at the University of Southern California. She is the author of International Human Rights: Universalism versus Relativism. Alan Dundes is professor of folklore and anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. His other casebooks published by the University of Wisconsin Press include Oedipus, The Wisdom of Many, The Cockfight, The Evil Eye, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and The Blood Libel Legend. He is also the author of Parsing through Customs: Essays by a Freudian Folklorist.

Table of Contents

Volume II. Part 1: Cases of Folk Law. 1. Trouble-Cases and Trouble-less Cases in the Study of Customary Law and Legal Reform. 2. Injury and Liability in African Customary Law in Zambia, A. L. Epstein. 3. Witchcraft and the Law, Roger Howman. 4. White Man's Law Among Filipino Tribesmen, R. F. Barton. 5. The Legal Process in a Village in North India: The Case of Maya, R. S. Freed. 6. The Litigious Daughter-in-Law: Family Relations in Rural Russia in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century, Beatrice Farnsworth. 7. Pigs and Positivism, Hendrik Hartog. Part II: Folk Law in Conflict. 8. 'Civilized' Law and 'Primitive' Peoples, L. C. Green. 9. Conflicts of Western and Non-Western Law, R. D. Kollewijn. 10. The Conflict of Laws in Africa, E. G. Unsworth. 11. The Inarticulate Premise, Robert B. Seidman. 12. The Otieno Case: African Customary Law Versus Western Jurisprudence, Roy Carleton Howell. 13. Legal Recognition and Protection of Minority Customs in a Plural Society in England, Alec Samuels. 14. Culture and Culpability: A Study of Contrasts, Alison Dundes Renteln. Part III: International Folk Law. 15. Francois Geny's Doctrine of Customary Law, Peter E. Benson. 16. What Constitutes Custom in International Law?, Nirmala Naganathan. 17. Unwritten International Law, Rudolf Bernhardt. 18. Soviet Theory of the Legal Nature of Customary International Law, Richard J. Erickson. 19. The Myth of Customary International Law, N. C. H. Dunbar. 20. The Enforceability of Customary Norms of Public International Law, Steven M. Schneebaum. 21. Custom as a Source of International Law of Outer Space, Vladlen S. Vereshchetin and Gennady M. Danilenko, 22. Customary Law: From 'Universal' in a European System to 'Regional' in a World System, Allan Rosas.

Editorial Reviews

"A prodigious effort. The editors, one a specialist in jurisprudence and the other a folklorist, have collected fifty-eight essays previously published in a wide range of places. . . . Their product is must reading for students of law, particularly those interested in comparative politics and law."--Choice

From the Publisher

Folk law is a socially defined group's orally transmitted traditional body of obligations and prohibitions. The editors, a specialist in jurisprudence and a folklorist, have collected some of the most interesting essays written about folk law, with the intention of facilitating the serious study of folk law by anyone curious about the subject matter. The essays are organized into eight sections: the definition of folk law; pioneers in the study of folk law; the ascertainment of folk law (i.e., the fieldwork and recording techniques used); the expression of folk law in folklore, symbol, and ritual; codes of folk law; cases of folk law; folk law in conflict; and international folk law. No index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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