Utopias of Crime: Review of the Maurice Halbwachs Summer Institute 2016
“They say everyone’s born a hero. But if you let it, life will push you over the line until you’re the villain. Problem is, you don’t always know…
Tag: law
On the responsibilities of panelists
So you can tell what’s coming here. The short version is: should panelists provide for a good show (topical, interesting, cutting edge, the presentation of new research, ideas,…
The Good DPO
The editors of Anthropoliteia welcome Olly Owen with a dispatch from fieldwork with police in Nigeria. Olly Owen is ESRC research fellow at Oxford University’s Department of International Develo…
Animal Trafficking Is Big Business on Instagram
Social media platforms can be used to perpetuate the trafficking of animals and animal products such as bear bile, which is commonly harvested from Asiatic black bears. Lee…
Environmentality
Governmentality and environmentality can articulate how and why waste becomes a medium through which to understand power and changing human-waste interactions
#Podcast Interview Round Up January-April: New Books in Anthropology – REDUX
Hi there pod-pickers, here’s another earful of podcasts for you to squeeze into your drums, freshly prepared by our audiophile associates New Books in Anthropology. As ever each…
The Flipside of Counterfeit Goods
Although they are often illegal, counterfeit electronics such as these fake iPhones continue to be manufactured in China and distributed widely due to high demand for inexpensive products.…
Arizona’s Inmate Firefighters
In the state of Arizona, all able-bodied incarcerated people are required to work. Most prison jobs are monotonous and consist of low-skill, assembly line–style labor. The hourly wage…
The Prominence of Consent
Is understanding consent as “simple as tea?” Increasingly, we have begun to think that it is common sense to see rape and other forms of sexual assault almost…
In the Journals – May 2016
Summer is here and that means that most of us will no doubt be undertaking fieldwork of some sort. But fear not, as we here at In the…
Rules of the Underworld
Since the beginning of Mexico’s drug war in 2006, approximately 80,000 people have been killed in organized crime–related incidents. More than 26,000 others are still missing. Despite attempts to…
Should Chimps Be Considered People Under the Law?
A New York State Supreme Court ruling in 2014 decided that chimpanzees are not persons with rights because they cannot bear legal duties and responsibilities. But this is…
On Chinese Pedagogical Legalism (and its Anthropological Ghost) #fictions
“You have already been incredibly faithful towards the man. And you have been following all the relevant rules for establishing a co-operative. Now, what you need to do…
The Emergence of “Divorce Before Consummation” as a Legal Category in Jordanian Sharia Courts #fictions
Today’s inquiry into the nature of legal fictions takes us to Jordan’s government-run Sharia courts, where the concept of “divorce before consummation” (ṭalāq qabl al-dakhūl) has become something…
New Forms of Law and Governance for and from the Arctic
This in an invitation to a seminar on adaptive law and governance in the Arctic. Researcher Ivanova (left) studying native fisheries governance with the Lariny family in the…
LIVING #FICTIONS
The theme of “living fictions” comes from a presentation I gave at a recent meeting of the EASA Anthropology of Law and Rights network and builds on its…
The Right to Own Living Memorials
Are you an organ donor? Have you donated your body to science? Have you donated a loved one’s body to science? If you answer yes to any of…
Stone Age Site Saved
A Stone Age archaeological site in South Africa has been saved from the threat of diamond mining. The site, called Canteen Kopje, is renowned for its cache of…
Notes From a Crime Scene
Drive out in the late afternoon to one of the many hills on the outskirts of the tiny Arizona town of Arivaca and look west. You will see…
Diamond Mine Threatens Stone Age Artifacts
Researchers are panicking as a Stone Age archaeological site in South Africa called Canteen Kopje is facing demolition by diamond mining. Miners have already started to clear the…
Exploring Boundaries: From Access to Female Sexworkers to the Question of Research
When designing a research project, a researcher’s initial plans are often interrupted by what data we actually can access. Whether negotiating political structures, cultural taboos, necessary permissi…
A View From the Train Tracks
In September 2015, the disturbing image of a drowned Syrian toddler named Aylan Kurdi, whose body had washed ashore on a beach in Turkey, triggered an international outcry…
#Review: Illegality, Inc.: Clandestine Migration and the Business of Bordering Europe
It is a banal insight that law creates the illegal and the conditions for illegality. At the most basic level, crossing a border without the required identification (passport)…