著者

高野 さやか

出版者

中央大学総合政策学部

雑誌

総合政策研究(JJPC) (ISSN:13417827)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.27, pp.1-10, 2019-03-01

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Since the 1990s, both donor and recipient countries of international legal assistance programs have increased in number, working with diverse issues related to good governance and the rule of law. Although legal scholars and practitioners share the geographical area and topics with anthropologists, the dialogue between them is limited at this point. This article attempts to shed some light on the background of this situation to promote future interactions. Legal anthropology and anthropology of development both have a long history but have kept some distance from the rule of law building projects for different reasons. For example, the notion of rule of law, essential in the discourse of development, rarely enters anthropological discussions, because of the implicit social evolutionism that anthropologists try to overcome. However, it is also significant that the rule of law building is at present under the influence of participatory development theory, which allows considering the multiple layers of law and the dynamic interactions between them. On the other hand, legal pluralism, often regarded as a threat to rule of law, is for legal anthropologists, not a normative concept to be aimed for but is a social fact to start with. Understanding these different connotations of important terminologies would be beneficial in enhancing the space for cooperation between law and anthropology.