· 2018
Crime and Custom in Savage Society
- 614citations
- 2018year
Short summary
Bronislaw Malinowski's seminal work argues that understanding social structure requires examining 'law,' not by how life submits to rules, but how rules adapt to life.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Malinowski's work establishes law as a crucial concept for understanding social structure and organization.
- The book champions rigorous methodology as a core element of anthropological practice.
- It reframes the study of law from how life submits to rules to how rules adapt to life.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Crime and Custom in Savage Society represents Bronislaw Malinowski's major discussion of the relationship between law and society. Throughout his career he constructed a coherent science of anthropology, one modeled on the highest standards of practice and theory. Methodology steps forward as a core element of the refashioned anthropology, one that stipulates the manner in which anthropological data should be acquired.Malinowski's choice of law was not inevitable, but neither was it unmotivated. Anyone interested in understanding the social structure and organization of societies cannot avoid dealing with the concept of "law," even if it is to deny its presence. Law and anthropology have shown a natural affinity for one another, sharing a beneficial history of using the methods and viewpoints of one to inform and advance the other.The best lesson Malinowski provides us with comes in the last paragraphs of Crime and Custom in Savage Society: "The true problem is not to study how human life submits to rules; the real problem is how the rules become adapted to life." On that question, he has left us richly inspired to continue the quest.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source., 2018 · DOI ↗
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Field: Geography, Planning and Development
Geography, Planning and DevelopmentSocial Sciences