Law and legal practice inside and outside Europe are regularly challenged by an (increasing) diversity of cultures, communities and practices. Vis-à-vis the diversity of contemporary societies, law—intended as both legal practice and scholarship—and anthropology pursue aims and deploy ways of dealing with it which are different, but also complementary. The objective of this training is to enable participants to reflect as to how anthropological or anthropologically-informed understandings of legal texts, phenomena, approaches and practices can nuance and enrich legal thinking.
This three-day training equips participants with basic theoretical and methodological knowledge of the field of law and anthropology, and offers concrete insights into how anthropology is being applied across different legal fields. Through introductory lectures and presentations given by departmental members on their research projects, participants will gain a general overview of what the field of law and anthropology (‘L&A’) is and may contribute to legal thinking. This training aims also to speak directly to the participants and their research projects with the aim to inspire a process of ‘rethinking’ on their part, under the lead of L&A scholars based at the department of ‘Law and Anthropology’ (MPI Halle) and beyond. Participants will have the unique opportunity to introduce their research projects to a community of L&A scholars, engage in small-group discussions directed to unpack critical concepts and reflect upon crucial questions at the core of L&A, as well as to benefit from one-to-one conversations with L&A scholars aimed to discuss (specific aspects of) their work in depth from an interdisciplinary perspective. Given the prominent role given to participants and the interactive atmosphere the training aims to create, the course is limited to 10–20 participants (from Max Planck Law). The organizers will make a final selection about participation and enrolment after reviewing all submitted registrations in the first week of May. The event is planned in person. Some sessio—eg, introductory and keynote lectures—might be live-streamed.