Overview

This book draws on concrete cases of collaboration between anthropologists and legal practitioners to critically assess the use of anthropological expertise in a variety of legal contexts from the point of view of the anthropologist as well as of the decision-maker or legal practitioner. The contributions, several of which are co-authored by anthropologist–legal practitioner tandems, deal with the roles of and relationships between anthropologists and legal professionals, which are often collaborative, interdisciplinary, and complementary. Such interactions go far beyond courts and litigation into areas of law that might be called ‘social justice activism’. They also entail close collaboration with the people –often subjects of violence and dispossession –with whom the anthropologists and legal practitioners are working. The aim of this collection is to draw on past experiences to come up with practical methodological suggestions for facilitating this interaction and collaboration and for enhancing the efficacy of the use of anthropological expertise in legal contexts. Explicitly designed to bridge the gap between theory and practice, and between scholarship and practical application, the book will appeal to scholars and researchers engaged in anthropology, legal anthropology, socio-legal studies, and asylum and migration law. It will also be of interest to legal practitioners and applied social scientists, who can glean valuable lessons regarding the challenges and rewards of genuine collaboration between legal practitioners and social scientists. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.

Full Product Details

Author:   Marie-Claire Foblets ,  Maria Sapignoli ,  Brian Donahoe
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
ISBN:  

9780367540685

ISBN 10:   0367540681
Pages:   222
Publication Date:   26 December 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements vii Contributors ix Legal Practitioners and Anthropologists in Dialogue: Returning to the Spirit of Complementarity and Collaboration 1 BRIAN DONAHOE, MARIE-CLAIRE FOBLETS, AND MARIA SAPIGNOLI PART I Anthropologists and Lawyers in Conversation: Case Studies 21 1 Collection and Use of Country of Origin Information in the United Kingdom’s Refugee Status Determination Process: The Case of Sri Lanka 23 ANTHONY PATERSON AND ANTHONY GOOD 2 Depositions and Dilemmas: Anthropological Collaboration with Lawyers on Indigenous Legal Cases in Botswana 50 GORDON BENNETT AND ROBERT K HITCHCOCK 3 Using and Refusing Indigenous Rights Law in Southern Chile 75 CHARLES HALE AND JOSE AYLWIN 4 Evolving Roles of the Cultural Expert: Anthrolegal Praxis, Friction, and the Pursuit of Justice in the Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal Proceedings 91 BARBARA ROSE JOHNSTON PART II Reflections on the Use of Expertise 121 5 Contributions of Ethnography of Science to Judicial Assessment of Environmental Expert Testimony: Case Study from Risk Assessment in the Marine Environment 123 MELANIE WIBER, DONNA CURTIS MAILLET, AND ALLAIN BARNETT 6 The Predicament of Expertise in the Revival of Indigenous Legal Traditions 136 RONALD NIEZEN 7 Observations from Working as a Legal Anthropologist in the Customary Law Ascertainment Project of Namibia 143 MANFRED HINZ 8 Witchcraft Beliefs and Practices in Asylum Cases: Impressions from Legal-Anthropological Collaboration 153 KATIA BIANCHINI AND SOPHIE ANDREETTA 9 The Ignorance of an Expert Witness 164 ANNIKA RABO 10 Reflections on Anthropological ‘Expert’ Reports in UK Legal Asylum Cases 177 DEEMA KANEFF 11 Culture as a ‘Matter of Fact’?: Reflections on a First-time ‘Cultural Defence’ in Court 190 HARIKA DAUTH 12 Beyond Case-by-Case Cultural Expertise 207 ILENIA RUGGIU Index 217

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Author Information

Marie-Claire Foblets is Director of the Department of Law & Anthropology at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany and Honorary Professor at the universities of Leuven (Belgium), Halle (Germany), and Leipzig (Germany). Maria Sapignoli is Associate Professor of Social Anthropology in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Milan (Italy) and Cooperation Partner in the Law & Anthropology Department, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany. Brian Donahoe is Senior Scientific Editor of the Law & Anthropology Department, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany.

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