Teaching legal anthropology in a global society: new challenges for Law Schools

This paper is based on my experience teaching short courses and seminars in continental Europe and Canada. It focuses on the teaching of legal anthropology in Law Schools. Integrated into the social sciences, the concepts and methods used in legal anthropology have much to contribute to analyzing the complexity of contemporary societies, including topics traditionally unexplored by anthropologists of all types. Following a path analogously explored in cultural anthropology (e.g. Marcus), students can be encouraged to explore topics “traditionally” covered by legal anthropologists, such as immigration and ethnic minorities’ inclusion, as well as topics often considered “forbidden” to these scholars, including, for example, international economic negotiations within the WTO and international trade. This paper recommends strengthening students’ theoretical and historical knowledge as a crucial challenge that would reinforce the autonomy of legal anthropology as a social science. In addition, the paper considers developing the interdisciplinary intersections between legal anthropology and the legal disciplines as an opportunity to encourage a more accurate comparison of legal cultures, and therefore a deeper understanding of our globalised and connected societies. This dual approach fosters the vitality of legal anthropology and limits its isolation. The paper underscores that, while this integrated approach is well developed and part of the legal academic culture in North America, it is still underdeveloped and mostly unexplored among European Law Faculties.