Book Review: Cultural Law: International, Comparative, and Indigenous, by James A. R. Nafziger, Robert Kirkwood Paterson & Alison Dundes Renteln

Research output: Book/Film/Article reviewpeer-review

Abstract

International, Comparative, and Indigenous (Cultural Law) is a treatise that explores the relationships between culture and law. It is a pioneering and remarkable contribution to a burgeoning field. While there have been books about law and culture generally, 3 as well as books about the specific contexts in which law and culture intersect, this is the first book to tie these elements together in a comprehensive volume. Designed as a course text and reference work, the book begins with some of cultural law's articulations, moves on to definitional terms and debates, and then turns to culture and law in specific contexts. It is filled with case excerpts, scholarship, and media articles alongside authorial commentary and discussion questions. Th is terrain is vast-and there is no necessary complementarity between the specific contexts of culture and law-so it is not surprising that the book is hefty in both volume and content. Th is review provides an overview of the book's content, as well as an analysis of its approach and orientation. In so doing, it seeks to position this text against the broader background of law's fraught relationship with culture. It proceeds in three Parts. First, the review highlights the contribution this text makes to the field. Second, it parses the organization and content of the book. Third, it explores dimensions of the relationship between law and culture that were not included in the book and suggests why these exclusions might matter.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)471-478
JournalOsgoode Hall Law Journal
Volume50
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012

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