The Future of the Anthropology of Law
Ronald Niezen. 2017. The Future of the Anthropology of Law. PoLAR online
5 Pages Posted: 25 Sep 2017
Date Written: February 1, 2017
Abstract
What are the implications of the electronic architecture of the Internet and the communities it creates for activism, claims-making, and the opinion and persuasion behind the compliance of non-binding obligations? I am curious to know more about how this phenomenon of knowledge production and enclosure (which we saw amply in the recent U.S. election) plays out in claims-making, in recourse to judicial process, or challenges to its legitimacy. Does online activism reinforce the markers of identity that are at the foundations of collective legal claims? How are rights movements legitimated and strategically facilitated by the resources of new media? What are the ways that the “democratization” and refraction toward the self of the tools of propaganda are influencing justice claims? And, what are the consequences of the new ways of assessing and developing commitments to the “truth” in online legal activism? We are just at the beginning of being able to formulate answers to these questions.
Keywords: internet, activism, identity, legal claims
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation