Paper short abstract:

Legal pluralism is often assumed to be an unquestionable premise that ensures the dialogue between law and anthropology. However the same term could also cause puzzlement and confusion. This paper examines these dual consequences of legal pluralism by comparing cases from Indonesia and Japan.

Paper long abstract:

In legal anthropology, legal pluralism is often assumed to be an unquestionable premise that ensures the dialogue between law and anthropology. At the same time, however, it could lead to puzzlement and even bring the conversation to an end.

Similar to the term "cultural relativism", legal pluralism is a widely-accepted concept. In discussions between anthropologists and law scholars, it often works as an unquestionable premise. However, in some occasions I have encountered the same words leads to puzzlement among them and even bring their exchange to an end. What causes such a contradictory effect? Comparing two cases from different geographical settings, this paper examines these dual consequences of legal pluralism. First example is from academic discourses concerning law in Indonesia, where the concept legal pluralism is commonly employed. In this context legal pluralism never generate a controversy, since it appears as undisputable description of Indonesian society. The other is a research project we had conducted in Japan, collaborative work of a small group consisting of anthropologists and legal scientists. Here the idea stirred up some unexpected arguments between them and consequently makes explicit the difference of expectations for their counterparts. Through these examples this paper aims to sketch the contour of the problem legal anthropology is confronted with.

Paper short abstract:

Focusing on the reconciliation service in the villages of Vietnam, this paper proves that the communitarianism of socialist modernity and the contemporary global trend of local governance are rooted in the same soil of the 20th century's conceptions of social engineering.

Paper long abstract:

Focusing on the Reconciliation Service in the villages of Vietnam, this paper proves that the communitarianism of socialist modernity and the contemporary global trend of local governance are rooted in the same soil of the 20th century's conceptions of social engineering. It argues that anthropological studies of the legal institutions of (post) socialist countries are not anachronistic but indispensable for exploring the institutions and practices of popular justice in the contemporary world.

First, the paper shows that the solidarity of the villagers, which is supposed to support village reconciliation, is a product of socialist modernity. Based on an ethnographic research in a village in central Vietnam, it demonstrates the difficulties of villages in achieving autonomous mutual help and the actual basis of solidarity activated by the legacy of socialist collectivization and the framework of self-governance facilitated by the government since the 1990s.

Second, it shows that the practice of village reconciliation is also a product of modernity. The paper reveals the discrepancy between village arbitration in pre-modern Vietnam, facilitated by the French colonialists' association policy of the 1920s, and the Reconciliation Service advocated by the socialist government. The paper illustrates the socialist government's conception of community justice, using which it tried to enforce the morality of mutual help to create a basis for collectivization and mobilization. Additionally, the paper describes how the legacy of the socialist modernity articulates with contemporary global trend of participatory development and community governance.

Paper short abstract:

In this paper, I discuss so-called “preferential policies” for minorities in China, and explain how policy goals remain constant even as global economic trends affect the rules and organization of the structure.

Paper long abstract:

In China, preferential policies (youhui zhengce), which are sometimes compared to affirmative action in the US, take factors of ethnic affiliation into positive consideration. As it applies to higher education, such policies were originally intended to lessen educational and economic inequalities, and to provide equal opportunity. Chinese preferential policy measures, for example, allow for college preparatory programs to select minority students in China with scores below the regular cut-off point for college admission. The programs entail an additional 1-2 years of study, but ensure provisional college admittance.

Policy, as understood in the domain in which it is operational, attains its own logic apart from legal measures. Agreeing with Andrew Arno, who differentiates rule from policy by noting that policy implies a reason, I argue that China's education policy is situated in a discourse of development, and its aims have remained constant even as shifts to a market-economy and incorporation of neoliberal elements have resulted in changes from free to fee for students eligible for preferential policy measures. The policy outcomes, however, ultimately privilege the benefit of the educational institution over rectifying or making restitution for continuing structural inequality.

Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to consider the roles which legal anthropology plays in legislation and policy-making in Papua New Guinea, focusing on legal measure for dealing with domestic violence.

Paper long abstract:

Anthropological researches on society and culture had contributed to law reform and legal policy-making in Papua New Guinea (PNG). That was the reason why colonial legislation was improper to PNG societies which was culturally and linguistically diverse and different from western society. Even in post-colonial era, however, legal reformations which do not reflect cultural reality are still going on. One of them is legal measure (namely, protection order) for dealing with domestic violence (DV) which has been recently legislated. In this paper I intend firstly to show the discrepancy between protection order and cultural reality, and secondly to point out significant role of anthropological research on state law.

In PNG, legal system for protection order against DV has been in force since 2009. This is identical to protection order system in developed countries because legislation process was led by Law and Justice Sector that was in strong corporation with Australian government. As a result, protection order confuses local sociality and perception. For example, the party and other kin regard the order as a forced divorce or something to take apart social relationship through which local people live. Without considering the socio-cultural context and habitus, legal measure against DV becomes a kind of violence to local society paradoxically. I conclude that monitoring state law is still an important role of legal anthropology all the more because legislation is colonialistic.

Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the relevance of anthropology to the articulation of the complexity of property relations, and discusses how cultural heritage policies are acquiring a new social and political value in Fiji and in the Pacific Island region.

Paper long abstract:

The anthropological study of law has demonstrated the relevance of anthropology to the articulation of the complexity of property relations in relation to pressing issues emerged and expanded with globalization. In this direction, the anthropological study of law has become critical in documenting cross-cultural variations in relationships between persons and things. Ten years ago, traditional knowledge and expressions of culture were not regarded as proper concerns of intellectual property laws. In Oceania over the last decade, considerable efforts have been made to ensure that culture is not treated in isolation from other national policies governing trade, development, and education. This paper shows how iTaukei (ethnic Fijian) notions of material/immaterial possessions and relationships are challenging notions of "ownership" and relations of culture and power in Fiji and Oceania. Drawing upon fieldwork and applied work with Fiji culture and heritage institutions, this paper discusses how cultural heritage policies are acquiring a new social and political value in Fiji and in the Pacific Island region. Fiji policy makers have been developing a cultural policy to inform, or reform, the legislative process. In Fiji and elsewhere in contemporary Oceania, culture and policy are both strategically necessary to structure collective action and community values. Fiji and other Pacific Island countries are seeking a model that will influence government decision making towards explicit guidelines to regulate intellectual property and the management of cultural heritage in the service of positive nation-building and the development of cultural and creative industries.

Paper short abstract:

Based on my ethnographic field research in Nagasaki’s Goto islands, I analyze how local officials and the residents interpret zoning regulations and other legal matters of the World Heritage program, and how they connect and detach the legal aspect and the instrumental aspects of World Heritage.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, I examine the process of how the legal aspect of UNESCO's World Heritage Convention is translated in a local government's development policy. In the last few decades, World Heritage has become a popular instrument of local-level tourism development around the world. In Japan, for example, several prefectural governments and municipalities, in efforts to obtain World Heritage status, have emphasized the global significance of their heritage properties, and hope to use World Heritage status as an instrument for local development. Such instrumental aspects of the World Heritage program often dominate media coverage and public discourse.

However, when World Heritage nomination is adopted as part of an actual development policy of the local government, local officials and community members face the details of the instrumental aspects of World Heritage. The World Heritage Convention, an international treaty of heritage preservation, is a body of law. World Heritage can stand as an instrument for local economic development only after the locals can properly prepare reasonable preservation policies.

Based on my ethnographic field research in Nagasaki's Goto islands, I analyze how local officials and the residents in Goto interpret and react to zoning regulations and other legal matters of the World Heritage program, and how they administratively connect and epistemologically detach the legal aspect and the instrumental aspects of World Heritage.