Guests of the Project Group Legal Pluralism
2011
Lucy Finchett-Maddock, Birkbeck University gave an informal talk on her recent experience in a project that has been concerned with the appropriateness of a critical legal pluralist framework for understanding the complex relations between rural resources, law, stakeholders and their resultant actions, in a Payments for Environmental Services (PES) scheme in West Sumatra, Indionesia.
Tobias Kelly, University of Edinburgh gave a lecture on 'Law without Borders? English Courts and Afghan "Warlords"'.
Mariano Croce, SOAS London gave a lecture on 'Legal Puralism as a Theoretical Framework: the role of concepts in investigating law'.
Meike Rieger, University Göttingen presented a paper on 'Political Transformations and Inter-Religious Dynamics in Bali, Indonesia'.
Nikita Dhawan, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main gave a lecture on 'The 'Blackmail' of the Enlightenment: decolonization and democratization'.
2010
Yazid Ben Hounet presented a paper on ‘Diya (blood money) and Sulh (reconciliation) in Algeria. Legal pluralism and national reconciliation context’.
Prof. Mark Goodale, George Mason University, Arlington, USA gave a lecture on 'The Violence of Ambiguity: consitutional revolution and the problem of radical social change'.
Mônica Maria Gusmao Costa, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Brazil visited the Institute to continue her research on anthropology of law.
2009
Prof. Ellen Hertz, Institut d'ethnologie, Université de Neuchatel, gave a lecture on 'Getting To Soft, or Six Ways Not To Use Law To Regulate Working Conditions in the Chinese Computer Manufacturing Industry'.
Prof. Kenneth M. George, Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, gave a lecture on ‘Ethics, Iconoclasm, and the Problem of Qur’anic Art: episodes from Indonesia’. During her sojourn at the MPI for Social Anthropology, Prof. Heidi Dahles from the University of Amsterdam started to co-write an article on the topic of religion and religious law in development together with Martin Ramstedt. With both Bertram Turner and Martin Ramstedt, she developed the idea for a jointly organized international workshop on the relationship between religion, law and economy. Last but not least, she took the opportunity to meet with members of Chris Hann's department who, like her, have been doing research on mainland Southeast Asia.
Dr. Bishnu Raj Upreti, Regional Coordinator of the South Asia Regional Coordination Office of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South gave a lecture on 'Legal and Political Developments in Nepal after the Abdication of the King'.
Prof. Melanie Wiber, Chair of the Department of Anthropology, University of New Brunswick, Canada, spent three months at the Institute to continue the collaborative work with Bertram Turner on rural property issues writing a collective paper on the 'Ontological Politics of Sustainable Development'.
2008
Prof. Tor Halfdan Aase from the Institute of Geography, University of Bergen, Norway gave a lecture on 'The Grammar of Honour and Revenge'.
Dr. Rano Ismaylova was invited in the frame of the research project 'The politics of customary law: Courts of elders (akskals) in Kyrgyzstan' by Judith Beyer with whom she worked together in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Prof. Vijay K. Nagaraj, Research Director of the International Council on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP), Geneva presented a paper for an ICHRP research project on 'Plural Legal Orders and Human Rights'.
Prof. Anne Griffiths from the University of Edinburgh spent two weeks at the Institute to continue her work on collaborative book projects with Keebet and Franz von Benda-Beckmann on 'Spatialising Law' and 'Rules of Law and Laws of Ruling: On the Governance of Law'.
Prof. Jonathan Parry from the Department of Anthropology, London School of Economics and Political Science spent some days at the Institute working jointly with Christian Strümpell on a comparative article on displacement.
Prof. Carla Risseeuw from the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Development Studies, Leiden University gave a lecture on "Changing Trajectories of Family and Friendship in the Netherlands"
2007
Prof. Erdmute Alber from the University Bayreuth gave a lecture on "Child Trafficking in West Africa? Global anti-child trafficking discourses and the scope of action for teenage maids in Benin".
Prof. Melanie Wiber, Chair of the Department of Anthropology, University of New Brunswick, Canada, was on a one month visit to the Institute to work on the introduction to a special volume of Anthropologica with Bertram Turner. The special volume will publish the papers from the 2006 Rural Property Workshop.
Prof. Dr. Anne Griffiths from the University of Edinburgh spent one month at the Institute to work on a collaborative book project with Keebet and Franz von Benda-Beckmann on the “Spatialisation of Law”.
David Bozzini from the Institute of Ethnology, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland spent five months working on his PhD on “Dispute Resolution and Bureaucratic Itineraries in Eritrea”.
Jesse Ribot from the Institutions and Governance Program at the World Resources Institute in Washington, DC spent two months to develop a research programme on “Representation, Citizenship and the Public Domain in Democratic Decentralisation”.
Sandra Brunnegger from the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo spent four months to write a book on indigenous law in Colombia.
Dr. Sebastiaan Pompe, previously from Leiden University, spent five months at the Institute to write a book about the judicial reform program in Indonesia and related issues such as corruption.
Dr. Haldis Haukanes from the University of Bergen spent some days at the Institute to work jointly with Tatjana Thelen on a common book project on “Reframing Parenthood and Childhood. Global Trends, Institutional Transformation and Local Responses”.
Prof. Jan Michiel Otto from the Van Vollenhoven Institute, University of Leiden, gave a lecture on “Sharia and National Law in the Muslim World. Conflicting Approaches and the Outcome of a Recent Survey of Twelve Muslim Countries”.
2006
Prof. Dr. Heinzpeter Znoj from the Institute for Social Anthropology, University of Bern, gave a talk at the Colloquium of the MPI and the Institute for Social Anthropology of the University of Halle entitled “Deep Corruption in Indonesia. Histories, Discourses, Practices”
Dr. Rosie Read, Department of Central and East European Studies, Glasgow University spent a week at the Institute to work jointly with Tatjana Thelen on a common book project and to give a lecture on “Understanding ‘Care’: Social Security and Caring Arrangements in Post-Socialist Contexts”.
Prof. Dr. Jane Collier and Prof. Dr. George Collier, Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology, Stanford University, were invited by Günther Schlee and Keebet and Franz von Benda-Beckmann to give talks on “Indigenous Justice and Human Rights in Chiapas” and on “The Zapatista Rebellion in Chiapas, Mexico: Background and Current Prospects”.
Prof. Dr. Anne Griffiths from the University of Edinburgh spent again one month at the Institute to cooperate with the MPI colleagues and to continue her work on a collaborative book project with Keebet and Franz von Benda-Beckmann on “Law, Power, and Control” as well as to prepare the XVth International Congress and the VIIth International Course on Legal Pluralism of the Commission on Folk Law and Legal Pluralism.
Monica Vasile from the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, University of Bucharest came to the Institute to prepare her doctoral thesis on communal property issues in Romania.
Prof. Dr. Bill Watson, Department of Anthropology, University of Kent, Canterbury, gave a lecture on “Understanding Contemporary Muslim Culture in Indonesia”.
Jyothi Krishnan, a PhD student from the Wageningen University came to visit the Institute to work on her dissertation.
Dr. Stefan Eisenhofer, State Museum of Ethnology Munich, gave a lecture on “Football and Globalisation – From its roots to the FIFA World Cup 2006”.
2005
Dr. Kepa Fernández de Larrinoa from the Universidad del Pais Vaseo visited the Institute for two month to work on his research on comparative native rights and cultural minorities.
Prof. Dr. Martin van Bruinessen, Department of Oriental Languages and Cultures, Utrecht University gave a talk at the Colloquium of the MPI and the Institute für Social Anthropology of the University of Halle entitled “Between Salafism and Sufism: Contested Muslim Religious Authority in Indonesia”.
Prof. Dr. Anne Griffiths from the University of Edinburgh spent one month at the Institute to reinforce the cooperation with the MPI, which had begun with the first joint conference in Halle (2002) on “Mobile People, Mobile Law: Expanding legal relations in a contracting world” and was followed by two jointly organised conferences held in Edinburgh. Part of her work involved a collaborative book project with Keebet and Franz von Benda-Beckmann on “Law, Power, and Control”.
Barbara Rohregger came to the Institute to continue the work on her dissertation “Social Security in Urbanising Malawi”.
Prof. Dr. Carola Lentz, University of Mainz, gave a lecture on “First-comer Claims and Changing Property Regimes in the West African Savannah”.
Leopold von Carlowitz, Hessische Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, Frankfurt am Main, gave a lecture on “Property-related Lawmaking of the International Interim Administration in Kosovo: Purposes and Effects”.
2004
Barbara Rohregger, research fellow at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs visited the Institute to work on her dissertation “Social Security in Urbanising Malawi”.
Manimohan, a PhD student from the Wageningen University came to visit the Institute to work on his dissertation concerning “Tank Irrigation in Tamil Nadu, India”.
Dr. Markus Weilenmann came to the Institute to work on his contribution for the volume “ Mobile People, Mobile Law ” edited by Franz and Keebet von Benda-Beckmann and Anne Griffiths.
Adriette Dekker, a senior lecturer from the Department of Mercantile Law, UNISA, South Africa spent a week at the Institute to discuss a topic of her doctoral thesis on “ Informal Social Security Law ”.
Dr. Dik Roth from the Wageningen University came to the Institute to give a lecture on “ Natural Resources, Identity and Legal Complexity: the case of Luwu, South Sulawesi ” .
Dr. Jörn Thielmann from the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz gave a lecture entitled “ Towards an Euro-Islam? On the Construction of Religious and Cultural Identities in the EmergingIslamic Fields in Germany ” .
Prof. Melanie Wiber, Department of Anthropology, University of New Brunswick , Canada , was on a two month visit to the Institute to work on “Conceptualization of Old and New Forms of Property”. Together with Franz and Keebet von Benda-Beckmann she developed and refined a framework for the comparative analysis of property relationships with a layered structure of law and social organisation at its core.
Dr. Hans Christian Korsholm Nielsen, Moesgard Museum, Hojbjerg, Denmark visited the Institute for two month to continue his research on “ Majlis al-Sulh: dispute settling, customary law, and social change in Upper Egypt ” .
Barbara Lenz, Eva Diehl and André Pessoa spent some weeks at the MPI as trainees.
Anja Titze spent two months at the MPI in preparartion for a research project on “ The Implementation of Women's Rights in a Plural Legal Context. Empowerment of Indigenous Women in Guatemala ” in collaboration with the GTZ.
Judith Beyer worked ten months at the MPI to prepare for her research project “The Politics of Customary Law: Courts of Elders (aqsaqals) in Kyrgyzstan”.
2003
Barbara Danczul, a PhD student from the University of Vienna visited the Institute to work on her dissertation concerning "Strategies for the Settlement of Violent/Feud-like Conflicts in Upper Egypt".
Barbara Rohregger, a PhD student from the University of Vienna and Erasmus University Rotterdam and Gerhard Anders, a PhD student from Erasmus University Rotterdam visited the Institute to write a joint paper on "The Spatial Dimension of Good Governance: Reproduction of Social Inequality in Lilongwe, Malawi", a comparison between two neighbourhoods in Lilongwe.
Dr. Daniel Fitzpatrick from the Australian National University came to the MPI to give a talk on "Land Issues in Post-conflict East Timor" .
Dr. Christian Lund, International Development Studies, Roskilde University visited the Institute for one week to give a talk and to participate in the workshop "Rechtsforschung als disziplinenübergreifende Herausforderung"(Nachwuchswissenschaftlertreffen) organised by Julia Eckert.
Prof. Dr. Melanie Wiber visited the Institute for two month to cooperate with Franz and Keebet von Benda-Beckmann. This cooperation involved research on the topic of "Legal Pluralism and Property" .
Dr. Léon Buskens, Leiden University & Utrecht University gave a talk at the MPI colloquium on "Constructing Shari'a in Morocco: current debates on family law reform" .
Prof. Dr. Mahendra P. Singh, Institute for Advanced Study Berlin gave a talk at the MPI colloquium on "Tracing the Human Right to Ancient Indian Tradition: ist relevance to the understanding and application of the international Bill of Rights" .
Prof. Dr. Johannes W. Raum, retired, University of Munich gave a lecture on "Reflections on Max Weber's Relevance for Anthropology".
Dr. Hans Christian Korsholm Nielsen, University of Aarhus visited the Institute for three months. His research work was based on the topic "Majlis al-Sulh: dispute settling, customary law, and social change in Upper Egypt".
Prof. Dr. Tom G. Svensson, University Museum of Cultural Heritage, University of Oslo was at the MPI for two weeks to prepare a publication and to give a talk on customary law among various indigenous peoples of the North.
2002
Gerhard Anders, a PhD student from Erasmus University Rotterdam visited the Institute for five months and worked on his dissertation on "Social Security of Civil Servants in Malawi", in which he analyses the influence of structural adjustment programmes and trans-national law on the social security situation of civil servants.
Prof. Dr. Marc Galanter, University of Wisconsin, Madison and London School of Economics, spent a week at the Institute to work on lok adalat (courts of mediation and arbitration in India) and to prepare a panel on "The Reach of Law in India" for the 2002 Law and Society Association Conference in Vancouver, Canada.
Barbara Rohregger, a PhD student from the University of Vienna and Erasmus University Rotterdam visited the Institute to work on her dissertation "Social Security in Urbanising Malawi" in which she analyses the changing social security of people living in newly urbanised neighbourhoods in Malawi.
Dr. Indira Simbolon, an Indonesian socio-legal scholar working as project officer for the Asian Development Bank, spent five weeks at the Institute and wrote a paper on legal pluralism, land claims and the position of indigenous hill tribes in Cambodia. This is to be published as a working paper of the Institute.
Dr. Markus Weilenmann, University of Klagenfurt, Austria, spent six weeks at the Institute to work on a paper entitled "Rethinking Legal Anthropological Theories of Dispute Settlement: The process-analytical triangle" in which he argues that more systematic attention has to be paid to the role of emotions in conflict management and suggests a fruitful combination of classical legal anthropology and ethno-psychoanalysis. Marcus Weilenmann is currently working on a book on development cooperation from a perspective of legal pluralism.
Prof. Dr. Melanie Wiber, Department of Anthropology, University of New Brunswick, Canada, is on a six month visit to the Institute. She will look at property theory from an anthropological perspective focusing on new forms of property as it relates to natural resource management, globalisation in the realm of marine fisheries. She also looks at mobile law and legal pluralism in realtion to First Nation communities in the Canadian Maritimes.
Part of Wiber's work will involve a collaborative book project with Keebet and Franz von Benda-Beckmann and Chris Hann. She will also be involved in the planning of a conference on property to be jointly organised by the Project Group and the Postsocialist Eurasia Department at the Institute in 2003. Moreover, as the secretary of the Commission on Folk Law and Legal Pluralism, she is involved in the organisation of the conference on legal pluralism to be held in conjunction with the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES) world congress in Florence, July 2003.
Barbara Danczul, a PhD student from the University of Vienna came to visit the Institute for four months to work on her dissertation concerning "Strategies for the Settlement of Violent/Feud-like Conflicts in Upper Egypt". She analysed the influence of state law and religious law on the strategies for out of court conflict resolution, which is mainly based on the local customary law.