In 2008, PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review began to post expanded discussions on this website. These discussions contain original material that expands upon articles in PoLAR, extending the exchange of knowledge and ideas. In these online sections, we connect established scholars with the new generation of political and legal anthropologists. Click on the links below for archived discussions. More emergent conversations, essays, and interviews are available on the journal’s website. Article postscripts are available in the journal’s Virtual Editions. There are also links to syllabi relating to these topics on our Teaching Resources page.
Conversation Topics:
Why study the trial? What is gained or lost when we select particular methods for examining trials? How do the events in a trial connect with wider social or legal issues?
How do anthropologists approach the study of crime? What about current anthropological research on crime and the state?
Laws that purport to protect indigenous peoples can frequently wind up disenfranchising them in subtle and obvious ways. Why, then, do some Native Americans continue to work with and even believe in formal U.S. law?
Association for Political and Legal Anthropology 