秩序、过程与文化——西方法律人类学的发展及其问题

Order, Process and Culture: Development of and Problems with Western Legal Anthropology

法律人类学作为一门学科,在19世纪迅速发展。该学科绝大多数的开创性研究都是建立在西方法理学的基本框架之上的。由于20世纪初期功能主义和社会人类学的兴起,上述状况又经历了一个重要的转型。20世纪50年代以后,西方法律人类学抛弃了既有的西方法理学模式,不再强调于特殊文化共同体中寻求规范的存在。许多法律人类学家继而转向描述法律案件或者政治事件的具体过程。以西方为中心的法律神话通常认为,西方以外的“他者”都生活在静态的、统一的以及封闭的社会之中。在这一“白人的神话”之中,西方的法律被认为是具有反思理性的,相反,其他的文化则被想像为充满了暴力、混乱和武断。现代法律人类学家对于这种文化分类具有了更为清醒的认识,转而关注特定的文化中真实的法律过程。

Legal anthropology as a discipline developed rapidly during the 19th century. Most of the pioneering researches in this field are developed within the framework of western jurisprudence. With the rise of functionalism and social anthropology in the early 20th Century, an important transformation had undergone in this field. After the 1950s, western jurisprudence with its emphasis on rule-seeking in specific cultures was abandoned. Many legal anthropologists turned to the description of the concrete process of legal cases or politi- cal events. According to the Eurocentric legal myth, all non-western people live in static, homogeneous and closed societies and the law in the West is rational and reflective whereas those of all other cultures are violent, chaotic and arbitrary. Legal anthropologists in contemporary time are more clearly aware of this stereotype of cultural classification and are paying more attention to the real legal process of specific cultures.