Linguistic and legal ethnography and anthropology

This course integrates the methodologies of linguistic and legal ethnography and anthropology to explore the complex interplay between culture, language, and the legal system.

Classroom

This course integrates the methodologies of linguistic and legal ethnography and anthropology to explore the complex interplay between culture, language, and the legal system.

Emphasizing ethnographic research practices, interpretative analysis, and holistic approaches, students will investigate cultural practices that lead to law creation and transference of legal knowledge.

The course will address the relationship between law, language, and culture in order to:

1. introduce students to ethnographic research practices for investigating cultural phenomena in urban communities, institutions, and deterritorialized/virtual spaces.

2. develop skills in interpretative analysis, enabling students to extract and describe cultural meanings given to social phenomena by interlocutors, with sensitivity to unequal power relations and conflicts.

3. explore holistic research on law within its social context, understanding it as a cultural product co-constituted with other normative orders.

4. analyze the dynamic relationship between law and culture, examining how law functions in linguistic, social, and professional practices, and as an ideology shaping power relations.

5. focus on disputes, legal forms, and material products of law as central subjects of ethnographic research, exploring their cultural implications.

6. examine the process of "translating" culture into asymmetric fields of power, revealing meanings in context.

7. instill a strong foundation in researcher's ethics, emphasizing the principle of epistemological and ethical reflectivity.

Topics covered in the classes include, among others, the following issues:

What is ethnography and anthropology

What is law and legal systems, law as a cultural practice

Language, law, and power

Race, ethnicity, gender identity, and the law

Customs, oral traditions, and codification

Indigenous populations and human rights

Legal status of languages, language laws, freedom of speech, language crimes

Language in the courtroom

(The topics may be adjusted based on participants' interests).

Selected papers from scientific journals (for example: International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law, International Journal of the Semiotics of Law, Language in Society, Law & Social Inquiry, Law & Society Review, Law, Culture and the Humanities, Research in Language and Social Interaction)

Just Words: Law, Language and Power, by John M. Conley and William M. O’Barr. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2019.

Between Law and Culture: Relocating Legal Studies, edited by David T. Goldberg, Michael Musheno, and Lisa C. Bower. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 2001.

Skills: the graduate is able to

S2_U01 use the theoretical knowledge in the field of law and linguistics to solve complex problems in the field of

international legal communication by making a creative interpretation of a legal text, proper selection of

sources of law, and making an adequate assessment of the method of transferring knowledge about law and

selecting transference strategies appropriate for the context and recipients of law - K_U01, K_U02, K_U03

S2_U02 use the knowledge of research methodologies used in international legal communication to plan and

conduct methodologically correct scientific research in the field of knowledge transference of law

knowledge, analyze its results and determine its implications

K_U02, K_U03, K_U06

S2_U03 communicate on issues related to the transfer of knowledge about law in a way that is also understandable

for non-specialists and adequately justify the methodological decisions made, as well as conduct a

discussion on the transfer of knowledge about law, understood both as a process and a product, taking into

account various points of view and the latest results research

K_U03, K_U04, K_U05, K_U06

Social competences: the graduate is ready to:

S2_K01 recognizing the importance of the latest domain knowledge for the critical appraisal of para-legal texts,

including being cautious and critical in expressing these judgments

K_K01, K_K05

S2_K02 maintaining openness to knowledge, including knowledge of linguistics, for the purposes of solving problems

related to the transference of knowledge about law

K_K01, K_K02, K_K04, K_K05

S2_K03 sensitizing oneself and the environment to the importance of research to improve the quality of information

about law and the accessibility of law in society, as well as disseminating knowledge about such research

K_K02, K_K03, K_K04, K_K05

written exam

grading scale

over 90% - 5

85%-89% – 4+

80%-84% – 4

70%-79% – 3+

60%-69% – 3

active participation in class

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