Recovering the Indigenous Legal Traditions of India: Classical Hindu Law in Practice in Late Medieval Kerala

The collection of Malayalam records entitled Vanjeri Grandhavari, taken from the archives of an important Namputiri Brahmin family and the temple under its leadership, provides some long-awaited information regarding a wide range of legal activities in late medieval Kerala. The organization of law and the jurisprudence represented by these records bear an unmistakable similarity to legal ideas found in dharmastra texts. A thorough comparison of the records and relevant dharma texts shows that landholding Namputiri Brahmins, who possessed enormous political and economic power in the region, mediated the implementation of dharmastra into the legal system. From this comparison arise new understandings of law and legal categories such as custom and positive law. Moreover, such comparisons begin to elucidate the problems involved in Western assumptions that it is textual law, not its interpretation and application by humans, which controls behavior. The Vanjeri records demonstrate not only the importance of dharmastra as a historical document but also the manner and extent to which dharmastra provided the foundation for legal systems in Kerala as well as in other regions of India.     

Manners of Killing and Rituals in Apulian Mafia Murders*

Abstract: The Apulian (South of Italy) territory saw the birth of a criminal organization called Sacra Corona Unita (SCU, United Holy Crown) which transformed the rules of traditional mafia organizations. This work examined 83 victims of the SCU between 1980 and 2000. The bodies were mainly of SCU members and in some cases, of police and law enforcement officers and other citizens caught in the crossfire. Some of these were discovered; thanks to the collaboration of “repented” SCU members who became police informers. The condition of the bodies varied in relation to the date and manner of killing. In some cases anthropometric research methods were necessary. In 73% of the cases, lesions of the head were the only marks left on the body. In conclusion, the existence of some social aspects connected with the symbolisms and membership rites that characterized the origin, evolution, and decline of the SCU is stressed.     

周代策命的礼仪背景及文体特点

周代策命是周天子策封赏赐诸侯或臣下的仪式上使用的实用文体,一般在太庙举行策命仪式时颁布,见证者为傧者,宣读者多为内史,有时是尹氏或其他史官。周代策命形成稳定的体制,通常包括封赏的原因、具体的赏赐及教导与勉励三部分。周代策命语言诚挚恳切,语气温润亲切,典雅舒缓,成为后世策命文体模仿的典范。     

商法探源——论中世纪的商人法

对商法史的考察和分析历来是我国商法学研究的薄弱环节。本文采用史论结合的研究方法 ,对中世纪商人法的产生背景做一些宏观考察 ,并尝试概括出其几个世纪以来演进的基本特点 ,希望可以收到正本清源、以史鉴今之效果。     

诸神之争、法制型支配与正当性——韦伯合法性理论的再认识

当韦伯以现代社会科学的视角对合法性与正当性的议题进行研究后,他对当下正当性等同于合法性的陈述几乎成了我们研究合法性与正当性的出发点,不论是反对还是赞同。但是,在韦伯的合法性理论中,作为正当性的合法性存在两种意涵,一种是与价值无涉的经验陈述;一种是与价值判断相关的倾向和论证。正是在对经验现象批驳的基础上,韦伯论证了法制型支配和领袖民主相配合下作为正当性的合法性之可能条件。当我们正本清源,对韦伯的合法性理论进行再认识,或许会产生新的启示。     

后现代身体的分裂与聚合——基于政治仪式中身体规训技术的分析

后现代情境中身体的分裂趋向,直接阻碍了个体迈向政治共识的道路,间接威胁到政治权力系统的稳定和民族国家政治文化的持存。政治仪式作为一种特殊的政治行为系统,借助连续性身体规训技术和稳定性社会规训技术,一方面,发挥传统的政治功能,由外而内地对分裂的身体施加一种强制性的聚合力;另一方面,为适应后现代社会而积极转变,通过唤起个体公民对其身份中蕴含着的政治权利和政治责任的重视,由内而外地产生出一种主动性的聚合力。     

Ritual and racism: A Social-Historical Analysis of the Crack Sentencing Guidelines

Through the lens of ritual theory, this essay considers the pseudo-religious dimension of white supremacy in the U.S. judicial and penal systems by performing a case study analysis of the federal crack sentencing guidelines. In contrast to previous works on the war on drugs, this essay provides a more integratedunderstanding of the relationship between racism and capitalism within these systems. It achieves this by assessing the ritualistic roles people play in reenacting long-standing cultural practices that have historically been employed as a mechanism for the social and economic control of blacks. With this approach,the key issue in understanding racism becomes one of highlighting the repetition of historic patterns instead of attempting to discern the individual intentions of lawmakers. Finally, this approach also points to the complex ways in which people from different races and classes can be ironicallybound together in support of racist policies and class hierarchies.     

中世纪前期罗马法在西欧的延续与复兴

古代罗马法随着西罗马帝国的衰亡、蛮族国家的入侵进入到＂黑暗时代＂,并一直延续到12世纪意大利波伦那大学《学术汇纂》发现所引发的＂罗马法复兴运动＂。然而,中世纪前期的历史表明：古典罗马法基于自身的优良性、蛮族国家普遍适用的属人主义原则以及基督教与僧侣们的努力,在蛮族国家顽强地保留了下来,并直接影响了蛮族国家的法律发展,最终在发端于帕维亚的罗马法教育的直接推动下,古典罗马法在欧洲得以复兴。     

Controlling Commercial Morality in Late Medieval London: The Usury Trails of 1421

This article examines evidence from a series of usury trials which took place in London in 1421, in order to draw conclusions both about the specific matters which were being dealt with in those cases, and about the way in which usury was regarded and prosecuted in early fifteenth century England. The article also relates the London cases of 1421 to the other rules about and mechanisms for prosecution of usury in fifteenth century England, most importantly the law and practice of the church. It concludes that church courts dealt with different types of usurious conduct to that shown in the 1421 London cases. The broad conclusion of the article is that the 1421 London cases show that the law against usury was by no means a dead letter outside the jurisdiction of the church in late medieval England: in London at least, it was part of a burgeoning and increasingly sophisticated commercial jurisdiction.