BOOK: Benton and Ross on Legal Pluralism and Empires, 1500-1850

Lauren Benton and Richard J Ross (eds), Legal Pluralism and Empires, 1500-1850 has just been published by NYU Press.  The book, a comparative and historical study of legal complexity:

advances our understanding of law and empire in the early modern world. Distinguished contributors expose new dimensions of legal pluralism in the British, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Ottoman empires. In-depth analyses probe such topics as the shifting legal privileges of corporations, the intertwining of religious and legal thought, and the effects of clashing legal authorities on sovereignty and subjecthood. Case studies show how a variety of individuals engage with the law and shape the contours of imperial rule.

The volume reaches from Peru to New Zealand to Europe to capture the varieties and continuities of legal pluralism and to probe the analytic power of the concept of legal pluralism in the comparative study of empires. For legal scholars, social scientists, and historians, Legal Pluralism and Empires, 1500-1850 maps new approaches to the study of empires and the global history of law.

The introduction is available here and the table of contents here.

VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! - SPD