17

Anthropobgy NewslpneriAprill985

IUAES Commission on Folk Law and Legal Pluralism

A Do-it-Yourself Proposal

'I'he Comnii\sion on Folk Lau and L c gal Pluralism wa( crcated in Ileceinher
1 Y 7 X b? the International Lnion of .Anthropological and ttlinolngical Scicnces
[I\!AESI It i s affiliated with the Intcrnatiimal Asroctation o f Legal Science
i l A L S 1 at UNESCO's head office iii
Paris
As of Decembcr 1984. 195 lawyer!.
jurists and anthropologists/s~ioloists
from all over the uorld are panicipaling
i n thc Commission. They all are. from
their desk or i n the field. concerned with
or tnvolvcd in theoretical and practtcal
qucstiniir oii folk l a w . This study gains a
n e u pcrbpcctive owing to the awareness
01 the contemporary existence of legal
plurality. not only in countries u i t h cih.
iiic inirioriiie\ 3nd autochthonous popuIatioiis. hut a l w in the indu\trialized socleric5 a\ such The goal oithe Comiiiihsion i s
tunher knowledgu o f t o l k l a u
and lcgal pluralism in general. and (11
theoretical and practical problcms resultin lrom the interaction of folk law and
state late in panicular. tinally to attempt
to make a sympathctic and constructive
contribution to the solution 0 1 these
problems. hciicr to the future of ethnic
and social groups. governed by folk law.
i n the modem unrld.
Our program consists o t three major

For sonic time many of us have been

greatly concerned about the stcady attrition of the pool of living archival material existing within the profession The
founding generation of anthropologists
is gone and their students and junior colleagues are now disappearing rapidly.
During the past couplc of years a few of
us have been trying to develop a program
to salvage this wealth ot reminiscence,
memories and anccdote k f o r c i t all bccomes irretrievably lost.
Our pulpose i s to concentrate on those
less formal aspects of individuals which
do not appear in obituanes, biographies
and even. to a great cxtcnt. in the inconiplete written archives
Ideally. of course. trained or e x p r i cnccd personnel should elicit this tnformation in taped intmiews under a program director. and thc t a p s bhould then
he transcribed and crohs-lilcd. This
would he an expensivc undertaking rc'quiring the tinancial !.upport of staft.
transpunation. equipment and supplieb.
Lnfonunatcly this runs into a "Catch
21" situation. In order to raise the neccssary funds one must have an assured
staff and adetailed program. but tn order
to attract such a staff it would be neces\ary to have adequate funds. I n order to
cope with this impasse we suggest the
following do-it-yourself solution of selfinterviews.
Nearly all of us have, orcan havc. access to tape recorders, and practically all
of us can afford Ihc price otthe few tapes
and the cosI. o f the uecesw& maitlng
ch?rgeS:.;
se~f-ihk+i'c'V" 'Md. of
course. include brief autdEogiaphical
data, such additional informal and subjective material as is not normally available'and. following that, descriptions of
one's contacts. appraisals. anecdotes
and recollections. and the like, o f one's
teachers and colleagues.
The National Anthropological Archives will serve as the archival repository. Tapes and any additional materials
should be sent to Herman J Viola. Natl
Anthropological Archives. Smithsonian
Inst. Washington. D C 20560. These
should be accompanied by an identification sheet giving name and address and.
insofar as convenient. the names o f those
o n whom you cumnunt. A written personal resume would, of course, reduce
the amount of formal information that
would need to be included on the tape.
We believe that a free-form approach
against a checklist i s preferable to a detailed questionnaire. We will furnish release f o m for signing; these will enable
you to impose your own restrictions on
the use o f your tape recordings and transcripts. h s c who wish a more detailed
checklist than the one suggested here
please write to Roben W Ehrich. Box
175. Fitzwilliam. NH 03447.
Since drying up i s not at 411 unuqual
when talking alone into a tape recorder.
it has been suggested that one talk to a
student or colleague who can ask questions and thus elicit further recollections
and information. Any supplementary
written items such as diaries. letters, biographies. curricula vitae and the like,
would, of course, be most welcome.
We are aware that some interviewing
along these lines has already raken place
We would.very much appreciate any information concerning these-who has
done them. and where they are located.
Jnirially we had plan_ned to begin int$p&ws.with the surviving members of

Clusters of activitier now' issuing Newslettcrr ithrcc timcs during a periodoftwo

years). organizing s?mp)sia. and stiniulating Kcgional Working Grrups in differcni panr of the uorld (SIS Asia, Indonesia. Canada. Australia. the Nctherlands and South America)
The Cnmmission'\ first meeting and
scientific symposium was held in Bellagio. I t a l y , i n September 1981 l ' h c
thcriie lor the scientific pan of this meeting was "State Institution\ and their Use
of Folk L a u . " The second symposium
annex busincss-meeting dealt with "The
Actual and Legal I'osition 01 Ethnic and
Cultural Minorities." and took place in
conjunction with the Xlth Congress of
IUAES. in Quebec City and Vancouver.
trotti August 11-25. 1983. l ~ h i synpoa~
s
ium w3s attended h! approximately 45
menihers. wh,) a l l prehented a papcr.
The follouing syiiiposia will be held in
Munich. M3y 1986 (on lorittal and informal social KcurilyJ and i n Sydney.
Australia. August l98h (on various issues of Aboriginal [awl.
Thosc who feel niotivated to join this
multi-disciplinary working group may
write to the Commission's secretariat. c/
o Inst of Folk Law. Catholic U. Thomas
van Aquinostraal 6. Postbus 9049.6500
K K Nijmegen. The Netherlands

Conference on Latin American Popular Culture

Slated for April 1986
The Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University. Loyola University and Studies in Latin American Popular Culturr are pleased to announce a
conference on Latin Amencan Popular
Culture to be held in New Orleans on
A p r i l 10.12. L966.The selected proceedings of the conference w i l l be published in Studies in Latin American Popular Culture.
Papers should deal with some aspect
of culture that is accepted by or consumed by significant numbers of people.
Acceptance or consumption may take
the form o f (I)widely held artifacts.
symbols and myths. or (2) direct participation as a viewer of, reader of, listener
of or some other sensory response to
some aspect o f popular culture. Of great
interest are papen that focus on the pro-

duction and distribution of popular culture, ofter new methodological approaches to its study. explore the introduction into L a t i n America and the
consumption therc of foreign popular
culture or place Latin American popular
culture in an international or cross-cultural perspective.
Please send a 200-word abstract o f
your paper to one o f the following by
November I , 1985: Harold E Hinds, CoEditor. Studies in Lotin American Popul a r Culrure. Div o f Soc Sci, U Minnesota. Morris, MN 56267; 612589-4753;
Charles M Tatum. Co-Editor, Srudies in
Latin American Pupular Culture. Dept
of Foreign Lang. Box 3L. New Mexico
Slate U. Las Cruces, NM 88003; 5051
646-2942.

Special Lectures Established in Honor of

Richards, Kaberry and Ward
Appeals arc being launched to establish a fund in honor of scholars who have
made important contributions to research
on women. Threz committees have been
set up to launch appeals for the fund
which will be held by Queen Elizabeth
H o u x . Oxford.
Each committee w i l l be composed o f
the Director of the Centre for Cross-Cultural Kesearch on Women, one member
of the Centre. and one extramural member.
The appeal for funds to be used in
honor of Audrey I Richards i s issued by
Marilyn Strathern (extramural member).
H e k n Callaway and Shirley Ardener.
The appeal for funds l
o be used in honor
of P h y l l i s Kaberry i s m a d e b y E M
(Sally) Chilver (extutnural member).
Alison Smilh and Shirlcy Ardener. The

appeal for funds to be used in honor o f

Barbara E Ward i s made b y Esther
Goody (extramural member), Elisabeth
Croll and Shirley Ardencr.
Three named lectures will be established at the Centre. Professional colleagues. friends and relatives of the honorands may wish to express their affection and respect by contributing to these
appeals and by anending these special
lectures. The fund may sponsor other
suitable activities. including publications and research
Information on the Centre i s provided
by a small brochure. Checks (or convenants) made 0ut.10 Queen Elizabeth
House may be sent to members of the
Appeals Committees. cio CCCRW,
Queen Elizabeth House. Oxford 0x1
3LA. England..- _..
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the older generation. However. since

therc i s a steady Inss of young colleagues
as well. in view of this do-it-yoursclfapproach there i s no need for age resfric[ions. Anyone can play! (Sirbmirted b j
Robrrr W E h r i r h . Wi/liarn N Feiiroii.
Juhn H' Fur. and Richard B Woodbu?yl
S u x n t r r d Chrcilrrr
Pcrronal. Naslc, pruferrional aifiliaiwn. dnrc
and place 01 hmh. cducaiton. cumni address.
Prufrrnowl How did yuu kcamc micrested in
rnihropolugyl h h i mnuenrd p r 0 1 ~ ~ ~ 0 and
r s cob
Icaguer. major ~ n i c r c s i s .hcldwork. course of
protcrrlunal Ilk cunracrr and relal"n,hlp,. d111,CUIIIcb.

achicvcmmt,.

The Human Side. Mcmano. remini%enc~~.

app a l & mccdorc,

Amaury Talbot Prize for

African Anthropology
1985
The Aniaury .l;llbot Prize. which i s
awarded annually and which in 1985 w i l l
amount to approximately f425. will be
awarded to the author or authors of the
work that. in the opinion of the Judge. is
the most valuahle ofthe works o f anthropological research relating to Africa that
are submitted i n the competition.
Only works published during the calendar year I Y 8 5 are eligible f o r the
award. Preference will be given to works
relating in the first place to Nigeria. and
in the second place to any other parl of
West Africa org,WestAfrica in general.
Work;srlchtiqBfo +:dji$ns
of Afiica
are, however, eligible.
A l l applications, together with two
copies o f the book. articles or work in
question. to be received by January 3 I,
1986 by the Trustees: Barclays Bank
Trust Company Limited. Central Tmst
Office, Radbroke Hall, Knulsford,
Cheshire W A l 6 9EU. England. Pleax
quote reference: number 611888. Entries
will nor be returned to candidates but
will be at the disposal of the judges.

1985 Semiotic and

Structural Studies
Institute
The 1985 International Summer Institute for Semiotic and Structural Studies

w i l l be held at Indiana University.

Bloomington, Indiana, from M a y 27
thruugh June 22. Thc major emphasis
will bc on the relationship between Kmiotics, language and social theory.
Faculty w i l l include Aaron Cicourel. Itamar Even-Zohar. M A K Halliday, Michael Herzfeld. Adam Kendon. Valentin
Mudimbe. Donald Preriosi. Thomas A
Sebeok. Jean Umiker-Scbeok. Masao
Yamaguchi. and Erik Schwinuner; additional keynote speakers w i l l include
John Dcely and Umberto Eco.
Weekend colloquia on semiotics and
the curriculum and semiotics in relation
to social theory will articulate the major
themes. Visiting scholars are encouraged to present their work in progress.
Fees for artendance are: visiting scholars
(US $389. or US $1 10 per week), graduate students (US $424.50). undergraduates (US $333). Conference fees also
available. On-campus housing (not inc1uded.m fees) is also available. For particulars. write to ISISSS '85,.RCLSS.
Box 10,
Bloomington.
47402-0010.
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