Abstract

QUETGLAS, Augusto. A critical review of Bronislaw Malinovski’s contributions to legal anthropology. Rev. Mus. Antropol. [online]. 2023, vol.16, n.1, pp.127-138. ISSN 1852-060X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.31048/1852.4826.v16.n1.39690.

This article discusses the contributions of Bronislaw Malinowski regarding the Law in “primitive” populations and their impact in the field of legal anthropology. The article reviews Malinovski’s analysis of Law, with an emphasis on its role in Functionalism, on its theoretical and methodological innovations from previous work in the area, and on some of Malinovski’s concepts which were subjects of discussion in the field. The objections found in the literature regarding Malinovski’s legal anthropology approach are discussed by focusing on four types of critics: (i) those that reject the extension given to the concept of Law, (ii) those that question the appropriateness of separating Civil and Criminal law, (iii) those that point to the excessive rationality that Malinovski attributed to “primitive” populations, and (iv) the multiple objections made to the lack of coherence and continuity of Malinovski’s definitions along his works.

Keywords : Legal anthropology; Bronislaw Malinowski; Functionalism; Criticism; Reception.

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