BA Anthropology and Law

Our BA Anthropology and Law brings together two different, but complementary fields – with an equal focus on both areas.

Through anthropology, you’ll explore how our lives are shaped by religious, political and economic systems. You’ll engage in debates about social justice, multiculturalism, race, gender and the direction of political and economic change in today’s world.

The law components delve into the legal system and the technical procedures needed to practise law. As this is a qualifying degree, you’ll be able to progress straight to the LPC (Legal Practice Course) when you graduate.

The programme provides full training in anthropological research methods. There’s also the chance to complete an in-depth ethnographic study, take part in our summer fieldwork placements scheme, and apply for a year abroad with one of our global partners.

You’ll be encouraged to critically evaluate topics and see the world from new perspectives – all within a friendly, supportive, yet academically challenging environment. Our academics are leaders in the field. We were rated as the best anthropology department in the UK for our research (REF 2021) and 3rd in the UK for law in the QS World University Rankings 2023.

• Our BA Anthropology and Law programme is accredited by the Bar Standards Board for the purpose of a qualifying law degree. Since Autumn 2021, the process to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales is via the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE).
• The new SQE assessment has two stages, with the first being focused on legal knowledge, broadly similar to that supplied in law degrees at present, and the second on practical vocational skills. While a law degree or diploma will no longer be necessary to the process of qualifying, a law degree is likely to remain the most effective and reputable way of acquiring the knowledge that is required to complete the first stage of the SQE.

Please refer to our website and www.sra.org.uk/sra/policy/sqe for further information and updates.

If you wish to gain further insight into social anthropology, we suggest that you look at one or more of the following books. The general introductory texts will allow you to get a sense of the discipline's coverage, while the ethnographies will allow you to dig deeper into specific isues and give you a flavour of the primary materials you will be engaging with during your degree. We've offered a wide selection to allow you to choose texts that mesh closely with your personal interests.

General introductions to anthropology

• R Astuti, J Parry and C Stafford (eds) Questions of Anthropology (Berg, 2007)
• C Geertz The Interpretation of Cultures: selected essays (Basic Books, 1973)
• M Engelke Think like an Anthropologist (Pelican, 2017)

Ethnographies

Gender, poetry and emotions:

• L Abu-Lughod Veiled sentiments: honor and poetry in a Bedouin society (University of California Press, 1986)

Cyber-ethnography, the virtual:

• T Boellstorff Coming of Age in Second Life: an anthropologist explores the virtually human (Princeton University Press, 2008).

Gender, sexuality:

• S G Davies Challenging Gender Norms: five genders among the Bugis in Indonesia (Thomson Wadsworth, 2007)

Hunter-gatherers, shamanism, cosmology:

• P Descola The Spears of Twilight: life and death in the amazon jungle (The New Press, 1998)

Race, education and achievement:

• S Fordham Blacked Out: dilemmas of race, identity and success at capital high (University of Chicago Press. 1996)

Economics, globalisation:

• R J Foster Coca-Globalization: following soft drinks from New York to New Guinea (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008)

Medical ethics, law, feminism:

• F Ginsburg Contested Lives: the abortion debate in an American community (University of California Press, 1998)

War, anti-colonialism/nationalism, religion:

• D Lan Guns and Rain: guerillas and spirit mediums in Zimbabwe (University of California Press, 1985)

Postcolonialism, exchange, modernity:

• C Piot Remotely Global: village modernity in West Africa (University of Chicago Press, 1999)

Christianity, morality, conversion:

• J Robbins Becoming Sinners: christianity and moral torment in a Papua New Guinea society (University of California Press, 2004)

Introductions to law

• J Adams and R Brownsword Understanding Law (Sweet and Maxwell, 2006)
• T Bingham The Rule of Law (Penguin, 2011)
• A Bradney et al How to Study Law (Sweet and Maxwell, 2005)
• F Cownie, A Bradney and M Burton English Legal System in Context (Oxford University Press, 6th ed, 2013)
• E Finch and S Fafinski Legal Skills (5th edition, Oxford University Press, 2015)

Legal issues explored from an anthropological perspective

A fascinating and influential overview of the ways in which legal systems and punishments reflect historical/cultural shifts in the way in which power is practiced and statecraft is conceptualised:

• M Foucault Discipline and Punish: the birth of the prison (Penguin, 1979)

Current "gold standard" of legal anthropology; focuses on how law is brought into being:

• B Latou The Making of Law. an ethnography of the conseil d'etat (Polity Press, 2009)

Colonial law, legacies for postcolonial societies:

• M Mamdani From Subject to Citizen: contemporary Africa and the legacy of late colonialism (Princeton University Press, 1996)

Classic account of the paradoxes of legal practice:

• S Merry Getting Justice and Getting Even: legal consciousness among working-class Americans (University of Chicago Press, 1990)

Fascinating insight into how law and punishment operates in Melanesia:

• A Reed Papua New Guinea’s Last Place: experiences of constraint in a postcolonial prison (Berghahn, 2003)