Norms and Illegality

Cristiana Panella is senior researcher in social and cultural anthropology at the AfricaMuseum.Walter E. Little is full professor of anthropology at the University at Albany, SUNY.

• Introduction: Risk and Hope: Daily Life Subversions of the NormPart I Framing of Norms and Illegalities, Theoretical to EthnographicChapter 1: Anthropological Shades of Grey: Informal Norms and Becoming (Il)legalChapter 2: Methodological LegalismChapter 3: On Doing Fieldwork, Outspokenly: Ethics, Money and Antiquities Illegal TradePart II Ethnographies of Illegalities and the Reframing of Norms and MarginsChapter 4: Street Economies, Illegality and Rights in Antigua GuatemalaChapter 5: Informal Economies, Illegal Subjects: Roma and Senegalese Traders in RomeChapter 6: Repositioning the Edge: The Resilience of Wholesale Vegetable Markets in Benguet Upland PhilippinesChapter 7: Frontier Justice: Making Norms, Negotiating Authority and Becoming Responsible in Northern Madagascar’s Artisanal Mining SectorChapter 8: To Legally Beg or Illegally Work? Norms and Illegality Among Asylum Seekers in Hong Kong

This is a fantastic volume. The editors propose an ambitious research agenda, which invites for a fundamental rethinking of ruling notions of norms and legality. This invitation is taken up in a series of fascinating chapters which delve into the lived realities of legality/illegality. It is rare to find a book which so successfully combines ethnographic thickness with conceptual depth. The book deserves a wide readership across the social and human sciences.