This dissertation is based on ethno-historic fieldwork in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). In the CNMI there is a complex interaction of customary law within the framework of an American legal system. By studying land disputes in a historical context, I examine how custom is represented, reconfigured, and constructed through law and the dispute process. Law reflects and reproduces ideology through its relationship with the state while at the local level of the case one can analyze the specific ways individuals access, affect, and are affected by the legal system. Courts are a site for the production of meanings that includes state-level forces, such as the law and procedural rules, as well as the impact of individuals, such as attorneys, litigants, and witnesses.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/280452 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Robbins, Helen A. R. |
| Contributors | Philips, Susan U. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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