Law and Community in Three American Towns

Carol J. Greenhouse, Barbara Yngvesson, and David M. Engel analyze attitudes toward the law as a way of commentating on major American myths and ongoing changes in American society.

Carol J. Greenhouse is Professor and Chair in the Department of Anthropology at Princeton University. She is the author of Praying for Justice: Faith, Order, and Community in an American Town and A Moment's Notice: Time Politics across Cultures, both available from Cornell. Barbara Yngvesson is Professor of Anthropology at Hampshire College. David M. Engel is the SUNY Distinguished Service Professor at the University at Buffalo Law School.

As established scholars in the field of law-and-society, these three authors have studied the interrelation between law and community in three locales in New England, the Midwest, and the South. Using interviews and case studies, they explore the links between the cultural ideas of individualism and community. Their more specific focus is on the role of law and of the courts in the cultural framework of their selected communities. A principal conclusion is that 'community' is 'a term that expresses a modern retrenchment against new forms of pluralism in the United States.' The text is clearly written and contains useful and up-to-date bibliography.