Thieves in Court

Rebekka Habermas is Professor and the Chair of Modern History at the Georg-August-University, Goettingen. She is also an editor of Historische Anthropologie journal and co-editor of the Historische Studien series.

'In a brilliant study of 'jurisdictional politics', Rebekka Habermas delivers a fresh and sophisticated account of the social grounding, cultural performance, and public staging that shaped a reformed legal system in the wake of the 1848 revolutions. Challenging not only the celebratory liberal story of the progressive march of the rule of law but also the social historian's class-based critique of the rule of property, she derives the rise of 'the modern legal order' from an elaborate process of cultural conflict and everyday transactions.' Geoff Eley, University of Michigan

• Acknowledgements; Abbreviations of the laws; Introduction; Part I. What Is Theft? Thieves and Jurists – Questions of Honor and Property: 1. Who are the thieves and who are the victims? 2. How does a person end up in court – why does something go on the record? 3. The theft happens – from act to crime; Part II. How Law Is Made: Evidence Production: 4. Techniques for finding truth – the slow production of the state of law; 5. Techniques for finding truth and other kinds of knowledge formation: how can a new outlook be put into practice?; 6. Techniques for finding truth: how do people become jurists, and how does property come into being?; Part III. In the Courtroom, or What Is Law?: 7. Reforms for more legal equality, justice, and public openness?; 8. The meaninglessness of jury courts for justice; 9. Legitimation through procedure; 10. Irritations, dissonances, and various other matters: more than just theater; Conclusion; Bibliography.