Keebet von Benda-Beckmann is head of the Project Group Legal Pluralism at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany. She also is an honorary professor in Leipzig and Halle. Her research in Indonesia and the Netherlands focuses on legal pluralism, social security, governance and on the role of religion in disputing processes. Franz von Benda-Beckmann is head of the Project Group Legal Pluralism at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany. He also is an honorary professor in Leipzig and Halle. His research in Malawi and Indonesia focuses on property and inheritance, social security, governance and legal anthropological theory. Anne Griffiths has a personal chair in Anthropology of Law at the University of Edinburgh in the School of Law. Her major research interests include anthropology of law, comparative and family law, African law, gender, culture and rights. She has been awarded research grants from the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council), the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (USA), the Annenberg Foundation (USA), the British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust, the Commonwealth Foundation, the Carnegie Trust and the American Bar Foundation.

"This fascinating collection of articles sheds new light on the way law exercises power in a transnational world, from the crises of terrorism to the subtle introduction of new law within development projects. This set of articles provides new evidence of the important insights offered by legal pluralism and anthropological methodologies for understanding the nature of transnational, national, and local systems of law." * Sally Engle Merry, New York University

• Acknowledgements Introduction: The Power of Law Franz von Benda-Beckmann, Keebet von Benda-Beckmann and Anne Griffiths POWER OF LAW AS DISCOURSE: CLAIMS TO LEGITIMACY AND HIGHER MORALITY Chapter 1. The Military Order of 13 November 2001: An Ethnographic Reading Carol J. Greenhouse Chapter 2. Law and the Frontiers of Illegalities Laura Nader Chapter 3. Selective Scrutiny: Supranational Engagement with Minority Protection and Rights in Europe Jane K. Cowan Chapter 4. The Globalization of Fatwas amidst the Terror Wars against Pluralism Upendra Baxi Chapter 5. Human Rights, Cultural Relativism and Legal Pluralism: Towards a Two-dimensional Debate Franz von Benda-Beckmann AT THE INTERSECTION OF LEGALITIES Chapter 6. Learning Communities and Legal Spaces: Community based Fisheries Management in a Globalizing World Melanie G. Wiber and John F. Kearney Chapter 7. Project Law - a Power Instrument of Development Agencies: A Case Study from Burundi Markus Weilenmann Chapter 8. Half-Told Truths and Partial Silence: Managing Communication in Scottish Children's Hearings Anne Griffiths and Randy F. Kandel RELIGION AS A RESOURCE IN LEGAL PLURALISM Chapter 9. Keeping the Stream of Justice Clear and Pure: The Buddhicization of Bhutanese Law Richard W. Whitecross Chapter 10. Balancing Islam, Adat and the State: Comparing Islamic and Civil Courts in Indonesia Keebet von Benda-Beckmann Chapter 11. Kings, Monks, Bureaucrats and the Police: Tibetan Responses to Law and Authority Fernanda Pirie Notes on Contributors Index