Susan G. Drummond – författare

Comparative law and legal anthropology have traditionally restrictedthemselves to their own fields of inquiry. Mapping Marriage Law inSpanish Gitano Communities turns this tendency on its head andinvestigates what happens when the voices of each discipline areinvited to speak to each other. Susan Drummond forges this hybrid formof comparative work through small- and large-scale studies of Gitanomarriage law as it emerges in a Western European state, in a modernurban centre, and in particular communities and families.Drummond's mapping of Gitano marriage law is grounded inethnographic fieldwork in Andalucia. The study draws initially from thetradition of comparative law to focus on the emergence of Spanish statefamily law in a predominantly national and international context.Drummond then adopts the role of legal anthropologist to examine aparticular legal culture that exists within, and also beyond, theSpanish state: that of the Gitanos and the transnational Roma.Ultimately, she brings the international, national, and culturaldimensions of law into play with one another and contemplates how allof these influences bear on the spirit of Andalusian Gitano marriagelaw. The result is an ethos of marriage law in a thoroughly mixed legaljurisdiction.Mapping Marriage Law in Spanish Gitano Communities willappeal to scholars and students in comparative law and legalanthropology, as well as readers interested in Roma studies in general,and the Gitanos in particular.

In 2009, an international conference exploring models of statehood for Israel and Palestine was held at Toronto's York University. The conference became a cause célèbre in Canada and Israel when extraordinary pressures were exerted on the conference organizers, their academic departments, and university administrators by pro-Israel lobby groups, private university donors, members of the academic community, and even the federal government. Although the conference itself was uneventful, the lead-up roiled Canadian academia and society, provoking a controversy that raised major issues regarding academic freedom.Unthinkable Thoughts covers the history of the events from the perspective of Susan Drummond, one of the conference organizers. First, she methodically examines the idea of constitutional bi-nationalism in Israel/Palestine, and explores why it is such a fraught, contentious notion. Drawing from copious documentation, including confidential communications accessed under Freedom of Information legislation, she then lays out the behind-the-scenes minutiae of statements made and decisions taken before and after the conference took place. This book serves as a cautionary tale of the ease with which matters of fundamental principle can become compromised in the face of intense social and political pressure.