Fernanda Pirie
Professor of the Anthropology of Law
Other affiliations
St Cross College
Faculty officer role(s):
Director of Graduate Studies for Centre for Socio-Legal Studies
Biography
Fernanda Pirie uses anthropological and comparative methods to compare legal practices and texts from around the world. She has carried out ethnographic fieldwork at both ends of the Tibetan plateau and is currently conducting historical work on Tibetan legal texts.
The Rule of Laws: a 4,000-year quest to order the world (Profile Books, Basic Books, 2021), her most recent book, is a global history of law. It traces the rise and fall of the world’s major legal systems and compares examples of historic law-making worldwide.
In her earlier monograph, The Anthropology of Law (OUP, 2013), Fernanda addresses the nature of law as a social form, as well as analysing its role in societies. This approach builds on themes and debates developed in the Oxford Legalism project, a collaboration between scholars from anthropology, history, and other disciplines, which produced four edited volumes (Legalism, OUP, 4 vols).
Fernanda’s current research on Tibetan legal texts is funded by the University's John Fell Fund. This is initiating a major programme of research on historic Tibetan law, from the 7th to the 20th centuries.
A previous AHRC project established a web-site containing source material (tibetanlaw.org) as well as several publications on the nature of Tibetan law and its relationship with Buddhism. She has also has worked with historians of the region in two ANR/DFG projects to develop the social history of Tibet.
Qualifications DPhil in Social Anthropology (Oxford) 2002, MSc in Social Anthropology (UCL) 1998, Called to the Bar 1988, BA in French and Philosophy (Oxford) 1986.
Publications
PIRIE F, ‘Why the rule of law? A historical perspective’ [2024] Comparative Legal History
PIRIE F, ‘Law as ritual: evoking an ideal order’ (2024) 14(2) HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory
PIRIE F, ‘Beyond pluralism: a descriptive approach to non-state law’ [2022] Jurisprudence
PIRIE F, ‘Which two laws? The concept of khrims gnyis in medieval Tibet’ [2019] Cahiers d’Extreme-Asie
PIRIE F, ‘Legalism: a turn to history in the anthropology of law’ [2019] Clio@Themis
Pirie F, ‘Buddhist law in early Tibet: the emergence of an ideology’ [2018] Journal of Law and Religion
Pirie F, Kubal A and Creutzfeldt N, ‘Introduction: exploring the comparative in sociolegal studies’ [2016] International Journal of Law in Context
Pirie F, ‘Legalism and the Anthropology of Law’ (2015) 36 Recht Der Werklijkeid 99
PIRIE F, ‘Comparison in the Anthropology and History of Law’ (2014) 9(2) Journal of Comparative Law
Pirie F, ‘The Limits of the State: Coercion and Consent in Chinese Tibet’ (2013) 72(1) The Journal of Asian Studies 69
Pirie F, ‘Law before Government: Ideology and Aspiration’ (2010) 30(2) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 207
Pirie F, ‘The Horse with Two Saddles: Tamxhwe in Modern Golok’ (2009) 1 Asian Highland Perspectives 164
Pirie F, ‘Legal Autonomy as Political Engagement: The Ladakhi Village in the Wider World’ (2006) 40(1) Law & Society Review 77
Pirie F, ‘Secular morality, village law, and Buddhism in Tibetan societies’ (2006) 12(1) Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 173
Pirie F, ‘Legal complexity on the Tibetan plateau’ (2006) 38(53-54) Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law 77
Pirie F, ‘Segmentation Within the State: The Reconfiguration of Tibetan Tribes in China’s Reform Period’ (2005) 9(1) Nomadic Peoples 83
PIRIE F, ‘Comparative global law?’ Oxford Journal of Legal Studies
‘Legalism: a turn to history in the anthropology of law’ (2019) 15 Clio@Themis
Pirie F, The Rule of Laws A 4,000-Year Quest to Order the World (Basic Books 2021)
Pirie F, The Rule of Laws: A 4000-year Quest to Order the World (Profile Books 2021)
PIRIE F, Moral Dilemmas in Slave-Owning Societies (EB-Verlag Dr. Brandt 2021)
Pirie F, The Anthropology of Law (OUP, Clarendon Law Series 2013) 103
Pirie F, Peace and Conflict in Ladakh The Construction of a Fragile Web of Order (BRILL 2007)
Pirie F, ‘Legalism: Rules, categories, and texts’, The Oxford Handbook of Law and Anthropology (2022)
Pirie F, ‘THE AMCHI AS VILLAGER’, HEALING AT THE PERIPHERY (2022)
Pirie F, ‘The amchi as villager: status and its refusal in Ladakh’ in L Pordie and S. Kloos (eds.), Healing at the Periphery (Duke University Press 2022)
Pirie F, ‘Laws and proverbs: The making and unmaking of moral rules in historic Tibet’ in B Dupret, J Colemans and M Travers (eds.), Legal Rules in Practice: In the Midst of Law’s Life (Routledge 2021)
Pirie F, ‘The drum of the law and the turquoise dragon: images of authority in Tibetan legal texts.’ in D Lange and others (eds.), Crossing Boundaries: Tibetan Studies Unlimited (Prague: Academia Publishing House 2021)
Pirie F, ‘Anthropology of Law’ in M Sellers and S Kirste (eds.), Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (Springer 2021)
Pirie F, ‘Sociology of law and legal anthropology’, Research Handbook on the Sociology of Law (Edward Elgar Publishing 2020)
Pirie F, ‘The making of Tibetan law: the Khrims gnyis lta ba’i me long.’ in J Bischoff, P Maurer and C Ramble (eds.), On a Day of a Month of the Fire Bird Year. (Lumbini International Research Institute. 2020)
Pirie F, ‘The Art of Mediation: Law and Rhetoric in Medieval Tibet.’ in M Moscati, M Palmer and M Roberts (eds.), Comparative Dispute Resolution (Edward Elgar Publishing. 2020)
Pirie F, ‘State, law, and morality in traditional Tibet’ in J Bischoff and S Mullard (eds.), Social Regulation: Case Studies from Tibetan History (Brill 2016)
Pirie F, ‘Legal Theory and Legal History: A View from Anthropology’, Law in Theory and History: New Essays on a Neglected Dialogue (2016)
Pirie F, ‘Oaths and Ordeals in Tibetan Law’ in D Schuh (ed.), Secular Law and Order in the Tibetan Highland (International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies 2015)
Pirie F, ‘Rules, Proverbs, and Persuasion: Legalism and Rhetoric in Tibet’ in P Dresch and J Scheele (eds.), Legalism: Rules and Categories (OUP 2015)
Pirie F and Scheele J, ‘Justice, Community, and Law’ in F Pirie and J Scheele (eds.), Legalism: Community and Justice (OUP 2014)
Pirie F, ‘Community, Justice, and Legalism: Elusive Concepts in Tibet’ in F Pirie and J Scheele (eds.), Legalism: Community and Justice (OUP 2014)
Pirie F, ‘Who were the Tibetan Lawmakers?’ in C Ramble, P Schwieger and A Travers (eds.), Tibetans who Escaped the Historian’s Net (Vajra Books 2013)
Pirie F, ‘Law and Religion in Historic Tibet’, Religion in Disputes (Springer Nature 2013)
Pirie F, ‘Legal dramas on the Amdo grasslands: Abolition, transformation or survival?’ in K Buffetrille (ed.), Revisiting Rituals in a Changing Tibetan World (Brill 2012)
Pirie F, ‘Kings, monks, bureaucrats and the police: Tibetan responses to law and authority’, The Power of Law in a Transnational World: Anthropological Enquiries (2009)
Pirie F, ‘From Tribal Tibet: The Significance of the Legal Form’ in M Freeman and D Napier (eds.), Law and Anthropology (OUP 2009)
van Beek M and Pirie F, ‘Introduction - Modern Ladakh: Anthropological Perspectives on Continuity and Change’ in M van Beek and F PIRIE (eds.), Modern Ladakh: Anthropological Perspectives on Continuity and Change (Brill 2008)
Von Benda-Beckmann K and PIRIE F, ‘Introduction - Order and Disorder: Anthropological Perspectives’ in K Von Benda-Beckmann and F PIRIE (eds.), Order and Disorder: Anthropological Perspectives (Berghahn 2008)
Pirie F, ‘Order, individualism and responsibility: Contrasting dynamics on the Tibetan plateau’, Order and Disorder: Anthropological Perspectives (2008)
Pirie F, ‘Violence and Opposition among the Nomads of Amdo’ in F Pirie and T Huber (eds.), Conflict and Social Order in Tibet and Inner Asia (Brill 2008)
Pirie F and Huber T, ‘Introduction - Conflict and Social Order in Tibet and Inner Asia’ in F PIRIE and T Huber (eds.), Conflict and Social Order in Tibet and Inner Asia (Brill Academic Publishers 2008)
Pirie F, ‘Dancing In The Face Of Death: Losar Celebrations In Photoksar’, Modern Ladakh (Brill Academic Publishers 2008)
Pirie F, ‘Violence And Opposition Among The Nomads Of Amdo: Expectations Of Leadership And Religious Authority’, Conflict and Social Order in Tibet and Inner Asia (Brill Academic Publishers 2008)
Pirie F and Scheele J, Legalism: Community and Justice (OUP Oxford 2014)
von Benda-Beckmann K and PIRIE F (eds.), Order and disorder: Anthropological perspectives (2008) 1
PIRIE F and Huber T (eds.), Conflict and social order in Tibet and Inner Asia (Brill 2008)
van Beek M and Pirie F, Modern Ladakh: Continuity and Change in Anthropological Perspective (Brill 2008)
Pirie F, ‘In the Circle of White Stones: Moving through the Seasons with Nomads of Eastern Tibet. By Gillian G. Tan. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2017. xxiv, 147 pp. ISBN: 9780295999487 (paper).’ (2019) 78(3) The Journal of Asian Studies 660 (review)
Pirie F, ‘Goodale, Mark; foreword by Sally Engle Merry. Anthropology and law: a critical introduction. xv, 290 pp., bibliogr. New York: Univ. Press, 2017. £29.99 (paper)Nafziger, James A.R. (ed.). Comparative law and anthropology. x, 532 pp., bibliogrs. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017. £180.00 (cloth)’ (2019) 25(1) Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 166 (review)
PIRIE F, ‘Law and Buddhism: principle and practice in pre-modern Tibet’ (2018) 26 Cahiers d’Extreme-Asie (review)
Pirie F, ‘Buddhism and Law: An Introduction. Edited by Rebecca Redwood French and Mark A. Nathan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Pp. 407. $32.99 (cloth). ISBN: 9780521734196.’ (2016) 31(1) Journal of Law and Religion 112 (review)
Pirie F, ‘The violence of liberation: gender and Tibetan Buddhist revival in post‐Mao China – By Charlene E. Makley’ (2010) 16(3) Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 685 (review)