Law, Bureaucracy, and the Practice of Government and Rule

Abstract

This chapter explores the “logic of empire” in relation to law, bureaucracy, and the practice of government, from the Ancient world to the present. Beginning with the complex example of Haile Selassie I and the Ethiopian Empire, the chapter analyzes the many universalisms of law and empire, before moving on to a survey of different “repertories” of imperial rule. The chapter then examines the numerous ways in which empires put law “to work,” facilitating the development of multiple, normative orders and institutions far beyond the jurisdiction of their own imperial officials. The final section of the chapter briefly introduces (post)colonial legal scholarship and the concept of “legalism from below,” with a specific focus on recent archival research in courtroom records.