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Legal theory in the colonies : Hindu and Jewish scholars under British rule / Assaf Likhovski.

Cambridge Open Access Books and Elements Available online

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Cambridge eBooks: Frontlist 2026 Available online

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Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Likhovski, Assaf, Author.
Series:
Studies in legal history.
Studies in legal history
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Jurisprudence--History.
Jurisprudence.
Comparative law--History.
Comparative law.
Law--India--History.
Law.
Law--Israel--History.
Hindu law--History.
Hindu law.
Jewish law--History.
Jewish law.
Physical Description:
1 online resource (xvi, 425 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).
Edition:
1st ed.
Place of Publication:
Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026.
Summary:
In colonial India and Mandatory Palestine, early-twentieth-century legal scholars made important contributions to the study of the nature of law, particularly by analyzing Hindu and Jewish law - their ancient religious systems. This book reconstructs the lives and ideas of these scholars, revealing a forgotten global wave of jurisprudential innovation that appeared across many territories in the non-Western world. The book challenges the view that non-Western legal scholars working in the colonies were passive recipients of Western ideas. It argues that Indian and Jewish thinkers used Western historical and sociological approaches to law to reimagine Hindu and Jewish law, and to assert their relevance to modern legal and constitutional debates. Though historical in scope, the story this book tells is also relevant to contemporary tensions between Western liberal law and non-Western religious legal traditions. This title is available as open access on Cambridge Core.
Contents:
Part I. Institutions and works
Legal education and legal theory in colonial India
Legal education and legal theory in Mandatory Palestine
Interlude 1: Goals
Part II. Individual scholars
The life and jurisprudential ideas of Radhabinod Pal
The life and jurisprudential ideas of Samuel Eisenstadt
Interlude 2: Politics
Part III. Ancient public law
The Hindu polity literature
The study of ancient Jewish public law
Interlude 3: Impact
Legal education and legal theory in Egypt and China
Epilogue: The decline and resurgence of legal nationalism in postcolonial India and Israel.
Notes:
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 31 Jul 2026).
ISBN:
1-009-69987-3
Access Restriction:
Open Access. Unrestricted online access

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