The Study of Folk Law in Hungary

Szabina Bognár's book is about the history of an interdisciplinary field of research in Hungary that falls within the purview of ethnography, law, history and sociology, and which has a bewilderingly diverse range of names: study of folk law, collection of legal customs, research into legal folk customs, legal ethnography, legal ethnology, legal anthropology, etc. Based on a wide range of sources (rich archival material, researchers’ legacies, and publications encompassing several scientific fields), it reviews research programs in Hungary from the early 20th-century collections on inheritance law to the present day, with the aim of understanding the normative systems of smaller communities. The summary of research history not only attempts to evaluate the results of a long-standing research tradition, but also clarifies terminological issues and presents international parallels. The author lists the obstacles to institutionalisation, shows when and how politics influenced research conducted for various reasons, and describes the careers of researchers in 20th-century Hungary.