Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Role of Land Litigation in the Construction of The Northern Marianas as a Quasi-Nation-State

[摘要]本研究通过民族志和民族史学分析，聚焦于围绕土地诉讼的问题，研究多元法律体系下社区层面的谈判与解决。迄今为止，很少有研究关注后殖民国家公民的当地法律实践以及这些法律谈判在国家认同问题上所起的作用。通过研究当代和历史上的土地案例，研究人员探索了随着时间的推移，习俗的法律和社会定义的变化。该项目探讨了土著居民和法律系统使用和定义习俗的不同方式。这项工作评估了一种理论，即不断发展的习俗定义与国家层面定义民族认同的过程直接相关。对涉及密克罗尼西亚北马里亚纳群岛联邦土地案件的当地居民、法官和律师的访谈以及档案记录将为解决这些问题提供数据。这项工作有助于我们对法律规则发展的基本认识。

Abstract *** Phillips 9613883 This research undertakes ethnographic and ethnohistorical analyses focusing on issues surrounding land litigation to study community-level negotiation and resolution within a pluralist legal system. Little research has heretofore focused on local legal practices of the citizens in post-colonial states and the role these legal negotiations play in question of national identity. By studying contemporary and historical land cases, the investigators explore change in the legal and social definitions of custom over time. The project explores the differing ways the indigenous population and the legal system use and define customs. This work evaluates the theory that evolving definitions of custom are directly related to processes at the state level in defining national identity. Interviews with local people, judges, and attorneys involved in land cases in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia, and archival records will provide data to address these questions. This work contributes to our basic understanding of the development of legal rules.