Ronald Chen

I am broadly interested at the intersection of anthropology and law. My current project resolves around legal pluralism and tribal law in Jordan, where I trace criminal/tort cases in which defendants can be subject to criminal sanctions (decided by state courts) and tribal punishments (decided by tribal courts), and the use of administrative detention as a form of protective custody for women facing “honor” crimes. I aim to explore the curious relationship between the state and tribal law, and seek to uncover how people construe of (moral/ethical) responsibility, including where this responsibility morphs into legal liability—whether individual, collective, partial, or transferable.

I also maintain an interest in the jurisprudence behind legal defenses such as entrapment and duress, habeas corpus, Brady violations, and common law doctrines such as felony murder and vicarious liability, where the boundaries of that for which an individual can be responsible extend beyond her actions/fault. I am affiliated with the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford, and Sijal Institute in Jordan. I warmly welcome correspondence at my email address.

انا مرشح الدكتوراه بالانثروبولوجيا (علم الانسان) و بهتم بالروابط بين القانون و المجتمع/الثقافة. انا بركز على قضايا اجتماعية بالأردن، مثل النظام العشائري، حقوق الإنسان/المرأة، جرائم الشرف، و الحبس الاداري. حاليا، انا عم بعمل بحث عن نظام التعددية القانونية بالأردن، و العلاقات بين القانون المدني، القانون العشائري، و القانون الديني/الشريعة. انا كمان بهتم بنظريات المسؤولية—القانونية و العشائرية و الجنائية—لما شخص معين بكون مسوؤل عن شخص تاني. سابقا، انا عملت بحث عن استشهاد معاذ الكساسبة، و معنى موته للأردنيين. خلينا نتواصل!