Colonizing Hawai’i : the cultural power of law

In this influential study, anthropologist and legal scholar Sally Engle Merry examines how Western legal systems reshaped Hawaiian society in the nineteenth century. Focusing on the period of increasing American influence, she explores how law functioned not merely as a set of rules but as a powerful cultural force that transformed concepts of land, family, gender, and authority. Drawing on archival research and court records, Merry shows how Hawaiians engaged with, adapted to, and at times resisted the imposed legal order. Blending legal history and cultural anthropology, this book offers a nuanced account of colonialism’s everyday workings and will interest readers of legal studies, Pacific history, and postcolonial scholarship.