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.
