Mark Fathi Massoud

Law and society scholars have investigated how law and courts shaped sovereignty in North America, Europe, and East Asia. But less is known about the power of law, including Islamic law, in unstable political contexts. Answering this question about law’s alluring power, even over societies at war, forms the basis of this project. Modern Somali history reveals how democratic roots develop through attention to Islamic law and human rights. By illuminating the Somali experience of law, this project underscores broader lessons of law’s power for Western and non-Western societies alike.