Customer Reviews

The Cultural Lives of Capital Punishment: Comparative Perspectives (The Cultural Lives of Law)

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An accessible work on capital punishment that goes well beyond the standard moral and cost-benefit arguments. By considering capital punishment in both historical and international contexts and taking an anthropological approach, these essays show the many shades of a discussion that is often reduced to black and white.

I consider this book a valuable ressource for cross-disciplinary research on death panelty. It covers a broad range of different perspectives on the topic, which are often neglected in political or even academic debates. The comparative approach makes it even more interesting, since state killings can be shown as being part of "culture" in various societies around the globe. The way people publicly deal with capital punishment actually reveals much of its cultural functions.

Do not buy this book. It's a shame because some of the people who wrote in it. However, the contribution in this book are deeply disappointing, most are either commonplaces or do not bring anything new to the subject.
You would better read what Austin Sarat writes!