By Carol Weisbrod

Kites and the Sabbath is an interdisciplinary discussion of certain aspects of Hawaiian legal history. It attempts to set out an intellectual context for the transformation of Hawaiian legal institutions by highlighting the various legal materials which were available to 19th century Hawaiian elites as they framed their responses to foreign influences and pressures. Just as they were aware of competing religious orientations and norms (especially Protestant and Catholic) Hawaiians would have known of different national regulations on subjects that concerned them and different ideas about law and particularly its relation to Christianity. The book includes discussions of some specific issues (such as Sabbath observance and marriage and divorce). It also includes a treatment of the efforts -- not altogether successful -- of two mid-century American codifiers working in Hawai'i. Organized around pieces of the material culture in Hawai'i (Kites, Bibles, Law Books, Codes, Flags) the book concludes with illustrations of some ways in which plural normative orders can be found within a unitary legal system.

Carol Weisbrod is Professor Emerita at the law school of the University of Connecticut. She is the author of Grounding Security: Family, Insurance and the State (2006); Emblems of Pluralism: Cultural Differences and the State (2002); Butterfly, the Bride: Essays on Law, Narrative and the Family (1999) and The Boundaries of Utopia (1980). She has also published many articles in the fields of legal history, legal theory and family law.

October 2014, Paperback, 154 Pages