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Iterations of Law is a valuable resource on the legal history of colonial India. The essays in this edited volume uncover the lived experience of law in the tradition of social history. The contributors discuss and rework ideas of legal pluralism, law's violence, and the legacy of colonial law. Their embrace of legal archives other than the judgment, such as the stamp paper, and political and bureaucratic speeches is a welcome methodological intervention in the field. This review examines the volume's contribution to two persistent debates in legal history: the perceived continuity of the colonial law and legal system, and the agency of the colonial subject vis-à-vis law. Read this way, the contributions emphasise several points of contact between subject and government that allowed the consolidation and legitimisation of colonial rule. Though greater engagement with law and a South Asian emphasis would have added much value, the review concludes that the volume is essential reading for legal historians as well as scholars analysing the conditions of authority and legitimacy of law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are few sociology texts that acquire truly seminal status. This brief paper, however, reflects on one of the most celebrated and often cited works in British urban sociology. It seeks to explain: (1) the book's initial impact on debates and research in the field of ‘race and ethnic relations’; (2) the key controversies sparked by its theoretical positioning; and (3) why, and in what ways, it remains of relevance almost half a century after it was written. It concludes that there are two reasons for its continued appeal and significance. First, it placed housing firmly at the centre of debates about the position of Britain's migrant communities; second, it illustrates the potential of sociological research. At a time when controversies rage about ‘impact’, here is a work that not only contributed to our theoretical understanding of contemporary society, but also illustrated the value of ‘public sociology’ by engaging with the polity to bring about social change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]