The Challenge of Building an Inter-Communal Rule of Law in Helen Hunt Jackson’s Ramona

This article uses Helen Hunt Jackson’s 1884 novel Ramona to ground an exploration of the problems associated with building an inter-communal rule of law. A close reading of Jackson’s text reveals a rudimentary philosophy of law that comprises three central tenets: (1) a strong element of natural law thinking, which enables Jackson to construct an ideal of justice based on her conception of all individuals as members of a common humanity; (2) a critique of misunderstanding, most often rooted in ignorance, as a central stumbling-block to establishing a common legal system that unites different communities within a single territory; and (3) a deeper critique of incommensurability—the fundamental incompatibility of perspectives and values—as the greatest threat to the long-term possibility of an inter-communal rule of law, and consequently to the harmonious coexistence of different communities within a single territory

Comparative law · Construct (python library · Economic Justice · Epistemology · Humanity · Ideal (ethics · Ignorance · Natural (archaeology · Natural law · Philosophy of law · Political science · Politics · Reading (process · Rule of law · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Law in Society and Culture · Multicultural Socio-Legal Studies · History · Law · Philosophy