New Books List

"What is the purpose of comparative constitutional law? Comparing constitutions allows us to consider the similarities and differences in forms of government, and the normative philosophies behind constitutional choices. Constitutional comparisons offer "hermeneutic" help: they enable us to see "our" own constitution with different eyes and to locate its structural and normative choices by references to alternatives evident in other constitutional orders"--

The Canonization of Islamic Law tells the story of the birth of classical Islamic law in the eighth and ninth centuries CE. It shows how an oral normative tradition embedded in communal practice was transformed into a systematic legal science defined by hermeneutic analysis of a clearly demarcated scriptural canon. This transformation was inaugurated by the innovative legal theory of Muhammad b. Idris al-Shafi'i (d. 820 CE), and it took place against the background of a crisis of identity and religious authority in ninth-century Egypt. By tracing the formulation, reception, interpretation and spread of al-Shafi'i's ideas, the author demonstrates how the canonization of scripture that lay at the heart of al-Shafi'i's theory formed the basis for the emergence of legal hermeneutics, the formation of the Sunni schools of law, and the creation of a shared methodological basis in Muslim thought.

Edited by Chris Honeyman and Andrea Kupfer Schneider and featuring 106 contributors, the Negotiator's Desk Reference is simply the most comprehensive book on negotiation available. The Negotiator's Desk Reference (NDR) supersedes the same editors' Negotiator's Fieldbook (American Bar Association 2006.) In the NDR, almost 60% of the chapters are entirely new, and the rest are updated. The NDR pulls together relevant ideas on negotiation from business, economics, law, psychology, cultural studies and more than a dozen other fields. Even so, this is efficiently readable, because with 101 chapters each specific topic is treated in an average of less than 15 pages. The NDR balances research with real-world explanations from top negotiators in many areas, including business, diplomacy, hostage situations and many other settings. This book shows how you can make negotiation work for you. There is simply no other book like it. Offered as two volumes; purchasers of the full set also receive full access to the NDR's Web edition, with later web updates, at no additional cost.