55

After being interpreted mostly with reference to norms, this perspective on social reproduction underwent an inversion, with the focus now on the uses of law. Because of the gap that was supposed to exist between norms and practices and because this gap was assumed to be large, the thematics surrounding the appropriation of legal norms led to systematic undervaluation of the influence of these juridical norms and more generally of all norms of behavior. A detailed examination of the practices of power and of the operations of usages and customs leads to a better characterization of inheritance and marriage practices in regions subject to customary law and to a clearer perception of differences between them and the practices in place in areas subject to Roman law. Conventions, customs, and learned legal judgments clearly expressed in their interaction the intent of interested parties, and from this point of view at least, closely matched popular views. The ways in which power was wielded and transmitted shaped family systems just as much as ecological or economic constraints.