Abstract
Legal pluralism, a pervasive societal phenomenon, denotes the coexistence of diverse legal systems within a community or state. This chapter meticulously traces the origins and evolution of legal pluralism globally, emphasising its role in shaping South Africa’s pluri-legal system. Personal status systems, crucial within legal pluralism, govern ethno-religious communities, applying communal norms to personal and familial matters. This convoluted web of legal diversity is explored through a multidisciplinary lens, amalgamating insights from the social sciences and law. The chapter culminates in an analysis of legal pluralism as a political instrument. It elucidates how legal pluralism, wielded strategically, can perpetuate societal hierarchies based on gender, religion, race, and ethnicity. The nuanced discussion unravels how legal frameworks tailored to specific groups may inadvertently marginalise citizens, fostering disparities and suppressing women’s autonomy. The examination of historical trajectories, social dynamics, and political dimensions collectively paints a complex portrait of legal pluralism, revealing the urgent need to address its inherent gaps and injustices.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
There are four main schools of law in Islamic jurisprudence: Ḥanafī, Shāfiʿī, Mālikī, and Ḥanbalī.
- 2.
An approximate three-month period during which a divorcee or widow may not remarry.
References
Benton L (2011) Historical perspectives on legal pluralism. Hague J Rule Law 3(1):57–69. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1876404511100044
Büchler A (2012) Islamic family law in Europe? From dichotomies to discourse - or: beyond cultural and religious identity in family law. Int J Law Context 8(2):196–210. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744552312000043
Dutta S (2022) Competing allies: legal pluralism, and gendered agency in Mumbai’s Sharia Courts. Law Soc Inq 47(2):514–534. https://doi.org/10.1017/lsi.2021.39
Fayker-Abrahams H (2015) South African engagement with Muslim Personal Law: the Women’s Legal Centre, Cape Town and women in Muslim marriages. In: African Gender Institute Feminist Africa (15), pp 39–62. Available online at https://feministafrica.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/fa_15__case_study_hoodah_abrahams-fayker.pdf, checked on 20/10/2023
Kassam Z (2010) Reclaiming the nation: Muslim women and the law in India by Vrinda Narain. J Law Relig 26:663–674. Available online at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261973731_Reclaiming_the_Nation_Muslim_Women_and_the_Law_in_India_by_Vrinda_Narain Checked on 20/10/2023
Kemp P (2018) Legal pluralism in India – divisive and discriminatory?’ https://www.culs.org.uk/per-incuriam/legal-pluralism-in-india-divisive-and-discriminatory. Checked on 20/10/2023
Kokal K (2019) State law, dispute processing and legal pluralism: unspoken dialogues from rural India. Law and anthropology. Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon; New York
Manea E (2011) The Arab State and women’s rights. The trap of authoritarian governance. Routledge (Routledge studies in Middle Eastern politics, 37), New York
Manea E (2016) Women and Shari’a law. The impact of legal pluralism in the UK. I.B. Tauris, London, New York
Menski W (2006) Comparative law in a global context. The legal systems of Asia and Africa. Second. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Merry SE (1988) Legal pluralism 22(5), pp 869–896. Available online at http://www.jstor.org/stable/3053638, checked on 20/10/2023
Merry SE (2012) Legal pluralism and legal culture: mapping the terrain. In: Legal pluralism and development: scholars and practitioners in dialogue. Cambridge University Press, pp 66–82
Merry SE (2013) McGill convocation address: legal pluralism in practice. mlj 59(1):1–8. https://doi.org/10.7202/1018983ar
Mody NB (1987) The Press in India: The Shah Bano Judgment and Its Aftermath. Asian Surv 27(8):935–953. https://doi.org/10.2307/2644865, checked on 20/10/2023
Oglesbee JM (2015) The Shah Bano Controversy: a case study of individual rights, religious tolerance, and the role of the secular state’. Inq J 7(08). http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1061/the-shah-bano-controversy-a-case-study-of-individual-rights-religious-tolerance-and-the-role-of-the-secular-state, checked on 20/10/2023
Oppermann B (2006) The impact of legal pluralism on women’s status: an examination of marriage laws in Egypt, South Africa, and the United States. 17(1), pp 65–92. Available online at https://repository.uchastings.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://scholar.google.ch/&httpsredir=1&article=1214&context=hwlj, checked on 20/10/2023
Roberts S (1998) Against Legal Pluralism. J Leg Plur Unoff Law 30(42):95–106. https://doi.org/10.1080/07329113.1998.10756517
Sage C, Woolcock M (2012) Introduction in legal pluralism and development: scholars and practitioners in dialogue. Cambridge University Press, pp 1–10
Sezgin Y (2013) Human rights under state-enforced religious family laws in Israel, Egypt and India. 1st pbk. ed. Cambridge University Press (Cambridge studies in law and society), Cambridge
Tamanaha BZ (2008) Understanding legal pluralism: past to present, local to global. Sydney Law Rev 30:375. Available online at https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/sydney30&id=373&div=27&collection=journals, checked on 20/10/2023
Tamanaha BZ (2011) The rule of law and legal pluralism in development. Hague J Rule Law 3(01):1–17. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1876404511100019
Tamanaha BZ (2012) What is ‘general’ jurisprudence? A critique of universalistic claims by philosophical concepts of law. Transnational Legal Theory, Forthcoming, Washington University in St. Louis Legal Studies Research Paper No. 12-03-02. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2018283, checked on 20/10/2023
Taylor C (1994) Multiculturalism: examining the politics of recognition. Princeton University Press. ISBN-10: 0691037795
Twining W (2010) Normative and legal pluralism: a global perspective. Duke J Comp Int Law 20(3):473–518. Available online at: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/djcil/vol20/iss3/8, check on 20/10/2023
von Benda-Beckmann K (1981) Forum shopping and shopping forums: dispute processing in a Minangkabau Village in West Sumatra. J Leg Plural Unoff Law 13(19):117–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/07329113.1981.10756260
Von Benda-Beckmann F (1984) Law out of context: a comment on the creation of traditional law discussion. J Afr Law 28(1–2):28–33. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021855300005210
von Benda-Beckmann K (2002) Globalisation and legal pluralism. International Law FORUM du droit international 4(1):19–25. Available from: Brill https://doi.org/10.1163/15718040220963084 Checked on 20/10/2023
Wadud A (1995) Qur’an and woman, 1st edn. Penerbit Fajar Bakti Sdn. Bhd, Kuala Lumpur
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mukaddam, F. (2024). Contextualising Legal Pluralism. In: Muslim Women between Community and Individual Rights. Gender, Justice and Legal Feminism, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54614-3_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54614-3_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-54613-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-54614-3
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)