Access to justice and human security : cultural contradictions in rural South Africa / Sindiso Mnisi Weeks.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Weeks, Sindiso Mnisi, 1980- author.

Series:

Cultural diversity and law

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Justice, Administration of--South Africa.

Justice, Administration of.

Rule of law.

Dispute resolution (Law).

Restorative justice.

Law reform.

South Africa.

Law reform--South Africa.

Restorative justice--South Africa.

Dispute resolution (Law)--South Africa.

Rule of law--South Africa.

Physical Description:

xiii, 274 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, 2018.

Summary:

For most people in rural South Africa, traditional justice mechanisms provide the only feasible means of to legal solutions to conflict. These mechanisms are popularly associated with restorative justice, reconciliation and harmony. Yet, this ethnographic study grounded in the political economy of rural South Africa reveals how historical conditions and contemporary pressures have resulted in a degree of human insecurity that has strained these mechanisms' ability to deliver the high normative ideals with which they are notionally linked. The book provides a vision for access to justice in rural South Africa that takes seriously the volatile human conditions--poverty, gendered social relations, delicate social trust, and plausibility of violent self-help--of ordinary people and traditional authorities alike. The author proposes a cooperative governance model that maximises the resources and capacity of both traditional and state justice apparatus for delivering the legal and social justice that meets rural people's basic human needs.

Contents:

1. Introduction

Section I

2. Contentious Background: History and Theory

Section II (Institutional Attributes of Dispute Management in Msinga)

3. Controversial Subject Matter: What Disputes Are Heard?

4. Competing Authorities: What Forums Exist Over What Jurisdictions and How Do They Manage Disputes Between Them?

Section III (Interpersonal Attributes of Dispute Management in Msinga)

5. Contradictory Social Relations: Who Is Disputing With Whom and Why?

6. Conflicting Identities: Fears, Vulnerabilities and Strengths Accompanying Gender and Age

7. Confounding Objectives: What Do People Really Want?

Section IV

8. Conclusion: A Vision of the South African Legal Order Far Beyond The Traditional Courts Bill

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781138060777

1138060771

OCLC:

990365489