아프리카ㆍ중동

The continued prevalence of customary law in many African countries is the ‘inconvenient’ truth of modern African society. It is inconvenient because many Western development professionals and academics perceive customary law as archaic and repressive, particularly of women, and the traditional institutions with which customary law is associated, as corrupt and unrepresentative. There is a widely held view that customary law is incompatible with the functioning of a modern democratic state which requires a body of statutory and common law. This book brings a different perspective to the theory and practice of customary law. Recommending an undergraduate textbook for reading by a wider audience is unusual, but those who work on institutions that play a role in common-pool resource (CPR) management in sub-Saharan Africa may benefit from the insights this book provides. Customary law and traditional institutions are integrated into the South African legal system, which is based on one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. This integration is not easy, but wishing it away ignores the increasing popularity of traditional institutions in South Africa and other African countries and their role in local governance (Oomen 2005; Ainslie and Kepe 2016).