Introduction
Some notes on “African Customary Law”
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 16766946 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Simon Robert (0000-0002-8937-9154, corresponding author), Simon Roberts (0000-0002-6964-2103) |
| Year | 1984 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Pages | 1-5 |
| Publication date | 1984-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of African Law (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0221-8553 • E-ISSN: 1464-3731 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0021855300005180 |
| OpenAlex | W2119972034 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 4 |
The papers collected here can safely be left to speak for themselves. Ranging from Abel's map of some ideal types, conceived at a level of abstraction comparable to Weber's typology of authority, to Sachs' account of a day's work in a Mozambique popular tribunal, they represent very fairly the diverse perspectives from which “customary law” is presently being written about. They show that we are dealing here with a number of different phenomena, and that people have seen these phenomena in sometimes radically opposed ways. The very label “African Customary Law” has a flavour of the 1950s and 60s about it, recalling that new and exciting area of study which Allott marked out single handed and then enthusiastically encouraged others to join him in developing. The assumption was then that we were dealing with a living, specifically African repertoire of norms and procedures which could be put to work in helping to shape some African “future”. Since then the nature and provenance of this repertoire and the merits of that ambition have been the subject of a lively re-examination; and that discussion was at the heart of the Lisbon conference where these papers originated. The profitable continuation of that discussion requires that we are clear about the range of meanings which “African customary law” may carry. My own, subjective, marking-out of the field would be along the following lines
Art · Ideal (ethics) · Political science · Repertoire · Sociology · Subject (documents) · Tribunal · Typology · African history and culture studies · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Computer Science · Land Rights and Reforms · Law
Reconfiguring Law
Colonialism and the Transformation of the Substance and Form of Islamic Law in the Northern States of Nigeria
The Dynamics of Change and Continuity in Plural Legal Orders
Law, Pluralism and the Family In Kenya
Law and Anthropology
African Women and the Law
Colonial and Post-Colonial Reconstructions of Customary Land Tenure in Zimbabwe
Colonialism and the Transformation of Islamic Law
The Equality Clause and Customary Law
Competitive rights, competitive claims
| Citations per year | 0.29 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1991 - 2025 (35) |
| Highly cited | No |