The Symbolic Power of the State

Inheritance Disputes and Litigants' Judicial Trajectories in Cotonou

Bibliographic Data

ID2290749
AuthorsSophie Andreetta (0000-0001-9427-3007, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology)
Year2020
Volume43
Issue1
Pages5-20
Publication date2020-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePoLAR Political and Legal Anthropology Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1081-6976 • E-ISSN: 1555-2934
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/plar.12341
OpenAlexW3035302084
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited39

Over the last 10 years, scholars have started to focus on African states' bureaucracies by investigating public servants' relationships with the state, their professional ethos, how they appropriate reforms, and the way they interact with citizens. With inheritance disputes as a focal point, this article highlights the users' perspective-which is often overlooked-and asks how litigants in Cotonou(Benin) see the state, appropriate legal reforms, and use the courts. It shows that citizens, despite a general sense that the court system is corrupt and ineffective, continue to use it because state institutions convey a form of authority that allows them either to legitimize or challenge family decisions in inheritance matters

African history and culture studies · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Land Rights and Reforms

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