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Divorce as Process, Botswana Style

Bibliographic Data

ID6015405
AuthorsP Werbner (0000-0003-2296-9851, Keele University, corresponding author), Richard Werbner (0000-0002-3493-6742, University of Manchester)
Year2018
Volume2
Issue2
Pages1-23
Publication date2018-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Legal Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1758-9584 • E-ISSN: 1758-9576
PublisherBerghahn Books (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.3167/jla.2018.020202
OpenAlexW2921122528
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited6

This article aims to unravel the complex negotiations surrounding property settlements and custody in cases of divorce in customary courts in Botswana today in the light of an earlier legacy of penalising divorce initiators. It argues that women’s attempts to get their husbands to initiate divorce proceedings can entangle women in lengthy negotiations and ultimately frustrate the aim of achieving a divorce. Repeated court hearings can last for years, we show. At the same time, in Botswana’s statutory courts today, an equal division of property irrespective of the causes of marital breakdown has become established practice. In the article, we aim to show that customary laws regarding property settlement in divorce have indeed changed, gradually adjusting to notions of equity in women’s rights in marriage, in response to a wider ideological, critical movement, even though chiefs or headmen presiding over customary courts do not always explicitly acknowledge this change

Business · Criminology · Equity (law · Geography · Human settlement · Ideology · Merge (version control · Negotiation · Political science · Property (philosophy · Redress · Settlement (finance · Sociology · Statutory law · Style (visual arts · African history and culture studies · Land Rights and Reforms · Law · Legal Issues in South Africa

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Unique citing works3
Citations per year0,5
Citation span2020 - 2025 (6)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 3

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