ANTH/WMNS 326 Cross cultural families and households
10 Feb.: Violence, Divorce:
Required readings: Griffiths, Anne (1998) "Reconfiguring Law: An Ethnographic Perspective from Botswana." Law & Social Inquiry, 23(3): 587-620. JSTOR
Merry, Sally Engle Human Rights and Transnational Culture: Regulating Gender Violence Through Global Law." Osgoode Hall Law Journal 44(1):53-75. http://ohlj.ca/archive/documents/Merry_Sally_Engle_Human_Rights_and_Transnational_Culture.pdf
- what is culture?
- why do these two authors insist on the dynamism and hybridity of culture?
- what is legal pluralism?
- how are the legal systems Griffiths and Merry discuss pluralistic?
- why is it important to recognize cultural diversity and legal pluralism in family law in the contemporary world?
- what does Merry say?
- recall what the various functions of marriage, reasons for getting married, etc. are
- what kinds of conflicts would arise out these?
- in the cases discussed by Griffiths, what kinds of conflicts and arguments appeared?
- common versus customary law
- peasantariat and salariat:
- new economic roles and social adaptations to these, e.g. in inheritance rules, rights, gender roles
- social networks
Group work wrap up: What are the advantages and pitfalls for the different actors in calling on rights under common law, on one hand, and customary law on the other? Does one of the Busangs tend to find greater support in one system? Or is there necessarily a combination?