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Just Ideas: Transformative Ideals of Justice in Ethical and Political Thought
Law and Revolution in South Africa: uBuntu, Dignity, and the Struggle for Constitutional Transformation
The relation between law and revolution is one of the most pressing questions of our time. As one country after another has faced the challenge that comes with the revolutionary overthrow of past dictatorships, how one reconstructs a new government is a burning issue.
South Africa, after a long and bloody armed struggle and a series of militant uprisings, negotiated a settlement for a new government and remains an important example of what a substantive revolution might look like. The essays collected in this book address both the broader question of law and revolution and some of the specific issues of transformation in South Africa.
South Africa, after a long and bloody armed struggle and a series of militant uprisings, negotiated a settlement for a new government and remains an important example of what a substantive revolution might look like. The essays collected in this book address both the broader question of law and revolution and some of the specific issues of transformation in South Africa.
224 pages, Paperback
First published February 27, 2014
About the author
Drucilla Cornell
51 books14 followersDrucilla Cornell is National Research Foundation Professor in Customary Law, Indigenous Ideals, and the Dignity Jurisprudence at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and Professor of Political Science, Women & Gender Studies, and Comparative Literature at Rutgers University.
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September 25, 2015
I went looking for this book because I wanted to learn more about the African philosophy of ubuntu and the role it has played in South African law since the constitutional revolution against Apartheid. If you’re new to the idea, it is often expressed in the phrase umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu – a human being is a human being through other human beings. In other words, our humanity depends on how we treat other people and how they treat us. (If that doesn’t make sense, you will be well advised to research it. It’s well worth some time.)
I’m glad that I read the book. Professor Cornell is a deep thinker, with a strong background in philosophy and theory. Because of that, there were some parts that I honestly did not understand. The first chapter, “Is Technology a Fatal Destiny,” almost convinced me to return the book. I still don’t understand what it had to do with law or South Africa. And the section of the chapter that discussed the novel The Whale Caller still has me scratching my head (although I am going to read that now, too). But the rest of the book was more straightforward. I wanted to gain a better understanding of what ubuntu means, and the book offers that. Most especially, I learned that ubuntu is all about relationships – it isn’t some static concept that defines right and wrong, but is a principle in how we create ethical relationships and ethical communities. It is a fascinating concept.
Most valuable to me were the sections of the book in which she discussed actual cases that were decided by the South African Constitutional Court, and how ubuntu figured into the decisions.
One case addressed whether a community could force a widow to observe certain mourning rites over her religious objections. The other was about whether a community’s customary law allowed a woman to be recognized as its hereditary leader.
For an American lawyer, these questions would be easy to resolve under the U.S. Constitution, but the questions are far more interesting under South African law. In both of the cases, the Constitutional Court reached the decision that I think an American court would reach, but the reasoning was far different because they were based not on constitutional rights but on the concept of ubuntu and other South African constitutional norms.
There is a lot more to this book than I can cover adequately. Overall, this was an excellent book for deepening my understanding of ubuntu and exposing me to a panorama of new ideas and cases.
I’m glad that I read the book. Professor Cornell is a deep thinker, with a strong background in philosophy and theory. Because of that, there were some parts that I honestly did not understand. The first chapter, “Is Technology a Fatal Destiny,” almost convinced me to return the book. I still don’t understand what it had to do with law or South Africa. And the section of the chapter that discussed the novel The Whale Caller still has me scratching my head (although I am going to read that now, too). But the rest of the book was more straightforward. I wanted to gain a better understanding of what ubuntu means, and the book offers that. Most especially, I learned that ubuntu is all about relationships – it isn’t some static concept that defines right and wrong, but is a principle in how we create ethical relationships and ethical communities. It is a fascinating concept.
Most valuable to me were the sections of the book in which she discussed actual cases that were decided by the South African Constitutional Court, and how ubuntu figured into the decisions.
One case addressed whether a community could force a widow to observe certain mourning rites over her religious objections. The other was about whether a community’s customary law allowed a woman to be recognized as its hereditary leader.
For an American lawyer, these questions would be easy to resolve under the U.S. Constitution, but the questions are far more interesting under South African law. In both of the cases, the Constitutional Court reached the decision that I think an American court would reach, but the reasoning was far different because they were based not on constitutional rights but on the concept of ubuntu and other South African constitutional norms.
There is a lot more to this book than I can cover adequately. Overall, this was an excellent book for deepening my understanding of ubuntu and exposing me to a panorama of new ideas and cases.
Displaying 1 of 1 review