Decolonizing Law: Language and anthropology in the Lusosphere

Abstract

In the Lusophere, under the appearance of homogeneity of law, due to the influence of Portuguese law, are hidden linguistic and anthropological aspects that are still untied from the State institutions and formal law of the new independent Countries. Thus, this paper, after an overview of the historical events of Portuguese law — from the presence of ius commune in Portugal, to the colonial era, to the post-independence legal systems — focuses on the linguistic and anthropological aspects of millions of people, only conventionally of Portuguese mother tongue and who regulate their lives according to spontaneous unwritten rules. Comparing within the Lusophere, this paper carries out its observation from three different perspectives: law, language, and anthropology. Portuguese now ranks sixth in terms of the number of native speakers and is spread across at least four continents; therefore, it is surprising to observe the scant consideration within the comparative studies for the law and language of Lusophone areas, with few exceptions and mostly confined to native authors. Even more unexplored is the field of comparative law among Portuguese-speaking countries, and except for a few contributions between Portuguese and Brazilian law, attention to Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, São Tomé e Princípe, Equatorial Guinea and East Timor is sporadic, rare or nonexistent. This scenario appears to be due to a kind of self-referentiality of the Lusophone legal systems, mainly due to a strong academic dependence on Portuguese universities, a common erudite and administrative language, and a low diffusion of foreign language study. A decolonization of law is for these reasons desirable and, instead of being perceived an intimidating path, should be seen as a chance for new development opportunities.