Concept Of Pluralism Research Articles

Play and Interruption as a Mode of Action in Arendt, Dostoevsky, and Kharms

This essay uses Hannah Arendt’s theory of action and her critique of modern politics to explore the themes of predictability and unpredictability in human affairs, and the political meaning of interruption and refusal. It draws on the life and literature of the Russian avant-gardist, Daniil Kharms (1905- 1942), alongside Fyodor Dostoevsky and several contemporary theorists, to offer a reading of action as taking the form, specifically, of playful interruption and generative refusal. A marginal figure whose deeds and writings were disruptively strange, Kharms is taken as an exemplar of action in this ludic mode. This serves to elaborate upon Arendt’s concepts of plurality and natality, while challenging some weaknesses in her theory of action as a whole.

The Concept of Pluralistic Society in Qur’anic Perspectives

The primary objective of this paper is to examine the concept of the pluralism in Islam in accordance with the Qur’anic perspective. What does the Qur’an say about the pluralistic society? Does the Qur’an accept the concept of pluralism? Is there any room for Non-Muslims and atheists in the Muslim society? How does the Qur’an treat any non-Muslim community? It is generally believed that Islam promotes an exclusive society of its own. Yet, the prophet Muhammed lived in a pluralistic society. He accepted the concept of pluralism in his lifetime. The covenant of Medina is a historical document that justifies the concept of pluralism in Islam. This paper examines all these questions in this short article.

Locke and Rorty on Cultural Pluralism

This article aims to investigate Alain Locke and Richard Rorty’s accounts of cultural pluralism. First, I argue that Rorty’s anti-foundationalism and Locke’s critique of absolutes are similar with respect to the nature of value. I then explain their respective conceptions of culture and cultural pluralism. Finally, I argue that their fundamental differences with each other in regards to culture and cultural pluralism lie in their differing theories of value. Whereas Rorty’s nominalist understanding of value only finds the relativity and contingency of culture and value, Locke’s functionalist theory of value allows for the objectivity and universality of culture and value. To make these differences explicit, I introduce a distinction between value content and value process. If my reading of Locke and Rorty’s accounts of cultural pluralism is convincing, then we can find a more robust view of tolerance in Locke’s version of cultural pluralism than in Rorty’s.

Paradigm of legal pluralism in the interpretation of legal realism

The research is aimed at studying the concept of legal pluralism, which is currently under formation. Legal science is devepoling a traditional approach to legal pluralism, which originates from anthropological-legal theories, however, it seems that the phenomenon of legal pluralism is complex and multifaceted, which requires a comprehensive analysis of its origins, as well as the study of those socio-legal theories that will reveal its content most fully. The purpose of this study is to identify the importance of the concept of legal realism as a theoretical ground for the formation of ideas about legal pluralism. To achieve the goal of the study were used in a complex of general scientific methods, with the functional approach to the understanding of law, which allows us to identify practically useful properties of law and legal phenomena, which include legal pluralism. In the course of the conducted research, the following results were achieved and the following conclusions were drawn: 1. Legal realism became one of the theoretical foundations for the development of the idea of legal pluralism. In particulary, it was promoted by the anthropological and realistic theory of K. Llewellyn, who together with A. Hobel studied the process of formation of legal rules among Indians through the conflicts arising in the society. 2. It cannot be argued that the realists formulated their approach on the basis of the recognition of the existence, along with the state, of some other law. As practicing lawyers, they built their theories within the framework of positive law, which has such characteristics as formal certainty, authorization by the state, and the provision of state coercion. 3. Both legal realism and legal pluralism have a common philosophical foundation - this is pragmatism. Relying on the ideology of practical utility, proponents of legal realism tried to understand the functional essence of law, to understand the causes of uncertainty of law. 4. K. Llewellyn believed that legal pluralism should be perceived in the process of law enforcement, as well as judicial lawmaking. The existence of the same rule of law in practice can lead to different variations in its implementation. One of the reasons for this is the approach to the interpretation of the rule of law, and the other is the way the rule is formulated in the judicial precedent in the process of judicial lawmaking. In order to unambiguously and definitively apply a rule of law, the judge must reflect all the circumstances of the case in as much detail as possible. This will eliminate legal pluralism and ensure certainty of law.

Horace Kallen in the Heartland: The Midwestern Roots of American Pluralism by Michael C. Steiner

Reviewed by: Horace Kallen in the Heartland: The Midwestern Roots of American Pluralism by Michael C. Steiner Jeanne Abrams (bio) Horace Kallen in the Heartland: The Midwestern Roots of American Pluralism. By Michael C. Steiner. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2020. xi + 240 pp. German-born and Harvard-educated American Jewish philosopher Horace Meyer Kallen is best known for introducing the influential concept of cultural pluralism in the early decades of the twentieth century, and it is a theory which continues to resonate to this day. Kallen maintained that diverse immigrants and minority groups cultivated their own social spaces and that they interacted to create an inclusive, ever-changing American overarching culture. In Horace Kallen in the Heartland, Michael C. Steiner, a professor emeritus of American Studies at California State, argues persuasively that the seven, often restless, years that Kallen spent in the Midwest, a "matrix of cultural pluralism," played a pivotal, although often overlooked role in the development and maturation of his thought on the subject (2). In fact, Steiner maintains that Kallen's sojourn in the Midwest (1911–1918), including his visits to Chicago and his stint at the University of Wisconsin, "ensured that Kallen's sweeping theory reached full expression" in that region (73). Steiner asserts that it was there that the crucial finishing touches were added and that Kallen's essential message contained a clear warning against the "forces of uniformity and tyranny" (2). Steiner clearly admires what he refers to as the expansive vision reflected in the work of Kallen and the other thought leaders he interacted with who came into his intellectual orbit during his time in the Midwest. [End Page 310] He observes that they "forged a generous open-ended vision of diversity in the face of rising white racism and vicious war hysteria" and notes that Kallen often urged his own University of Wisconsin students to "embrace their ethnic heritage" (3, 107). At first, Kallen bemoaned his life in Wisconsin in what he considered a backwater compared to the East Coast, particularly Boston, where he grew up. However, he soon grew to appreciate the Midwest "region's intellectual vitality and urban and rural diversity," and his time there included some of the most productive years in terms of his writing (17). Kallen's ideas served as a counterpoint to the contemporary melting pot theory made popular by English-born Jewish playwright Israel Zangwill. According to Steiner, in contrast to Kallen, Zangwill's narrow concept "promoted the abandonment of ethnic identity in the crucible of American Culture" (85). Kallen left the University of Wisconsin in 1918, and in 1919 he became a founding faculty member at the New School for Social Research in New York. Although his seminal ideas evolved, expanded, and occasionally waned over time, through his interaction with a cross section of public figures, including key Black intellectuals, social activists, and artists, Kallen remained a vocal champion of cultural pluralism through most of his lifetime, even up to his death at the age of ninety-two in 1974. He became a particularly active proponent after World War II, and Steiner asserts that in the late 1950s, Kallen adopted an even more generous version of pluralism than he had espoused forty years earlier. Kallen was also an early and staunch defender and prime mover of American Zionism until the 1920s. He even convinced Louis Brandeis that support of Zionism enhanced American patriotism and accusations of dual loyalties were unfounded aspersions. Michael C. Steiner is an eloquent writer who has mastered the relevant primary and secondary sources to weave an informative, detailed, and often engaging narrative. He does a fine job of demonstrating the centrality of the Midwest to Kallen's influential theory. Despite the relatively slim size of the volume, however, the book is often repetitive. For example, the countless number of times the word "expansive" is used becomes tiresome. Nevertheless, Steiner has provided an important new perspective on Kallen's life and work, one that opens a wider window in which to examine the factors that influenced the creation of an intellectual paradigm that has remained influential and relevant for over a century. Moreover, he reminds us of the underlying importance...

Daya Krishna and Twentieth-Century Indian Philosophy: A New Way of Thinking about Art, Freedom and Knowledge by Daniel Raveh

Reviewed by: Daya Krishna and Twentieth-Century Indian Philosophy: A New Way of Thinking about Art, Freedom and Knowledge by Daniel Raveh Elise Coquereau-Saouma (bio) Daya Krishna and Twentieth-Century Indian Philosophy: A New Way of Thinking about Art, Freedom and Knowledge. By Daniel Raveh. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020. Pp. 209. Paper $20.65, isbn 978-1-350-10163-0. In a world where philosophy has become "global" and yet is mainly written by scholars educated and/or writing in "top" universities, where syllabi must become more "inclusive" yet conform to the same academic style, Daya Krishna's philosophy is distinctively refreshing and thought-provoking.1 Professor at the University of Rajasthan (Jaipur, India), prolific author, unremitting correspondent in journals, letters, and dialogues, anti-conformist regarding the norms of Western academia and irreverent toward the "inalterability" of the philosophical Indian traditions, Daya Krishna's creative and daring philosophical spirit is paid homage to by Daniel Raveh (Tel-Aviv University) in his book, Daya Krishna and Twentieth-Century Indian Philosophy: A New Way of Thinking about Art, Freedom and Knowledge. The book is structured into an introduction and four chapters. Raveh proceeds from Daya Krishna's most noticed dialogical experiments to earlier, unremembered dialogues. He begins with Daya Krishna's explorations in Indian philosophy and the parallel dialogues that the latter pursued with pandits (traditional learned scholars of Sanskrit, who usually are not included in English-speaking Universities), referred to as the Saṃvad experiments (chapter 1). Daya Krishna dismantles conventional interpretations of Indian philosophy that are commonly accepted and repeated (such as the prevalence of mokṣa and the rigid number of puruṣārthas) and urges us to consider "thinking creatively" about (Indian) philosophy instead. How Daya Krishna conceives this idea is illustrated in chapter 2 with reference to the aesthetic realm. His creative thinking is further instantiated by his pluralistic conception of freedoms and their relation to knowledge, for which Daya Krishna engages with Indian and Western concepts of "freedom" discussed in chapter 3. Finally, in chapter 4, Raveh reminds us of Daya Krishna's dialogues on economy and development in his early years. This last chapter contributes in return to understanding Daya Krishna's later battle against an overemphasis of Indian spirituality in philosophy, owing to the manner spiritual communities are bound to economy [End Page 1] and society. In that sense, chapter 4 lays the foundation for the later critique exposed in chapter 1. Raveh's book thus masterfully reveals the diversity of Daya Krishna's interests and the unity of his philosophical project. Daya Krishna's ease at crossing philosophical traditions, his striking capacity to question the most accepted axioms, most visible in the variety of his lively dialogues, is distinctly depicted throughout Raveh's book. Thus, in Raveh's own words, Daya Krishna's art of questioning philosophical traditions "emphasizes the continuity between his writings, the dialogic aspect of his work, and the task that he has taken upon himself, to shoot question-arrows at 'the beliefs,' many of them 'totally unfounded,' that constitute the conventional picture of Indian philosophy" (p. 9). These "question-arrows" refer to Daya Krishna's denunciation of the "myths about Indian philosophy" (2006, p. 3). These myths include such stereotypes as the association of Indian philosophy with mokṣa or liberation as its ultimate purpose, its essentially spiritual character, and its inalterable classification into orthodox and heterodox "schools." Thus, in his first chapter, "Toward a New Picture of Indian Philosophy," Raveh begins with Daya Krishna's struggle against these myths, i.e. against the frozen and unified conceptions of Indian philosophy. This brings us to reflect more fundamentally on how historiographies are made and how to challenge the sense of self-evidence that they entail. Interestingly, Raveh presents to his reader not only Daya Krishna's famous critique or "counter-perspective" of the myths of Indian philosophy, but also an alternative picture he proposes in the less-read Indian Philosophy: A New Approach (1997) in which his critiques ground a new "perspective." Daya Krishna's analysis of the "myths" of Indian philosophy is the best-known of his numerous writings. However, the responses so far have mostly...

Доказательный подход в образовании: критический анализ актуальных дискуссий

The article analyzes the current discussions on how to define evidence and implement evidence-based practice in education. Despite their frequent use, the terms “evidence-based practice”, “evidence-based education” etc. remain something like “empty signs” the meaning of which still needs to be defined. The authors highlight several discussion topics regarding research for evidence-based practice and evidence-based process: hierarchical versus pluralistic conception of evidence; theoretical reasoning as evidence; top-down evidence-based practice versus bottom-up evidence-informed practitioner judgment; conception of research use as linear process of uptake or dissemination versus as bidirectional process by which research and practice mutually inform each other. It is presumed that although historically evidence-based approach was associated with an appeal to science primarily as an institution of prescription, in its actual versions the relationship between science and practice is much more complex.

Kosmopolityczny monizm versus kosmopolityczny pluralizm: cynicyzm i stoicyzm – dwa filary moralnego kosmopolityzmu

Przedmiot badań. Na przełomie XX i XXI w. kosmopolityzm stał się przedmiotem intensyw­nych badań. Jednym z kluczowych zagadnień będących przedmiotem zainteresowania jest pro­blematyka relacji pomiędzy narodową a kosmopolityczną tożsamością.
 Cel badawczy. Celem prowadzonego badania jest porównanie dwóch modeli kosmopolityzmu, dla których relacja ta stanowi centralny punkt odniesienia. Za najbardziej charakterystyczne i jed­nocześnie najlepiej ilustrujące tę kwestię autor uznaje koncepcje moralnego kosmopolityzmu re­prezentowane z jednej strony przez greckich cyników, a z drugiej przez stoików.
 Metoda badawcza. Korzystając z metody historyczno-porównawczej i krytycznej, artykuł przedstawia dwie starożytne odpowiedzi na to kluczowe pytanie. Koncepcja cyników zawiera monistyczny, podczas gdy koncepcja stoików pluralistyczny model relacji między tożsamo­ścią narodową i kosmopolityczną. Zgodnie z cynickim podejściem monistycznym lojalność wobec uniwersalnych, kosmopolitycznych „praw cnoty” ma zawsze pierwszeństwo przed lojalnością wobec lokalnej lub narodowej wspólnoty, podczas gdy oparta na idei oikeiosis pluralistyczna koncepcja stoicka daje pierwszeństwo raczej tożsamości lokalnej i narodowej niż kosmopolitycznej.
 Wyniki. Porównanie tych dwóch hellenistycznych koncepcji prowadzi do wniosku, że nacecho­wana radykalnym etycznym naturalizmem monistyczna postawa cynicka, choć psychologicz­nie mniej wiarygodna niż stoicka, jest moralnie spójna i nie prowadzi cynika do etyczno-psy­chologicznego rozdarcia. Natomiast pluralistyczna postawa stoicka, mimo iż zdecydowanie bardziej wysublimowana i psychologicznie znacznie bardziej wiarygodna, może wprowadzać element wewnętrznego konfliktu pomiędzy lojalnością wobec państwa i lojalnością wobec „praw cnoty” rządzących wspólnotą kosmopolityczną. Podkreślając za cynikami wierność wobec uniwersalnych praw cnoty, stoicy pragną bowiem jednocześnie pozostać lojalni wobec własnego państwa.

Die Zugehörigkeit der Dinge zu den Menschen

Western Culture knows only a single judicial concept of ownership: private property. Private property meaning, all things belong to people in the same normalized way. A closer look reveals that our relationship with things is more complex than that and confirms a gradual belonging of things to persons that stretches from an organic or intimate property to things being only vaguely attached to persons. This essay tries to outline this plural concept of ways of owning.

PROBLEMATIKA PLURALISME AGAMA ANTARA TEOLOGI DAN FILSAFAT: MEMBACA KRITIK MARIANNE MOYAERT ATAS JOHN HICK

Religious pluralism as an effort to bridge harmony among adherents of religions initiates both theological and philosophical problems. For example, religious pluralism is not only seen as a further effort to build interreligious relationships but also it is built on Truth Relativism. The religious pluralism concept also encourages Marianne Moyaert to investigate religious pluralism more deeply, especially referring to the concept of 'Global Theology' which is conceptualized by John Hick. This paper analyzed a number of theologians' annoyance with Global Theology such as: Hick as a 'Problematic Theologian', demythologizing of Jesus, and most importantly, the blurred relationship between Theology and Philosophy. Following Marianne's Argument, it was believed that the relationship among religions should be built on clear boundaries between Theology and Philosophy, where the boundaries were destroyed by Global Theology. Instead of fading the boundaries between the two, the relationship among religions should be carried out based on a religious understanding based on commitment.

La specificità tunisina: Egemonia politica e habitus dell’impegno nell’Islam pubblico contemporaneo

L’elaborazione islamica delle idee di democrazia, pluralismo e libertà, condotta dai movimenti islamici tunisini dopo la rivoluzione del 2011, può essere considerata come parte di una tradizione discorsiva (Asad 1986) incentrata sulla “specificità tunisina”. Questa tradizione prevede l’interpretazione delle fonti islamiche classiche e moderne da parte di autorità religiose e secolari, finalizzata a legittimare l’impegno sociale e politico in nome dell’Islam. La specificità tunisina è un discorso che si richiama alle interpretazioni locali delle pratiche islamiche (come il sufismo e il marabuttismo), sull’opera dei pensatori dell’Islam moderno e sui ragionamenti su democrazia e diritti umani, allo scopo di costruire una cornice teorica all’interno della quale approfondire i concetti di moderazione, tolleranza, pluralismo e attività politica a partire da una prospettiva islamica. Questo contributo fa parte di una ricerca etnografica condotta dal 2012 e il 2015 tra gli attivisti del pubblico islamico tunisino. Tale categoria comprende sia gli islamisti (ovvero gli attivisti dei movimenti e partiti impegnati direttamente nell’agone politico) che i du‘at (gli attivisti della società civile e delle associazioni impostate sulla devozione, impegnati a diffondere il messaggio islamico dal basso). L’osservazione delle interrelazioni tra i due gruppi e della condivisione della medesima cornice teorica (la specificità tunisina) e vocabolario (libertà, dignità, diritti umani e così via) fa comprendere come la netta distinzione tra un attivismo islamico di tipo politico ed uno di tipo socioculturale deve essere messa in discussione.

"Mi hijo es autista": normalidad y maternidades diferentes. Una aproximación antropológica a las dimensiones sociales del autismo

En este artículo se presenta una aproximación antropológica a las experiencias de madres de personas con autismo. Dichas madres viven el ejercicio normativo de su maternidad en permanente tensión habida cuenta de la caracterización que se hace de la discapacidad de sus hijos e hijas desde el ámbito médico. La convergencia entre maternidad y autismo, considerados como fenómenos culturales, sujetos a conceptos y prácticas plurales, nos permitirá profundizar en cómo se resuelve esa tensión inherente al encuentro entre normalidad y discapacidad. Este es un contexto analítico privilegiado para comprender cómo se construye la diferencia, cómo se reproduce en el imaginario colectivo y de qué manera se desarrollan los procesos de integración y normalización de la discapacidad en la sociedad. Asimismo, a través de las trayectorias vitales de estas madres se evidencia la existencia de un discurso/práctica normalizador en torno al ser madre, construido en el marco de un contexto histórico, económico y social. Esta perspectiva analítica nos ayudará a mejorar el conocimiento sobre nuestros procesos de construcción de sentido en torno a la discapacidad.

A militant defence of democracy: A few replies to my critics

In this essay, I address some questions and challenges brought about by the contributors to this special issue on my book ‘ Democracy without Shortcuts’. First, I clarify different aspects of my critique of deep pluralist conceptions of democracy to highlight the core incompatibilities with the participatory conception of deliberative democracy that I defend in the book. Second, I distinguish different senses of the concept of ‘blind deference’ that I use in the book to clarify several aspects and consequences of my critique of epistocratic conceptions of democracy and their search for ‘expertocratic shortcuts’. This in turn helps me briefly address the difficult question of the proper role of experts in a democracy. Third, I address potential uses of empowered minipublics that I did not discuss in the book and highlight some reasons to worry about their lack of accountability. This discussion in turn leads me to address the difficult question of which institutions are best suited to represent the transgenerational collective people who are supposed to own a constitutional project. Finally, I address some interesting suggestions for how to move the book’s project forward.

A-12 The term “Elite/ Chieftain” between the Qur’an concept and the purposes of advocacy

The elite , in the past and present, faced the same call, and exceeded the limits on the prophets and preachers, and attacked their followers and callers, and on the other hand we see the keenness of the prophets and preachers to guide the elite and their entourage, because they have a great impact on people and their words and calling were considered more, with the soft wording and by clarifying the evidence and the evil in Clarification and dismissal of suspicions and defending the challenges and obstacles facing the call to God Almighty and Islamic culture. It is not possible to reach the goal and the purposes of the call to an accurate understanding of the term elite, so the research was divided into the introduction and three sections: the first topic is the concept of pluralism, and the second topic: close words and words related to (plea) in the Noble Qur’an the third topic, the advocacy objectives of “al-Malaa” In the Holy Qur’an and in the conclusion the most important recommendations and results are mentioned.

Kritický realismus Revisited: Příspěvek k sociologické teorii subjektivity

This paper develops the sociological conception of subjectivity, which recognizes the key role of cultural and linguistic meanings in social life. J. Šubrt’s concept of “duplex” could help to overcome the theoretical dilemma between individualism (subjectivism) and holism (objectivism) in sociology. This concept is inspired by the critical realism of I. A. Bláha and takes into account perspectives from the philosophy of language, phenomenology, the classical sociology of G. H. Mead, and the contemporary critical realism of M. Archer. The focus of the duplex concept is the interactive and procedural nature of meanings (mental representations). The argument in favour of the interactive and pluralistic conception of the subject of social events derives from this attribute of meaning.

Religious Pluralism Concept of M. Mendelssohn and Its Theoretical Foundation

The article consider the concept of religious pluralism by M. Mendelssohn and some aspects of his theory of knowledge and linguistic theory, lying in the foundation of the pluralism concept. The article shows that Mendelssohn expressed views that are far ahead of his time. His theory of knowledge repeats some lines of Hume's philosophy, which he praised highly, what was not characteristic of the German Enlightenment as a whole. By virtue of this, Mendelssohn can be considered as Kant's predecessor in a positive assessment of Hume. Some of Mendelssohns ideas are further developed in phenomenology. The author argues that Mendelssohns views on the interaction of religions, although they have a number of features that make this thinker related to other thinkers of the Enlightenment, also have a fundamental difference with them. As a result, his religious pluralism concept is close to the modern understanding of religious pluralism. The author also attempts to reveal the reasons why Mendelssohn, despite his great significance for both German philosophy and Jewish culture, was almost forgotten for a long time.

Religious Harmony Construct Amid A Plural Community in East Java

This study examined the harmonization of five religions (Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism, and Buddhism) that are adhered to by the people of Mojorejo Village, Batu, East Java. This village has an important role, as it becomes the first area in Batu, East Java – that implement and develop the concept of religious pluralism and harmonization in one village area thus it has been awarded as “A Village that is Aware of Religious Harmony” from the government of Batu. Therefore, this study aimed to understand the constructs of religious harmony that have been successfully established in Mojorejo Village, Batu, East Java. The theory underlying this study is Nurcholis Madjid’s theory of humanist pluralism. This study used a qualitative approach to produce descriptive data in the form of oral, written, and observable behavior. Through three data collection methods (observation, in-depth interview, a study of documents), this study concludes that the religious harmony construct of the Mojorejo Village community is established from a pattern of accustoming mutual respect among villagers which is carried out both naturally and sustainably. This continuity manifests through cooperation in three ways: religious, social, and cultural cooperation so that it can lead to the emerge of perspectives, ideas, and a social environment capable of maintaining and preserving religious plurality in harmony. Therefore, the application of religious harmony in Mojorejo Village, Batu, East Java can be used as an alternative solution for other areas in locating and facilitating religious plurality so that it remains harmonious amid a pluralistic community.

Menyoal Persahabatan Sebagai Problem Relasionalitas: Sebuah Kontruksi Atas Konsep Alteritas Emanuel Levinas Dan Pluralitas Hannah Arendt

Alterity, plurality, and relationship are the three key words which summarize the whole content of this article. The first key word is the core of Emanuel Levinas’ Ethics, the second key word is the summary of Hannah Arendt’s the essence of politics, and the third is from the construction on the concepts of alterity and plurality. From the attempt to construct the two concepts, the writer assumes that alterity and plurality are the basis to understand friendship as the problem of a relationship. The method used in this article is hermeneutics on the inter-subjectivity based on Emanuel Levinas’ Ethics and Hannah Arendt’s thought on politics. The findings on this construction is that friendship which is based on the principles of relationship is the solution of the egology – self-enhancement and ‘heterophobia’ – the phobia to other people in the daily life these days.

Charles Larmore: a questão do desacordo razoável

The present text deals with Charles Larmore's theory, more precisely, of the relations between the conceptions of reasonable disagreement, pluralism and liberalism. Such a theory has as its characteristics rational intuitionism, contextualism and defends a realistic position of morality.

Global constitutionalism and cultural diversity: The emergence of jurisgenerative constitutionalism in Africa

AbstractThis article examines the path of global constitutionalism and its encounter with cultural diversity in Africa. It situates the phenomenon of global constitutionalism in the late nineteenth century and traces some of its tectonic transformations since the inauguration of the liberal international order. Besides referring to the processes of and calls for the constitutionalization of the international legal regime and the emergence of global constitutional law, global constitutionalism played a constitutive role for constitutionalism in Africa. As constitutionalism in Africa is configured within a biosphere of global constitutionalism and cultural diversity, their dynamic interplay leads to the emergence of jurisgenerative constitutionalism, which is procedurally and normatively open to accommodate a plural conception of rights, justice and values. As a result, what is constitutionally permissible and what is not cannot simply be determined by an attachment to either global constitutionalism or cultural diversity. Rather, it is the interaction of global constitutionalism and cultural diversity in time and place that dictates what the constitutional practice or outcome should look like. By taking the women’s rights jurisprudence related to customary and Islamic laws and the phenomenon of Shariacracy as themes of analysis, and Nigeria as a case study, this article explores how the emergence of jurisgenerative constitutionalism mediates global constitutionalism and cultural diversity in Africa. By bringing in the African experience, the article sheds some light on the range of theoretical and practical possibilities available to the emerging field of global constitutionalism.