Reconsidering Law and Society: The dynamics of disputing processes in plural legal orders in South Africa and Swaziland

This Ph.D. project is part of the ‘International Max Planck Research School on Retaliation, Mediation and Punishment’ (IMPRS-REMEP). following an interdisciplinary approach in:


The overall research agenda of REMEP is to study the kind of different institutions and mechanisms with which social order and social control are negotiated, established and constructed in (post-) conflict societies.

This PhD project deals with dynamics of disputes and disputing processes in situations of legal pluralism in predominantly siSwati speaking South Africa and Swaziland. Within the scope of the International Max Planck Research School on Retaliation, Mediation and Punishment (IMPRS-REMEP) the study analyzes different dimensions of dispute processes such as the expression of social relations and the distribution of power. Of particular interest are – apart from the partition of culturally similar areas by colonially drawn international boundaries – the cross-linked and overlapping spaces of socio-political-legal systems and institutions which are embedded in contrasting contexts of liberal democracy and absolute monarchy. The broader question that follows is: how do people deal with social conflict in pre-dominantly siSwati speaking South Africa and Swaziland?
To answer this question, the project is contextualized in two distinct but contiguous directions: first, from a comparative perspective in order (1) to open the way for the analysis of disputing in the interplay of the transnational Swazi customary law with two different state legal systems; as well as (2) to consider the transformations of this customary law under two different nation-state concepts;
and second, by adopting a transnational social field approach (3) to examine the connection of actors through direct and indirect relations across borders; as well as (4) to analyze the transnational governance regime and therefore political, cultural, and legal constructs which are not restricted to a single nation-state.

Social conflict is conceptualized in this project as comprising the nature of the conflict, its context, development as well as mechanisms and strategies to deal with it. Its analysis is based on mainly four subject or conflict areas I have identified in the field sites of Barberton / Emjindini in South Africa, and Piggs Peak / Mpofu in Swaziland. These four areas are cross-linked rather than disparate categories and subjects of disputes themselves or discourses through which conflicts are dealt with.

In the first section the focus is laid on the intricate relation between the cultural phenomenon of witchcraft (butsakatsi) and the various processes of disputing. Witchcraft is a lively component of worldview and religion, a system of imagination, interpretation, and action and can be seen as a variable metaphor for the expression of diverse social conflicts. In this context I deal with witchcraft as social fact and analyze mainly its dynamics in the expression of social relationships in its spatial-temporal aspects.
A ubiquitous part of everyday life is at the centre of attention in the second subject area, on intoxicants. The early historical emergence and the continual existence of ‘heavy drinking cultures’ as well as the small and large scale cultivation and usage of hemp in southern Africa show the importance of intoxicants in its cultural, economical, and political manifestations. Here, I mainly discuss alcohol (tjwala) and marijuana (insangu or dagga), their social comforts and discomforts, and their consequent impacts on the processes of disputing.
The third identified subject area touches upon family, sexual, and other relations. Having multiple concurrent (sexual) partners is often an open secret generating and fuelling tensions between partners, their lovers, and even families. Quarrels, assault, and insulting language are notable aspects thereof, and are linked to issues such as lobola (bride wealth), polygamy, the practice of vat en sit (cohabitation), adultery, maintenance, and others. Thereby I show how family, sexual, and other relations are construed, maintained, and challenged during dispute processes
In the fourth and last section questions of development, land, and conflict are addressed. I demonstrate how two commercially-driven development projects in South Africa and swaziland have been facing substantial problems through internal and external community dynamics, respectively. The interests and motivations of the different actors involved at local, national, and transnational levels are linked together to discuss the connection of disputing and (environmental) development.



This study of disputes and disputing processes from a comparative and transnational perspective contributes, first of all, to the aims of the IMPRS-REMEP to analyze the social working of law, and questions of how peace and social order are negotiated, constructed, and maintained in so-called conflict or post-conflict societies. Furthermore, this project aims to take up an empirical and theoretical dimension of legal anthropology under transnational conditions which has been largely set aside in spite of the noticeable pertinence of conflicts and their management across all cultures and levels of society.

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