Polygamy in the recognition of Customary Marriages Act:
- Authors: Vincent, Louise
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141809 , vital:38006 , DOI: 10.1080/10130950.2009.9676275
- Description: The Recognition of Customary Marriages Act (RCMA) 1998, recognises customary marriages which are “negotiated, celebrated or concluded according to any of the systems of indigenous African customary law which exist in South Africa” including polygamous marriages. The Act arises in the context of South Africa's Constitution which bans discrimination on grounds of culture and sexual orientation and allows for heterogeneity in its definitions of marriage and the family. A pluralist approach to family jurisprudence, however, is sometimes conceived of as setting up an irresolvable tension between the constitutional commitment to gender equality and protection for patriarchal prerogatives sanctioned by customary law. The fact that rights sometimes collide with one another is one of the reasons why it is impossible always to treat rights as absolute. When rights clash the question that arises is which of the rights that find themselves in tension with one another should give way and why?
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Vincent, Louise
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141809 , vital:38006 , DOI: 10.1080/10130950.2009.9676275
- Description: The Recognition of Customary Marriages Act (RCMA) 1998, recognises customary marriages which are “negotiated, celebrated or concluded according to any of the systems of indigenous African customary law which exist in South Africa” including polygamous marriages. The Act arises in the context of South Africa's Constitution which bans discrimination on grounds of culture and sexual orientation and allows for heterogeneity in its definitions of marriage and the family. A pluralist approach to family jurisprudence, however, is sometimes conceived of as setting up an irresolvable tension between the constitutional commitment to gender equality and protection for patriarchal prerogatives sanctioned by customary law. The fact that rights sometimes collide with one another is one of the reasons why it is impossible always to treat rights as absolute. When rights clash the question that arises is which of the rights that find themselves in tension with one another should give way and why?
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
South Africa’s Abortion Values Clarification Workshops: an opportunity to deepen democratic communication missed
- Authors: Vincent, Louise
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141981 , vital:38021 , DOI: 10.1177/0021909610396161
- Description: A rich literature exists on local democracy and participation in South Africa. While the importance of participation is routinely built into the rhetoric of government, debate has increasingly focused on the dysfunctionality of participatory mechanisms and institutions in post-apartheid South Africa. Processes aimed ostensibly at empowering citizens, act in practice as instruments of social control, disempowerment and cooptation. The present article contributes to these debates by way of a critique of the approach used by the South African state, in partnership with the non-governmental sector, in what are called abortion ‘values clarification’ (VC) workshops. This article examines the workshop materials, methodology and pedagogical tools employed in South African abortion VC workshops which emanate from the organization Ipas — a global body working to enhance women’s sexual and reproductive rights and to reduce abortion-related deaths and injuries. VC workshops represent an instance of a more general trend in which participation is seen as a tool for generating legitimacy and ‘buy-in’ for central state directives rather than as a means for genuinely deepening democratic communication.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Vincent, Louise
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141981 , vital:38021 , DOI: 10.1177/0021909610396161
- Description: A rich literature exists on local democracy and participation in South Africa. While the importance of participation is routinely built into the rhetoric of government, debate has increasingly focused on the dysfunctionality of participatory mechanisms and institutions in post-apartheid South Africa. Processes aimed ostensibly at empowering citizens, act in practice as instruments of social control, disempowerment and cooptation. The present article contributes to these debates by way of a critique of the approach used by the South African state, in partnership with the non-governmental sector, in what are called abortion ‘values clarification’ (VC) workshops. This article examines the workshop materials, methodology and pedagogical tools employed in South African abortion VC workshops which emanate from the organization Ipas — a global body working to enhance women’s sexual and reproductive rights and to reduce abortion-related deaths and injuries. VC workshops represent an instance of a more general trend in which participation is seen as a tool for generating legitimacy and ‘buy-in’ for central state directives rather than as a means for genuinely deepening democratic communication.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
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