B2582 - African Traditional Law

Learning outcomes

It delves into African "traditional" law in its historical-anthropologic dimension, which reaches into the contemporary but requires documented and argued reflection on the diachronic profino (16th-20th centuries), precisely because "traditions" constitute its essence.

Course contents

The course focuses on the study of traditional Sub-Saharan ethnic legal systems that are still in force today.

Particular attention will be devoted to Sub-Saharan West and Central Africa, with specific reference to the legal traditions that have been historically rooted in these regions, from Senegal in the north to the Congo in the south.

The course will explore their hybrid nature in relation to the categories of Western and Islamic law.

It will also analyze the importance of understanding these legal traditions for interpreting numerous contemporary legal issues arising in Europe as a result of large-scale migration.

A significant portion of the course will be devoted to the analysis of African case law and compilations of customary law.

In addition, the course will examine Italian judicial decisions in which the interaction between different legal cultures (Italian and traditional African) plays a substantive role.

Specifically, the lectures will cover:

1. The sources of traditional African law, including oral tradition, custom/traditional law, and diachronic dynamics;

2. Legal pluralism in contemporary African legal systems: state law, ethnic-traditional law, and “religious” law;

3. Traditional family structures: the plurality of marital forms (monogamy, polygamy, same-sex marriages—kinship), and inheritance;

4. The status of women and the protection of minorities: witchcraft, albinism, and groups exposed to specific forms of marginalization or persecution;

5. Traditional justice, conflict resolution, ritual practices and ordeals;

6. Traditional African law before Italian courts in the context of the comparison between the legal culture of the Italian judge and that of the African defendant/appellant.

Readings/Bibliography

- Materials on Traditional Law in West Africa [text to be entered, in new redaction, freely available in Virtual Learning]

- attending students can prepare on lecture notes and supporting slides, which will be available online

Teaching methods

Oral lectures will be given in Semester I, with the support of slides. Spaces for in-depth study and discussion are provided for attending students

Assessment methods

The final exam is presented in oral form and will cover the topics indicated in the syllabus and content section.

For attending students there will be an end-of-course test on the lectures, and an optional short paper on a topic of their choice.

The awarding of the final grade will be guided by the following criteria:

Preparation on a very limited number of topics covered in the course and analytical ability emerging only with the help of the lecturer, expression in overall correct language → 18-19;
Preparation on a limited number of topics covered in the course and ability to analyze independently only on purely executive issues, expression in correct language → 20-24;
Preparation on a large number of topics covered in the course, ability to make independent choices of critical analysis, mastery of specific terminology → 25-29;
Substantially comprehensive preparation on the topics covered in the course, ability to make independent choices of critical analysis.and linking, full mastery of specific terminology and ability to argue and self-reflect → 30-30L.

Teaching tools

Slides

Students who, due to documented health reasons, experience difficulties in finding the course materials, in participating actively in the course itself, or in taking the examination in accordance with the modalities mentioned above, shall report these difficulties to the Professor by e-mail within the first two weeks of the course.

Office hours

See the website of Marco Cavina

See the website of Lorenzo Maniscalco