Publisher Description

This volume examines cases of accommodation and recognition of minority practices: cultural, religious, ethnic, linguistic or otherwise, under state law. The collection presents selected situations and experiences from a variety of regions and from different legal traditions around the world in which diverse societal stakeholders and political actors have engaged in processes leading to the elaboration of creative, innovative and, to a certain extent, sustainable solutions via accommodative laws or practices. Representing multiple disciplines and methodologies and written by esteemed scholars, the work analyses the pitfalls and successes of such accommodative practices, presenting insights into how solutions could or could not be achieved. The chapters address the sustainability and transferability of such solutions in order to further the dialogue in both scholarly and policy spheres. The book will be essential reading for academics, researchers, and policy-makers in the areas of minority rights, legal anthropology, law and religion, legal philosophy, and law and migration.

Author Biography

Katayoun Alidadi is Assistant Professor of Legal Studies at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island, USA, and Research Partner at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany.Marie-Claire Foblets is Professor of Law at the University of Leuven, Belgium, and Director of the Department of Law & Anthropology at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany.Dominik Müller is Professor of Cultural and Social Anthropology at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Germany.

Table of Contents

List of illustrationsAcknowledgmentsList of contributors Introduction: The Search for Justice in Plural Societies: The Opportunities and Pitfalls of Accommodative Law and Practices PART 1: Overcoming Structural (Legislative or Otherwise) Barriers to Accommodation 1 Public Administrations and the Accommodation of Linguistic Diversity in the Dutch Language Area of Belgium2 Accommodating Access to Property: Land Restitution and Formalization in Colombia 3 Recognition of New Religious Communities under Public Law in Switzerland: An Adequate Accommodation Tool?4 Overcoming Discriminating Taboos in Societies: What the German Experience Can Teach Us about Ideas of (Re)designing Justice Abroad 5 The Spanish Observatory of Religious Pluralism: The Challenge of Fostering Accommodation through Information, Dissemination, and Research Activities PART II: Islam and Political, Legal, and Economic Inclusion 6 Accommodation, Anxieties, and Ambivalence: Regulating Islam in Singapore 7 House Rules for Islam in Hamburg: The State Contract between the City of Hamburg and Three Islamic Communities PART III: Accommodation and Indigenous Rights8 Plurinational Law in the Bolivian Altiplano: Beyond Accommodation? 9 Seeking Solutions in the Land of the Long White Cloud: The Whanganui River Settlement in Aotearoa New Zealand as Accommodative Measure PART IV: The Role of the Judiciary in Negotiating Plural Normativities 10 Anthropological Expertise in the Peruvian Intercultural Justice Project 11 (Re)designing Living Customary Law to Protect a First Wife in a Pluralistic Legal System: The South African Constitutional Court Has Spoken Index

Review

'An extraordinary exploration of the ways in which societies worldwide are attempting to accommodate ethnic and religious diversity. The interdisciplinary focus on what works and is sustainable makes this volume indispensable for future efforts.'Gerald L. Neuman, J. Sinclair Armstrong Professor of International, Foreign, and Comparative Law; Director, Human Rights Program, Harvard Law School.'This collaborative book, 'Redesigning Justice for Plural Societies', examines multiple legal practices from around the world and focuses on workable models of adapting different forms of diversity, including linguistic, religious and indigenous. The selected 11 diverse cases, from New Zealand to Bolivia, will be an especially important tool for undergraduate and postgraduate students of sociology, anthropology, politics and law to deepen their understanding of the very diverse world we live in. But also to study different forms of governmentality and to gain insight into the dialogue and diplomacy between minority and majority groups, from varying regions, for a sustainable and peaceful society.'Dr. Latif Tas, Associate Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and Marie-Curie Global Award Winner.'This is an important and fascinating volume that showcases the benefits of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of law and legal institutions; a path-breaking and thought-provoking contribution.'Prof Kevin YL Tan, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore.

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