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The White Man's Burden: Ersatz Customary Law and internal pacification in South Africa 1
Author(s) -
GORDON ROBERT
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of historical sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.186
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-6443
pISSN - 0952-1909
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6443.1989.tb00131.x
Subject(s) - indigenous , popularity , state (computer science) , white (mutation) , law , political science , sociology , ecology , biochemistry , chemistry , algorithm , computer science , gene , biology
In accounting for the recent popularity of ‘indigenous law’ studies in South Africa, this paper traces out the connections between establishment anthropology, the legal basis of the South African state and the application of native law. It details the structure, philosophical origins and scholarly justification for its practice and argues that in the exercise of Apartheid ‘customary law’ can best be seen as an instrument in the practice of what Giddens terms ‘internal pacification’.