Alter-Native Constitutionalism

South Africa presents the perplexing paradox of arguably having the most progressive Constitution in the world, marked by full-throated socio-economic rights protection, while also being one of the most unequal countries in the world. This book takes seriously increasing sociopolitical challenges to the legitimacy of South Africa's post-apartheid legal order and scorching critiques of the constitutional settlement, against which many in the legal establishment bristle. Sindiso Mnisi develops 'Alter-Native Constitutionalism,' which is distinguished by equitable amalgamation of customary and common law with vernacular (or 'living') law, as a more compelling and just model for South Africa to adopt in its future than the legal pluralism that largely represents the afterlives of colonialism. This book draws on and contributes to international debates about the role of law in decolonising post-colonial orders and economic redistribution, addressing issues of poverty and inequality, gender, race, indigeneity, and customary vs vernacular law.

Sindiso Mnisi is Associate Professor of Legal Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is the author of Access to Justice and Human Security: Cultural Contradictions in Rural South Africa (2018) and co-author of African Customary Law in South Africa: Post-Apartheid and Living Law Perspectives 2ed (2023).