Customary Law Ascertained Volume 1 is the first of a three-volume series in which traditional authorities in Namibia present the customary laws of their communities. It contains the laws of the Owambo, Kavango, and Caprivi communities. Volume 2 contains the customary laws of the Bakgalagari, the Batswana ba Namibia and the Damara communities. Volume 3 contains the customary laws of the Nama, Ovaherero, Ovambanderu, and San communities. Recognised traditional authorities in Namibia are expected to ascertain the customary law applicable in their respective communities after consultation with the members of that community, and to note the most important aspect of such law in written form. This series is the result of that process. It has been facilitated by the Human Rights and Documentation Centre of the University of Namibia, through the former Dean of the Law Faculty, Professor Manfred Hinz.

Customary Law Ascertained Volume 2 is the second of a three volume series in which traditional authorities in Namibia present the customary laws of their communities. It contains the laws of the Bakgalagari, the Batswana ba Namibia and the Damara communities. The recognised traditional authorities in Namibia are expected to ascertain the customary law applicable in their respective communities and to note the most important aspects of the laws in written form. The Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development, and the Council of Traditional Leaders therefore initiated the ascertainment of customary law. The ascertainment project is housed in the Human Rights and Documentation Centre of the University of Namibia. The former Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Namibia, Professor Manfred O. Hinz, has directed the project since its inception.

Customary Law Ascertained Volume 2 is the second of a three volume series in which traditional authorities in Namibia present the customary laws of their communities. It contains the laws of the Bakgalagari, the Batswana ba Namibia and the Damara communities. The recognised traditional authorities in Namibia are expected to ascertain the customary law applicable in their respective communities and to note the most important aspects of the laws in written form. The Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development, and the Council of Traditional Leaders therefore initiated the ascertainment of customary law. The ascertainment project is housed in the Human Rights and Documentation Centre of the University of Namibia. The former Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Namibia, Professor Manfred O. Hinz, has directed the project since its inception.

Customary Law Ascertained Volume 3 is the third of a three-volume series in which traditional authorities in Namibia present the customary laws of their communities. It contains the laws of the Nama, Ovaherero, Ovambanderu, and San communities. Volume 2 contained the customary laws of the Bakgalagari, the Batswana ba Namibia and the Damara communities. Recognised traditional authorities in Namibia are expected to ascertain the customary law applicable in their respective communities after consultation with the members of that community, and to note the most important aspect of such law in written form. This series is the result of that process, It has been facilitated but the Human Rights and Documentation Centre of the University of Namibia, through the former Dean of the Law Faculty, Professor Manfred Hinz.

Customary Law Ascertained Volume 3 is the third of a three-volume series in which traditional authorities in Namibia present the customary laws of their communities. It contains the laws of the Nama, Ovaherero, Ovambanderu, and San communities. Volume 2 contained the customary laws of the Bakgalagari, the Batswana ba Namibia and the Damara communities. Recognised traditional authorities in Namibia are expected to ascertain the customary law applicable in their respective communities after consultation with the members of that community, and to note the most important aspect of such law in written form. This series is the result of that process, It has been facilitated but the Human Rights and Documentation Centre of the University of Namibia, through the former Dean of the Law Faculty, Professor Manfred Hinz.

This book takes a comparative law perspective and proposes a new approach for researching law in Africa. Western theoretical perspectives in comparative law are too Eurocentric to fully catch the peculiarities and characteristics of the African “lawscape”—in short, they are inadequate for studying African law. In this book, Professor Salvatore Mancuso considers the law in Africa from a different perspective. Deeply rooted in the culture of the African people, this approach considers African legal culture with the same legitimacy as Western legal culture, setting a precedent for future policy-making decisions relating to legislative development in Africa.

This book presents an important discussion on the implementation of sustainable soil management in Africa from a range of governance perspectives. It addresses aspects such as the general challenges in Africa with regard to soil management; the structural deficiencies in legal, organizational and institutional terms; and specific policies at the national level, including land cover policies and persistent organic pollutants. This fourth volume of the International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy is divided into four parts, the first of which deals with several aspects of the theme “sustainable soil management in Africa.” In turn, the second part covers recent international developments, the third part presents regional and national reports (i.a. Mexico, USA and Germany), and the fourth discusses cross-cutting issues(i.a. on rural-urban interfaces). Given the range of key topics covered, the book offers an indispensible tool for all academics, legislators and policymakers working in this field. The “International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy” is a book series that discusses central questions in law and politics with regard to the protection and sustainable management of soil and land – at the international, national and regional level.

When the notion of ‘alternative facts’ and the alleged dawning of a ‘postfactual’ world entered public discourse, social anthropologists found themselves in unexpectedly familiar territory. In theirempirical experience, fact—knowledge accepted as true—derives its salience from social mechanisms of legitimization, thereby demonstrating a deep interconnection with power and authority. In thisperspective, fact is a continually contested and volatile social category. Due to the specific histories of their colonial and post-independence experience, African societies offer a particularly broad array of insights into social processes of juxtaposition, opposition, and even outright competition between different postulated authorities. The contributions to the present volume explore the variety of ways in which authority is contested in Southern and Eastern Africa, investigating localized discourses on which institution, what kind of knowledge, or whose expertise is accepted as authoritative, thus highlighting the specificities and pluralities in ‘modern’ societies. This edited volume engages with larger theoretical questions regarding power and authority in the context of (post)colonial states (neo)traditional authority, claiming space, conflict and (in)justice, and contestations of knowledge. It offers in-depth critical analyses of ethnographic data that put contemporary African phenomena on equal footing with current controversies in North America, Europe, and other global settings.

Worldwide, Namibia ranks high regarding gender equality. However, many women are intimidated by violence perpetrated by men. This book is based on a social anthropological field research in the small town of Outjo, situated in Northern Central Namibia, over a period of 14 months. Gender is learnt, lived and reproduced in a societal frame. Violence against women, too, is perpetrated by men in a societal context. By using mainly qualitative research methods Sonja Gierse-Arsten looks at male and female perspectives to reach a holistic understanding and to provide a basis for sustainable changes towards equal gender relations. She traces the transition from a hierarchical gender system during colonial times to the aspired equal gender relations in present Namibia. Current challenges characterised by poverty and great economic inequalities form the framework in which gender is performed and violence perpetrated. This study offers inspirations to re-think gender to reach substantive gender equality and to overcome the normalisation of violence.

This book promotes discussion and understanding of customary law and explores its continued relevance in sub-Saharan Africa. It considers the characteristics of customary law and efforts to ascertain and codify customary law, and how this body of law differs in content, form and status from legislation and common law.