Law and the Public Sphere in Africa ― La Palabre and Other Writings

Jean-Godefroy Bidima’s La Palabre examines the traditional African institution of palaver as a way to create dialogue and open exchange in an effort to resolve conflict and promote democracy. In the wake of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commissions and the gacaca courts in Rwanda, Bidima offers a compelling model of how to develop an African public space where dialogue can combat misunderstanding. This volume, which includes other essays on legal processes, cultural diversity, memory, and the internet in Africa, offers English-speaking readers the opportunity to become acquainted with a highly original and important postcolonial thinker.

Jean-Godefroy Bidima is Arnoult Chair of Francophone Studies at Tulane University. He is author of Theorie Critique et Modernite Negro-Africain.

Laura Hengehold is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Case Western Reserve University. She is author of The Body Problematic: Political Imagination in Kant and Foucault.