Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Detail Contents
- About the Editor
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- Permissions
- Introduction
- 1 Multi-Tiered Marriage
- 2 Pluralism and Decentralization in Marriage Regulation
- 3 Marriage and the Law
- 4 Unofficial Family Law
- 5 Covenant Marriage Laws
- 6 New York’s Regulation of Jewish Marriage
- 7 Political Liberalism, Islamic Family Law, and Family Law Pluralism
- 8 Multi-Tiered Marriages in South Africa
- 9 Ancient and Modern Boundary Crossings Between Personal Laws and Civil Law in Composite India
- 10 The Perils of Privatized Marriage
- 11 Canadian Conjugal Mosaic
- 12 Marriage Pluralism in the United States
- 13 Faith in Law? Diffusing Tensions Between Diversity and Equality
- 14 The Frontiers of Marital Pluralism
- Index
- References
8 - Multi-Tiered Marriages in South Africa
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Detail Contents
- About the Editor
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- Permissions
- Introduction
- 1 Multi-Tiered Marriage
- 2 Pluralism and Decentralization in Marriage Regulation
- 3 Marriage and the Law
- 4 Unofficial Family Law
- 5 Covenant Marriage Laws
- 6 New York’s Regulation of Jewish Marriage
- 7 Political Liberalism, Islamic Family Law, and Family Law Pluralism
- 8 Multi-Tiered Marriages in South Africa
- 9 Ancient and Modern Boundary Crossings Between Personal Laws and Civil Law in Composite India
- 10 The Perils of Privatized Marriage
- 11 Canadian Conjugal Mosaic
- 12 Marriage Pluralism in the United States
- 13 Faith in Law? Diffusing Tensions Between Diversity and Equality
- 14 The Frontiers of Marital Pluralism
- Index
- References
Summary
South Africa is committed to upholding the international law directive proclaiming the rights of ethnic, religious, and linguistic communities to promote their indigenous culture, to practice their religion, and to speak their language without undue state interference. Throughout its history, it sought to afford legality to customary law practices of its rich variety of peoples. However, affording full recognition to multi-tiered marriages was problematic from the outset due mainly to the persistence of a typically Western perception of marriage and the dictates of predominantly Christian principles relating to matrimonial affairs.
Marriage law in South Africa reflects an evolving fusion of historical and current developments. The ample diversity of peoples, religions, and cultures colors the multidimensional approaches to marriage in both official and unofficial marriage law. In striving to reconcile the various forms of marriage and union with constitutional principles of equality and nondiscrimination, South Africa faces a Herculean challenge that will not be fully conquered any time in the near future.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Marriage and Divorce in a Multi-Cultural ContextMulti-Tiered Marriage and the Boundaries of Civil Law and Religion, pp. 200 - 218Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011