Law and the Public Sphere in Africa

Jean Godefroy Bidima is Yvonne Arnoult Chair of French Studies at Tulane University. He is author of Théorie Critique et Modernité Négro-Africaine.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.

"Bidima has done a very important work here which deserves the critical attention of philosophers, political theorists, legal scholars as well the general public."—Journal of Modern African Studies"Opens promising vistas for legal and political discourse. Its multidisciplinary orientation and the erudition of the author make for a text that has crossover appeal."—Olúfémi Táíwò, Cornell University"Law and the Public Sphere in Africa presents a valuable philosophical argument that will most certainly be of interest to those working on the topics of postconflict justice, peacebuilding, and democratization in Africa."—African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review"[Casts] an invigorating light on law, politics, public language and social practice in modern Africa, raising searching questions not only about the heritage of colonialism but about the various postcolonial policies and theories that have aimed to overcome the problems of that heritage.85.2 May 2015"—Africa

• Foreword Souleymane Bachir DiagnePreface to the English Edition Jean Godefroy BidimaAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Speech, Belief, Power Laura HengeholdLa Palabre: The Legal Authority of Speech1. The Public Space of Palabre2. A Political Paradigm3. Convergent Suspicions4. A Difficult Place in Political ThoughtOther Essays1. Rationalities and Legal Processes in Africa2. Strategies for "Constructing Belief" in the African Public Space: "The Colonization of the Life-world" 3. African Cultural Diversity in the Media4. Books between African Memory and Anticipation5. The Internet and the African Academic WorldNotesBibliographyIndex