The Attempt to Reform Family Law in Mali

Abstract

In this paper, I am concerned with understanding the recent efforts to reform the laws governing marriage and inheritance, the code de la famille or the Family Code in Mali. Since the advent of multiparty elections in the 1990s, prominent members of the Malian government and civil servants, Malian women's rights activists, secular NGOs, and international and bilateral donors have made efforts to promote various social reforms, including the advancement of women's rights and the promotion of gender equality, particularly through changes in the Family Code. While some observers have attributed the lack of reform to the increased influence of "Islamists" and/or to religiously conservative Muslims, I draw on historical research and ethnography to propose an alternative reading of the lack of institutional law reform. As I argue, the gap between Malian civil law relating to the family and the lived experiences and social practices of many Malians, who are overwhelmingly Muslim, has become even more apparent in this era of political liberalization and promotion of global human rights discourses. is has helped to make such proposed social reforms as the promotion of women's rights and

Political Participation and Mobilization after Mali’s 2012 Coup

“…Since Mali’s colonial era, as Bleck (2013:401) observes, “Western-educated elites have held a monopoly over national-level politics.” Their narrow background has occasionally led them to pursue policies, such as the abandoned attempt to reform Mali’s Family Code (Soares 2009), which have been deeply unpopular with the public. Malians for whom Islam is a primary identity component have been less likely than their more secular peers to vote, and their concerns have seldom been articulated by secular activists.…”

Islam and the Language of Human Rights in Nigeria: “Rights Talk” and Religion in Domestic Politics

“…As Leonardo Villalon has observed, even incomplete and partial democratic transitions create openings for religious groups (including those that are initially skeptical of democracy) to engage in open, meaningful debates about the role of religion in democratic public life, contributing to the development of local meanings of democracy and rights that may depart in significant ways from global norms Downloaded by [Flinders University of South Australia] at 21:26 03 February 2015 (Villalon 2010). In Niger, Mali, and Senegal, these debates saw Islamic organizations launch successful, locally formulated challenges to family-law reforms that international and domestic women's rights groups had fought to place on the democratization agenda (Soares 2009;Kang 2010;Konold 2010).…”

Between dialogue and contestation: gender, Islam, and the challenges of a Malian public sphere

“…The issue was reopened during regional and national discussions (several concertations regionales and a forum national ) on the new family code in 2000 and 2001, with similar results. Large segments of the population would favour the legalization of religious marriages, and their position has been given voice in the media by a number of Muslim religious leaders and activists (Soares in press). In time, several state representatives have come to modify their position and have expressed some openness towards the legal recognition of religious marriages.…”

“…The draft proposal, which if accepted would have further reduced the authority of adult males within Malian households, was immediately met with fierce opposition by various groups within the population, particularly male fonctionnaires (civil servants) and Muslim religious leaders and activists. President Konaré, who had miscalculated popular reaction (Soares in press), decided to withdraw it from the national assembly.…”

“…Muslim intellectuals and clerics have become more vocal and often influential in public politics (Soares 2006). They have effectively managed public media and imposed themselves as important and critical reference‐points in a number of national debates (Otayek & Soares 2007; Schulz 2006; Soares in press). Furthermore, ordinary Malian Muslims are increasingly engaging in critical reflections on religious texts and participating in religious and political debates.…”