Sileshi Bedasie Hirko (York University – Osgoode Hall Law School) has posted The Place of Normative Pluralism in the Family Laws: Family and Marital Union in Ethiopia on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
In modern Ethiopia, the re-emergence and development of normative pluralism are integral to its recent multinational constitution that embraces the long-subdued multinationalism. In so doing, the FDRE Constitution has creating a room for normative pluralism through its explicit recognition of multinationalism within the broader framework of democratic federalism. Entailing the consequent revival of a normative pluralism, a legal pluralism has become the peculiar feature of Ethiopia’s multinational federalism. Exploring diverse legal, societal, and human-rights norms and their place within family laws, the discussions in this Chapter would thus draw upon both formal and informal local norms depending upon their relevance and significance for various aspects of family laws in Ethiopia.