Legal Consciousness and the Rule of Law in Post-Conflict Societies - Emergent Hybrid Legality in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

This book considers how legal reforms and awareness raising associated with building the rule of law have engaged the popular legal consciousness, producing contradictions that have in turn shaped the nature of the resultant legality.

How are popular legal-justice beliefs and practices transformed when legal reforms encounter local contexts and cultures? For over a decade, scholars have engaged with the argument that legal reform through rule of law building is the answer to the various ills of countries transitioning from war to peace or authoritarianism to democracy. Yet, scholars have also repeatedly critiqued rule of law building projects: The rule of law, in theory and in practice, is a product of Western liberal thought and development and provides limited space for local culture, norms, and practices. This tension has been playing out in multiple locations, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo for about two decades. This book examines how rule of law reforms in the