ABSTRACT
The introduction to the Equality, Plurality and Personal Status Laws: A Research Companion examines the persistence of legal pluralism in matters of personal status across 33 countries in Africa and Asia, as well as in Greece. Although the coexistence of multiple personal status laws may appear incompatible with the modern principle of equality before the law, it remains a defining feature of the legal systems governing the private lives of over a billion people. The volume investigates the tension between, on the one hand, constitutional and international guarantees of equality and non-discrimination, and, on the other, the continuing application of differentiated family law regimes based on religious affiliation. Seeking to fill a major gap in comparative legal scholarship, the Research Companion adopts a multi- and transdisciplinary approach that integrates legal theory, history, sociology, and anthropology. It advances the concept of a “socio-historical jurisprudence” to connect plural legal orders with evolving understandings of equality and citizenship. Developed within the Equality and Law in Personal Status (ELIPS) project funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR), the work brings together scholars from several French and international research institutions. The first part of the volume lays the conceptual and methodological foundations for analysing personal status laws. It explores their historical (often colonial) origins, identifies borderline cases that blur the boundaries of legal pluralism, illustrates the praxeological method through the study of interfaith marriages in Indonesia, and proposes a dynamic typology of legal systems informed by social movements and reform debates, notably in Lebanon and India. The remainder of the volume comprises detailed country studies based on fieldwork, court decisions, and interviews with legal practitioners, activists, and citizens. Collectively, these analyses illuminate the complex relationship between legal diversity and equality, providing tools for reflection on reform pathways that reconcile respect for religious and cultural pluralism with the universal ideal of equality before the law.
