Law and poverty

"Law and Poverty: Perspectives from South Africa and Beyond" is a collection of essays by leading South African and international experts, as well as emerging young scholars. The collection focuses on key theoretical and strategic questions concerning the relationship between law and systemic poverty. The essays were first presented at a colloquium on Law and Poverty organised by the Stellenbosch Law Faculty, which took place from 29 to 31 May 2011. The range and richness of the essays illuminate the multifaceted nature and causes of poverty, as well as the possibility and limits of law in responding to the social injustice which poverty represents. By engaging with these questions, the book aims to deepen critical reflection and debate on law's ability to respond effectively to social and economic marginalisation. "The substantive content of law is influenced by how lawyers conceive and frame cases, by what theories we choose to advance, and what understanding of the legal process and the scope of judicial review we offer to the courts. Working on these questions is at best a modest contribution towards establishing a just society. But, as the learning, insight, imagination and intellectual daring on display in this collection of essays reveals, it is a contribution that should concern all those interested in the interrelationship between law and social justice." Prof Karl Klare, George J and Kathleen Waters Matthews Distinguished University Professor, Northeastern University School of Law The collection was edited by Sandra Liebenberg, HF Oppenheimer Chair in Human Rights Law at the University of Stellenbosch Law Faculty, and Geo Quinot, Professor of Law at Stellenbosch Law Faculty and Editor of the "Stellenbosch Law Review." Professors Liebenberg and Quinot co-direct a newly formed research and postgraduate training project on Socio-Economic Rights and Administrative Justice (SERAJ) based at the Stellenbosch Law Faculty.