ON THE DECONSTRUCTIBILITY OF THE LAW FROM A SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The legal theories tackled in this article are the complex ones of postmodernism, deconstruction and feminism, which are admittedly worth far more than a brief exploration. I therefore urge the reader to keep in mind that this remains a playful exploration of some exciting ideas and is not a complete or universal thesis.
Firstly, I explore Derrida‟s influential work on the force of law and its deconstructible nature. Secondly, I turn to Van der Walt‟s deconstruction of the bridge metaphor in South African constitutionality as an example of the deconstructibility of the law in a local context. In the final paragraphs some questions are raised which we need to ask ourselves when we claim that we live in a postmodern world with postmodern values and deconstructible rights.