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Author: Makau Mutua
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812203933
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 399
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Book Description
Human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are by definition not part of the state. Rather, they are an element of civil society, the strands of the fabric of organized life in countries, and crucial to the prospect of political democracy. Civil society is a very recent phenomenon in East African nations, where authoritarian regimes have prevailed and human rights watchdogs have had a critical role to play. While the state remains one of the major challenges to human rights efforts in the countries of the region, other problems that are internal to the human rights movement are also of a serious nature, and they are many: What are the social bases of the human rights enterprise in transitional societies? What mandate can human rights NGOs claim, and in whose name do they operate? Human Rights NGOs in East Africa critically explores the anatomy of the human rights movement in the East African region, examining its origins, challenges, and emergent themes in the context of political transitions. In particular, the book seeks to understand the political and normative challenges that face this young but vibrant civil society in the vortex of globalization. The book brings together the most celebrated human rights thinkers in East Africa, enriched by contributions from their colleagues in South Africa and the United States. To date, very little has been written about the struggles and accomplishments of civil society in the nations of East Africa. This book will fill that gap and prove to be an invaluable tool for understanding and teaching about human rights in this complex and vital part of the world.
Author: Makau Mutua
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812203933
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 399
Get Book Here
Book Description
Human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are by definition not part of the state. Rather, they are an element of civil society, the strands of the fabric of organized life in countries, and crucial to the prospect of political democracy. Civil society is a very recent phenomenon in East African nations, where authoritarian regimes have prevailed and human rights watchdogs have had a critical role to play. While the state remains one of the major challenges to human rights efforts in the countries of the region, other problems that are internal to the human rights movement are also of a serious nature, and they are many: What are the social bases of the human rights enterprise in transitional societies? What mandate can human rights NGOs claim, and in whose name do they operate? Human Rights NGOs in East Africa critically explores the anatomy of the human rights movement in the East African region, examining its origins, challenges, and emergent themes in the context of political transitions. In particular, the book seeks to understand the political and normative challenges that face this young but vibrant civil society in the vortex of globalization. The book brings together the most celebrated human rights thinkers in East Africa, enriched by contributions from their colleagues in South Africa and the United States. To date, very little has been written about the struggles and accomplishments of civil society in the nations of East Africa. This book will fill that gap and prove to be an invaluable tool for understanding and teaching about human rights in this complex and vital part of the world.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789970028979
Category : Africa, Eastern
Languages : en
Pages : 390
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Book Description
Author: Claude Emerson Welch
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 9780812217803
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 380
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Book Description
Selected by Choice magazine as an Outstanding Academic Book for 1996 Since the 1950s, sub-Saharan Africa has been the site of profound political changes initiated by ascendant nationalism and rapid decolonization. With this new beginning came fresh challenges involving many crucial aspects of human rights: self-determination; civil and political rights, including government legitimacy; military involvement in African politics; and unfulfilled basic needs that have cried out for economic and social development. Protecting Human Rights in Africa is the first major comparative study of the way human rights NGOs have brought revolutionary change south of the Sahara. Governments are both the most important protectors and abusers of human rights, while NGOs have become the most effective detectives in discovering abuses and the most active advocates in seeking solutions.
Author: Santosh C. Saha
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313371296
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 208
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Book Description
There is a growing tendency in all of the developing countries to see the right to employment, education, and other basic rights as adjuncts to basic political rights. Also, in many African countries there have been movements for expansive rights that should include children's rights and women's rights in addition to the basic civil and political rights. Most current sources have selectively taken into consideration the work of politically oriented groups. This volume includes the status and work of human rights groups in Africa currently working to uphold both the basic as well as the expansive rights. One possible way of resolving the conflict between relativism and universalism is to project commonalities of norms and values through examinations of many advocacy groups in Africa that highlight the plight of refugees, women, and children as well as civil and political rights. This dictionary lists the current advocacy groups working in Africa to uphold and protect both the basic political rights and the expansive rights of previously unacknowledged segments of the population from governmental infringements. Advocacy groups are listed A to Z with additional resource information following each entry. This book will be a useful reference to students and scholars of African history, Third World Studies, International Human Rights, and Political Science, and Academic libraries.
Author: Ann Marie Nassali
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
Although human rights NGOs (HURINGOs) have contributed to the institutionalisation of a human rights culture, the human rights discourse mainly focuses externally on the obligations of states and, more recently, of business. Little attention is paid to how HURINGOs manage their power and privileges within their internal governance, despite NGOs' growing influence, resources, scope and diversity. This thesis offers a theoretical interpretation of the experiences, challenges, dilemmas and lessons learnt by HURINGOs in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa to contribute to the evolving discourse of human rights theory and practice. It adopts a multi-disciplinary approach that articulates the human rights obligations of HURINGOs and their implications for governance, arguing that the improved governance of NGOs is critical to the strengthening of the human rights movement. While upholding the dominant legal liberalism school which underlines that the state is the main human rights duty bearer and legal systems are critical to the enforcement of rights, it utilises the sociology of law discourse that conceptualises human rights as a normative principle to contain abuse of power. Drawing from the rights-based approach which is aimed at holding all actors accountable for the human rights implications of their actions, it evaluates how HURINGOs have applied the human rights principles and standards of: (i) express linkage to and mainstreaming of rights: (ii) accountability and transparency: (iii) participation and inclusion: and (iv) non discrimination, equity and empowerment in their governance and operations, as they demand of others. It is the mam contention of this study that HURINGOs have the obligation to empower themselves internally before they can champion the empowerment of others. This entails being knowledgeable in the area of work: forging linkages with broader civil society and academia, building on the positive cultural values that resonate with human rights to stimulate mass support and balancing the different accountabilities to the law, boards, membership, self-regulatory mechanisms, public and donors. Further HURINGO have the obligation to safeguard the autonomy of their mission: have transparent and participatory processes to enhance collective strength, legitimacy and ownership of consensus decisions: as well as promote and demand equal and equitable relationships based on mutual respect, shared responsibility and achievements while simultaneously enabling the weaker party to act on their own. Although a higher responsibility is placed on HURINGOs to respect human rights values, all NGOs irrespective of how they define themselves have to mainstream human rights in their work. This is because all NGOs exist in the public trust and work to promote human dignity and societal wellbeing. They must lead by example. Applying the human rights principles to NGOs enhances their moral legitimacy to measure up to the challenges of being a watchdog of the governance process and custodians of the better promotion and protection of human rights. Significantly, it advances the credibility of human rights to offer protection from any abuse of power.
Author: Binaifer Nowrojee
Publisher: Human Rights Watch
ISBN: 9781564322555
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 438
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Book Description
To Governments in Africa
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Civil rights
Languages : en
Pages : 242
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Book Description
Central and East Africa
Author: Paul Tiyambe Zeleza
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812204514
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 309
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Book Description
Changes in human rights environments in Africa over the past decade have been facilitated by astounding political transformations: the rise of mass movements and revolts driven by democratic and developmentalist ideals, as well as mass murder and poverty perpetuated by desperate regimes and discredited global agencies. Human Rights, the Rule of Law, and Development in Africa seeks to make sense of human rights in Africa through the lens of its triumphs and tragedies, its uneven developments and complex demands. The volume makes a significant contribution to the debate about the connections between the protection of human rights and the pursuit of economic development by interrogating the paradigms, politics, and practices of human rights in Africa. Throughout, the essays emphasize that democratic and human rights regimes are products of concrete social struggles, not simply textual or legal discourses. Including some of Africa's leading scholars, jurists, and human rights activists, contributors to the volume diverge from Western theories of African democratization by rejecting the continental view of an Africa blighted by failure, disease, and economic malaise. It argues instead that Africa has strengthened and shaped international law, such as the right to self-determination, inspired by the process of decolonization, and the definition of the refugee. Insisting on the holistic view that human rights are as much about economic and social rights as they are about civil and political rights, the contributors offer novel analyses of African conceptions, experiences, and aspirations of human rights which manifest themselves in complex global, regional, and local idioms. Further, they explore the varied constructions of human rights in African and Western discourses and the roles played by states and NGOs in promoting or subverting human rights. Combining academic analysis with social concern, intellectual discourse with civic engagement, and scholarly research with institution building, this is a compelling and original approach to the question whether externally inspired solutions to African human rights issues have validity in a postcolonial world.
Author: Obiora Chinedu Okafor
Publisher: Africa Research and Publications
ISBN:
Category : Human rights
Languages : en
Pages : 290
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Book Description
Author: Esther van den Berg
Publisher: Intersentia nv
ISBN: 9050951597
Category : Human rights
Languages : en
Pages : 1
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Book Description
Since the 1950s, the Netherlands has seen a steady growth of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) devoted to the cause of human rights. In the ensuing decades they proliferated and expanded their leverage. At the same time, human rights attained a more secure position on the foreign policy agenda of the Dutch government. Against this background the question arises, to what extent foreign policy-making in the field of human rights is determined by the activities of NGOs. The present study focuses on the efforts of domestic NGOs to have an impact on Dutch human rights policy towards South Africa, Namibia, Indonesia and East Timor from the late 1970s until the early 1990s. It appraises whether NGOs have been able to influence Dutch human rights policy towards these countries. Furthermore, it clarifies which factors contributed to and detracted from the influence of these groups. The characteristics of NGOs are taken into consideration, along with the strategies applied and the interaction between NGOs, as well as factors regarding the political environment. Conclusions about NGO-influence and contributive and detracting factors are reached on the basis of five case studies. These concern the efforts of NGOs (1) to press the government to implement a boycott of South African coal (1979-1990); (2) to promote an active policy against the application of capital punishment in South Africa under apartheid (1978-1993); (3) to end the enrichment of Namibian uranium in the Netherlands (1977-1989); (4) to promote an active policy against the execution of political prisoners in Indonesia (1979- 1995); and finally, (5) to promote an active policy in reaction to the Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor (1991-1995).
