We Wondered what Human Rights He Was Talking About

Human rights, homosexuality and the Zimbabwe International Book Fair

Bibliographic Data

ID2361744
AuthorsMatthew Engelke (University of Virginia, corresponding author)
Year1999
Volume19
Issue3
Pages289-314
Publication date1999-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritique of Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0308-275X • E-ISSN: 1460-3721
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0308275x9901900305
OpenAlexW1995214434
LanguageEN
Citations received32
References cited41

This article addresses the recent debates on homosexuality and human rights in Zimbabwe, particularly as they relate to the controversy surrounding the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) participating in the Zimbabwe International Book Fair. These debates highlight the problems inherent in talking about universal human rights when appeals to 'cultural difference' are made. In Zimbabwe, for example, critics of GALZ and homosexuality have tried to argue that 'homosex is not in African culture'. Drawing from recent scholarship on human rights in anthropology and elsewhere, as well as the work of the philosopher Richard Rorty, the author argues that appeals to human rights on behalf of GALZ in Zimbabwe must consider the moral sentiments involved in arguments over human rights more carefully if claims to those rights are to be realized

Environmental ethics · Homosexuality · Human rights · International human rights law · Political science · Scholarship · Sociology · African cultural and philosophical studies · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Gender Studies · Law · Philosophy