The Politics of Rights-Dilemmas for Feminist Praxis

An Introduction

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5779546
AutoresA Cornwall (0000-0002-9939-5772), Maxine Molyneux (0000-0002-3548-0943)
Año2006
Volumen27
Número7
Páginas1175-1191
Fecha de publicación2006-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThird World Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0143-6597 • E-ISSN: 1360-2241
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01436590600933255
OpenAlexW2019843292
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas33

Since the late 1990s, development institutions have increasingly used the language of rights in their policy and practice. This special issue on feminist perspectives on the politics of rights explores the strategies, tensions and challenges associated with 'rights advocacy' in a variety of settings. Articles on the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, East and South Asia explore the dilemmas that arise for feminist praxis in these diverse locations, and address the question of what rights can contribute to struggles for gender justice. They examine the intersection of formal rights-whether international human rights conventions, constitutional rights or national legislation-with the everyday realities of women in settings characterised by entrenched gender inequalities and poverty, plural legal systems and diverse cultural norms that can constitute formidable obstacles to realising rights. They suggest that these sites of struggle can create new possibilities and meanings through a politics animated by demands for social and gender justice. Notes 1 For a discussion of rights and development, see P Uvin, Human Rights and Development, Bloomfield, IA: Kumarian Press, 2004, which, despite good general discussion, has limited reference to women's rights. 2 For statistical summaries of gender inequalities, see unifem's Report for Beijing + 10 Progress of World's Women 2000, New York: UNIFEM and, for an analytic overview, see UNRISD, Gender Equality: Striving for Justice in an Unequal World, Geneva: UNRISD, 2005. 3 This is not the place to rehearse the arguments for and against rights. There is an extensive literature on this general issue and on the particularities of women's rights and the implication of 'globalising' women's rights. For some examples, see R Cook (ed), Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives, Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004; DP Forsythe, Human Rights in International Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000; M Molyneux & S Razavi (eds), Gender Justice, Development and Rights, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003; and J Peters & A Wolper (eds), Women's Rights, Human Rights: International Feminist Perspectives, London: Routledge, 1996. 4 A joint initiative of the Participation Group at the Institute of Development Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas, School for Advanced Studies of London University, this conference was funded by Sida, SDC, DFID and ISA. 5 The UK's DFID was one of the first to promote this idea, which emerged in the second half of the 1990s. 6 N Fraser, 'Redistribution, recognition, and participation: toward an integrated conception of justice', World Culture Report, 2, Paris: UNESCO, 2001. 7 C Taylor, K Anthony Appiah, A Gutmann, J Habermas, S Rockefeller, M Walzer & S Wolf, Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994. 8 K Tomasevski, 'The World Bank and human rights', in M Nowak & T Swinehart (eds), Kehl am Rhein: Engel Yearbook on hr in dc s 1989, Kehl am Rhein: Engel, 1989, pp 113 - 114. 9 See, for example, J Kerr, E Sprenger & A Symington (eds), The Future of Women's Rights: Global Visions and Strategies, London: Zed Books, 2004. This enthusiasm contrasted with the critique of human rights from sections of the left and other quarters as a form of Western imperial intervention. See also, for discussion of this position, S Žižek, 'Against human rights', New Left Review, 34, 2005, pp 115 - 131. T Woodiwiss, Human Rights, New York: Routledge, 2005 provides a nuanced treatment of the issues. 10 N Fraser, 'Women, welfare and the politics of needs interpretation', in Fraser (ed), Unruly Practices, Cambridge: Polity Press, 1989. 11 R Eyben, 'The rise of rights: rights-based approaches to international development', ids Policy Briefing, 17 (May), Brighton: Institute of Development Studies, 2003. 12 A Cornwall & C Nyamu-Musembi, 'Putting the "rights-based approach" to development into perspective', Third World Quarterly, 25 (8), pp 1415 - 1437, 2004; and Uvin, Human Rights and Development. 13 dfid, Human Rights for Poor People, Target Strategy Paper, London: Department for International Development, 2000; and Sida, Perspectives on Poverty, Stockholm: Sida, 2002. 14 See Gready and Ensor's recent collection, which focuses on international ngo (ingo) experiences with 'rights-based approaches'. P Gready & J Ensor, Reinventing Development? Translating Rights-based Approaches from Theory into Practice, London: Zed Books, 2005. 15 J Gaventa, 'Introduction: exploring citizenship, participation and accountability', ids Bulletin, 33 (2), 2002, pp 1 - 11. 16 M Robinson, 'What rights can add to good development practice?', in P Alston & M Robinson (eds), Human Rights and Development: Towards Mutual Reinforcement, New York: Oxford University Press, 2005, p 29. 17 Workshop proceedings. The source is anonymised to preserve confidentiality. 18 See, for example, the work of Ian Scoones and others on sustainable livelihoods in Southern Africa. I Scoones & W Wolmer, 'Livelihoods in crisis? New perspectives on governance and rural development in Southern Africa', ids Bulletin, 34 (3), 2003. 19 M Keck & K Sikkinck, Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998. 20 See for example, on Latin America, M Htun, Sex and the State: Abortion, Divorce and the Family under Latin American Dictatorships and Democracies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003; and N Craske & M Molyneux (eds), Gender and the Politics of Rights and Democracy in Latin America, London: Palgrave, 2002. On South Africa, see S Hassim, 'Representation, participation and democratic effectiveness: feminist challenges to representative democracy in South Africa', in A-M Goetz & S Hassim (eds), No Shortcuts to Power: African Women in Politics and Policy Making, London: Zed Books, 2003; and A Gouws, (Un)thinking Citizenship: Feminist Debates in Contemporary South Africa, Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press, 2005. 21 A Ortiz-Ortega, 'Femicide and the politics of "justice" in Mexico', paper presented to the Feminist Perspectives on Rights-Based Development conference, Institute of Development Studies, 26 - 27 September 2005. 22 SE Alvarez, 'Advocating feminism: the Latin American feminist NGO "boom"', International Feminist Journal Of Politics, 1 (2), 1999, pp 181 - 209; and I Jad, 'The ngo-isation of Arab women's movements', ids Bulletin, 35 (4), 2004, pp 34 - 42. 23 The four-country study carried out by Molyneux and Lazar reached similar conclusions. M Molyneux & S Lazar, Doing the Rights Thing: Rights-Based Development and Latin American ngo s, London: ITDG Publishing, 2003. 24 S Bracke, 'Different worlds are possible: feminist yearnings for shared futures', in Kerr et al, The Future of Women's Rights. 25 S Álvarez, 'Latin American feminisms "go global": trends of the 1990s and challenges for the new millennium', in S Álvarez, E Dagnino & A Escobar (eds) Cultures of Politics/Politics of Cultures: Revisioning Latin American Social Movements, Boulder, CO: Westview, 1998, p 315; and Molyneux & Lazar, Doing the Rights Thing. 26 See Women Living Under Muslim Laws website, at www.wluml.org. 27 A-M Goetz, 'Women's political effectiveness: a conceptual framework', in Goetz & Hassim, No Shortcuts to Power. 28 R Mohanty, 'Institutional dynamics and participatory spaces: the making and unmaking of participation in local forest management in India', ids Bulletin, 35 (2), pp 26 - 32; and A Cornwall & A-M Goetz, 'Democratizing democracy: feminist perspectives', Democratization, 12 (5), 2005, pp 783 - 800. 29 For discussions of commonalities and differences among women, see, for example, JR Jakobsen, Working Alliances and the Politics of Difference: Diversity and Feminist Ethics, Bloomington, IN: University of Indiana Press, 1998. 30 S Batliwala & D Dhanraj, 'Gender myths that instrumentalise women: a view from the Indian frontline', ids Bulletin, 35 (4), 2004, pp 11 - 18; and C Nyamu-Musembi, personal communication. 31 Goetz, 'Women's political effectiveness'. 32 C Nyamu-Musembi, 'Towards an actor-orientated perspective on human rights', ids Working Paper, 169, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies; and R Petchesky, Negotiating Reproductive Rights, London: Zed Books, 1998

Praxis · Gender Politics and Representation · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Human Rights and Development