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Human rights

The production of sexual mutilation among Muslim women in Cairo

Upphovsperson: Malmström, Maria Frederika
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Taylor & Francis Online
År: 2013
Ämnesord: body, gender, embodiment, agency, female circumcision, Human rights, sexuality, desire
Female circumcision has become a global political minefield, with ‘Western’ interventions affecting Egyptian politics and social development, not least in the area of democracy and human rights. As younger generation of women in Egypt informed by international human rights discourse begins to question norms still upheld by the previous generation, new dilemmas and tensions emerge. In this article, I discuss the risk that international interventions designed to modify local practices may fail when the local moral worlds in which such practices are embedded are inadequately understood. Rather than increasing women's agency, such interventions may reduce it and instead produce a sense of sexual mutilation among women.

Albert Luthuli and Dag Hammarskjöld - Leaders and Visionaries

Medarbetare: Sellström, Tor
Utgivare: Uppsala, Sweden : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet; Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation; The Luthuli Museum
År: 2012
Ämnesord: national liberation movements, Political leadership, anti-apartheid activists, Human rights, democracy, International relations, UN, Nobel prizes, South Africa, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
Two symposia in Uppsala and Oslo during November 2011 marked the 50th anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Chief Albert Luthuli and Dag Hammarskjöld at the same ceremony for 1960 and (posthumously) 1961, respectively. The deliberations, which involved close family members of the late Chief Luthuli, commemorated and honoured two outstanding leaders of the 20th century. While they never met personally, they shared principle values and ethics rooted in a firm belief in the equality of people, humanrights, justice and peace at a time of decolonization and apartheid. This booklet compiles a summary of the various presentations in Uppsala and Oslo, which paid respect to the two role models in their relevance also for today. It is published during the year, in which the two Uppsala based institutions celebrate their 50th anniversary.

African Migration, Global Inequalities, and Human Rights : Connecting the Dots

Upphovsperson: Minter, William
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Globalization, Trade and Regional Integration | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Migrations, Migrants, Social inequality, Human rights, Economic and social development, case studies, Africa, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
Migration from and within Africa, just like migration elsewhere in the world, often generates anti-immigrant sentiment and ignites heated public debate about the migration policies of the destination countries. These countries include South Africa as well as others outside the continent. The countries of origin are also keen to minimize losses through “brain drain” and to capture resources such as remittances. Increasingly, international organizations and human rights advocates have stressed the need to protect the interests of migrants themselves. However, while the UNDP’s 2009 Human Development Report talks of “win-win-win” solutions, in practice it is the perceived interests of destination countries that enjoy the greatest attention, while the rights of migrants themselves are afforded the least. Yet migration is not just an issue in itself: it also points to structural inequalities between countries and regions. Managing migration and protecting migrants is too limited an agenda. Activists and policymakers must also address these inequalities directly to ensure that people can pursue their fundamental human rights whether they move or stay. It is not enough to measure development only in terms of progress at the national level: development must also be measured in terms of reductions in the gross levels of inequality that now determine differential rights on the basis of accident of birth.

Re-examining liberation in Namibia : political culture since independence

Upphovsperson: Melber, Henning
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2003
Ämnesord: Namibia, Independence, Liberation, Political culture, Reconciliation, Post-colonialism, Human rights, Political science, Statsvetenskap
From 1960, SWAPO of Namibia led the organised and later armed struggle for independence. In late 1989, the liberation movement was finally elected to power under United Nations supervision as the legitimate government. When the Republic of Namibia was proclaimed on 21 March 1990, the long and bitter struggle for sovereignty came to an end. This volume takes stock of emerging trends in the country's political culture since independence. The contributions, mainly by authors from Namibia and Southern Africa who supported the anti-colonial movements, critically explore the achievements and shortcomings that have been part of liberation in Namibia.

A democracy of chameleons : politics and culture in the New Malawi

Medarbetare: Englund, Harri
Utgivare: Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet; Christian Literature Association in Malawi
År: 2002
Ämnesord: Malawi, Civil Society, Culture, Democratisation, Human rights, politics, poverty, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
After thirty years of autocratic rule under ”Life President” Kamuzu Banda, Malawians experienced a transition to multiparty democracy in 1994. A new constitution and several democratic institutions promised a new dawn in a country ravaged by poverty and injustice. This book presents original research on the economic, social, political and cultural consequences of the new era. The book engages with a culture of politics in order to expand the purview of critical analysis from the elite to the populace in its full diversity. A new generation of scholars, most of them from Malawi, cover virtually every issue causing debate in the New Malawi: poverty and hunger, the plight of civil servants, the role of the judiciary, political intolerance and hate speech, popular music as a form of protest, clergy activism, voluntary associations and ethnic revival, responses to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and controversies over women’s rights. Both chameleon-like leaders and the donors of Malawi’s foreign aid come under critical scrutiny for supporting superficial democratization. The book ends with a rare public statement on the New Malawi by Jack Mapanje, Malawi’s internationally acclaimed writer. Dismayed at the continuation of an ”oral culture of dictatorship”, Mapanje urges Malawians to confront their past in order to have a future that is free from fear and intolerance.Anyone interested in politics and culture in sub-Saharan Africa will find this book an important source of insight and detailed analysis for a comparative understanding of Africa’s democratization.

The African Union and the challenges of implementing the “responsibility to protect”

Upphovsperson: Kuwali, Daniel
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2009
Ämnesord: United Nations, African Union, Regional security, African organizations, Regional cooperation, International relations, Foreign intervention, Dispute settlement, Peacekeeping, Defence policy, Crime prevention, Human rights, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
The concept of the “responsibility to protect” (“R2P”) was endorsed by the world’s leaders sitting at the 2005 World Summit level in the UN General Assembly. The World Summit Outcome Document affirmed that every sovereign government has a responsibility to protect its citizens and those within its jurisdiction from genocide, war crimes, “ethnic cleansing” and crimes against humanity (UN 2005 paras. 138–139). The concept of R2P is cast in the three core pillars: first, an affirmation of the primary and continuing obligation of individual states to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, as well as incitement thereof; second, a commitment by the international community to assist states in meeting these obligations; and third, acceptance by UN member states of their responsibility to respond in a timely and decisive manner through the UN Security Council, if national authorities are manifestly failing to protect their populations from these mass atrocity crimes. R2P is a restatement of positive binding obligations of states to protect their citizens from mass atrocity crimes; and the collective responsibility to the international community to prevent mass atrocity crimes. R2P is about taking effective action at the earliest possible stage (Evans 2008). These obligations are particularly relevant to Africa in the face of crises such as those in Sudan (Darfur), parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Somalia. It is, however, rather early to pass definitive judgement on the relatively young notion of R2P without addressing some of the challenges confronting its implementation in Africa.

Where the old meets the new : Transitional justice, peacebuilding and traditional reconciliation practices in Africa

Upphovsperson: Villa-Vicencio, Charles
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet; Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University
År: 2009
Ämnesord: Africa, political development, Dispute settlement, Peacekeeping, Political stability, Governance, Social justice, Human rights, Post-conflict reconstruction, Political science, Statsvetenskap

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