Like in other parts of the world, the protection of human rights and other practices of constitutionalism remains uneven in Malawi and Kenya. However, as Eunice N. Sahle argues in this book, from a comparative historical perspective, these countries’ adoption of new transformative constitutional frameworks in 1994 and 2010, respectively, provided significant openings for the promotion of human rights. Nonetheless, the emergence of such opportunities does not mean that the protection of human rights is automatic. As such, Sahle’s argument zeroes in on the tension between the possibilities of human rights promotion on the one hand, and the historical and contemporary factors influencing that process on the other. In that regard, her analysis shows the importance and limits of transformative constitutions as tools for social change. Further, by focusing on the promotion of human rights by a diverse range of social actors—individuals, civil society organizations, and public institutions—she demonstrates the need to broaden who “counts” as an agent of human rights against a strictly state-centric approach.
Arvustused
This book is a welcome contribution to the increasing public awareness of the nexus between human rights and constitution(alism). Its intriguing insights, unsettling relevance, and exceptional lucidity make it one of the most significant works on constitutions and constitutionalism in contemporary Africa. - Joseph Mensah, York University, Toronto, Canada
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Part I. Conceptual Debates, Contextualizing Constitutional Developments, and
Human Rights Promotion
Chapter
1. Theoretical Underpinnings
Chapter
2. Constitutional Developments and Human Rights in Malawi and Kenya:
A Historical Lens
Chapter
3. Reconfiguring the Dynamics of Human Rights Promotion: Malawi and
Kenya
Part II. Intrastate and Social Accountability Practices
Chapter
4. Malawis Office of the Ombudsperson: Human Rights and
Transitional Justice
Chapter
5. Kenyan Courts and the Rights to Public Participation and Basic
Education
Chapter
6. Against Neo-Authoritarianism: The Right to Academic Freedom in
Malawi
Part III. Addressing Inequities
Chapter
7. We Finally Became Citizens: New State Spaces and the Right to
Health in Kenya
Chapter
8. WLSA-Malawi: Knowledge Production, Lawmaking, and Womens Rights
Chapter
9. Land Rights, Opportunity Structures, and Kenya Land Alliances
Advocacy
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index
Eunice N. Sahle is an associate professor with a joint appointment in the Department of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies and the Curriculum in Global Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has published widely, particularly in the areas of human rights, the political economy of development, global governance, constitutionalism, and transitional justice. She is the author or editor of several books, including Globalization and Socio-Cultural Processes in Contemporary Africa; Democracy, Constitutionalism, and Politics in Africa: Historical Contexts, Developments, and Dilemmas; and Human Rights in Africa: Contemporary Debates and Struggles.
