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Full-Text Articles in Law

The Rule Of Law Through Its Economies Of Appearances: The Making Of The African Warlord, Kamari Maxine Clarke Jan 2011

The Rule Of Law Through Its Economies Of Appearances: The Making Of The African Warlord, Kamari Maxine Clarke

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

The global reach of international law is now becoming relevant to the micromanagement of daily life. In postcolonial African states, everyday actions and their meanings are being opened up by the expansion of national jurisdiction into international jurisdiction. In relation to these changing technologies of managing shifting regimes of power, this article explores the ways that the spectacle of the rule of law is linked to the spectacle of capitalism. By examining the workings of victim and witness testimonies in the Special Court of Sierra Leone, I examine the ways that spectacles of law and articulations of suffering displace the …


African Customary Law, Customs, And Women's Rights, Muna Ndulo Jan 2011

African Customary Law, Customs, And Women's Rights, Muna Ndulo

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

The sources of law in most African countries are customary law, the common law and legislation both colonial and post-independence. In a typical African country, the great majority of the people conduct their personal activities in accordance with and subject to customary law. Customary law has great impact in the area of personal law in regard to matters such as marriage, inheritance and traditional authority, and because it developed in an era dominated by patriarchy some of its norms conflict with human rights norms guaranteeing equality between men and women. While recognizing the role of legislation in reform, it is …


The "Right" To Be Trafficked, Charles Piot Jan 2011

The "Right" To Be Trafficked, Charles Piot

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

The post-Cold War dispensation in Togo, West Africa, ushered in a new lexicon of politically salient terms, among them droits de 1'homme. Initially deployed in the early 1990s by members of the political opposition to expose dictatorial abuse, this potent signifier then found its way into society at large and, spurred by NGO support, was taken up by women's groups in struggles over gender inequality. This essay explores droits de l'homme's itinerary in the villages of northern Togo where teenage children embraced the term in proclaiming their freedom from parental control. Ironically, the same children now leave their villages to …


The Human Right To Health And Hiv/Aids: South Africa And South-South Cooperation To Reframe Global Intellectual Property Principles And Promote Access To Essential Medicines, Erika George Jan 2011

The Human Right To Health And Hiv/Aids: South Africa And South-South Cooperation To Reframe Global Intellectual Property Principles And Promote Access To Essential Medicines, Erika George

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has had a devastating and disproportionate impact in countries of the Global South. The experience of an individual infected with HIV in Africa is very different than that of an individual infected with HIV in America. Life expectancy varies sharply. The ability or inability to access medicines essential for treatment accounts for much of the variance. This article examines how the rhetoric of human rights used in the context of South Africa's AIDS crisis resonated across the Global South, resulted in a powerful social movement for access to medicines, and contributed to important changes in international intellectual …


Autochthony, Citizenship, And Exclusion - Paradoxes In The Politics Of Belonging In Africa And Europe, Peter Geschiere Jan 2011

Autochthony, Citizenship, And Exclusion - Paradoxes In The Politics Of Belonging In Africa And Europe, Peter Geschiere

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Our world seems to be globalizing, yet in practice, it is marked more than ever by what Tania Murray Li calls "a conjuncture of belonging." The notion of autochthony plays a special role in this obsession with belonging as some sort of primordial claim: How can one belong more than if one is born from the soil itself? Since the 1990s, the notion has played a key role in politics in several parts of Africa. Yet, its spread has now become truly global. Comparisons with other parts of the world show that this notion retains its apparently "natural"s elf-evidence and, …