The Politics of Rights: Dilemmas for Feminist Praxis

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 politics of rights explores the strategies, tensions and challenges associated with ?rights work? 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. Exploring the intersection of formal rights ? whether international human rights conventions, constitutional rights or national legislation ? with the everyday realities of women in settings characterized by entrenched gender inequalities and poverty, plural legal systems and cultural norms that can constitute formidable obstacles to realizing rights. The contributors suggest that these sites of struggle can create new possibilities and meanings ? and a politics ofrights animated by demands for social and gender justice.

The Politics of Rights: dilemmas for feminist praxis; an introduction Ruling out Gender Equality? The Post-Cold War Rule of Law Agenda in Sub-Saharan Africa Constitutional Engineering: what opportunities for the enhancement of gender rights?Islamic Politics, Human Rights and women's Claims for Equality in Iran Legacies of Common Law: 'Crimes of Honour' in India and Pakistan Hindu Women's Property Rights in India: a critical appraisal Accessing Economic and Social Rights under Neo-liberalism: gender and rights in Chile From the Girl Child to Girls' Rights Revisiting Equality as a Right: The Minimum Age of Marriage Clause in the Nigerian Child Right Act, 2003 Rights and Realities: limits to women's rights and citizenship after ten years of democracy in South Africa is The Rights Focus The Right Focus? Nicaraguan Responses to the Rights Agenda