[11th Public Workshop / 8th Meeting of Culture and Society Research Unit] “Human Rights NGOs and Strategies of Public Justice in Sub-Saharan Africa” (February 2, 2013)

Date：Feb.2, 2013 15:00-17:00
Venue: Inamori Foundation Memorial Bldg.

Program

15:00-17:00 Ronald Niezen (Department of Anthropology, McGill University)
“Human Rights NGOs and Strategies of Public Justice in Sub-Saharan Africa”

Abstract

The most significant influence on states that moves them in the direction of human rights compliance involves campaigns of public exposure and protest intended to apply reputational costs to violators of rights. The effectiveness and social consequences of these “politics of shame” vary considerably according to the nature of NGO networks and public participation in justice lobbying. This can be understood by comparison between the claims and strategies of the Tuareg in West Africa and those of the Umoja Women’s village among the Samburu of Kenya. The extension of the international movement of indigenous peoples into sub-Saharan Africa presents an opportunity to consider emerging processes of rights compliance, influenced by trans-national public engagement with distant public audiences.