Human Rights and Gender Violence
Translating International Law into Local Justice
As an observer of UN diplomatic negotiations as well as the workings of grassroots feminist organizations in several countries, Sally Engle Merry offers an insider's perspective on how human rights law holds authorities accountable for the protection of citizens even while reinforcing and expanding state power. Providing legal and anthropological perspectives, Merry contends that human rights law must be framed in local terms to be accepted and effective in altering existing social hierarchies. Gender violence in particular, she argues, is rooted in deep cultural and religious beliefs, so change is often vehemently resisted by the communities perpetrating the acts of aggression.
A much-needed exploration of how local cultures appropriate and enact international human rights law, this book will be of enormous value to students of gender studies and anthropology alike.
School of American Research: J. I. Staley Prize
1. Introduction: Culture and Transnationalism
2. Creating Human Rights
3. Gender Violence and the CEDAW Process
4. Disjunctures between Global Law and Local Justice
5. Legal Transplants and Cultural Translation: Making Human Rights in the Vernacular
6. Localizing Human Rights and Rights Consciousness