Description
Book SynopsisHuman rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are by definition not part of the state. Rather, they are an element of civil society, the strands of the fabric of organized life in countries, and crucial to the prospect of political democracy. Civil society is a very recent phenomenon in East African nations, where authoritarian regimes have prevailed and human rights watchdogs have had a critical role to play. While the state remains one of the major challenges to human rights efforts in the countries of the region, other problems that are internal to the human rights movement are also of a serious nature, and they are many: What are the social bases of the human rights enterprise in transitional societies? What mandate can human rights NGOs claim, and in whose name do they operate?
Human Rights NGOs in East Africa critically explores the anatomy of the human rights movement in the East African region, examining its origins, challenges, and emergent themes in the con
Table of Contents
Introduction
—Makau Mutua
PART I. DEFINING CHALLENGES TO CIVIL SOCIETY IN EAST AFRICA
Chapter 1. Human Rights NGOs in East Africa: Defining the Challenges
—Makau Mutua
Chapter 2. To Whom, for What, and About What? The Legitimacy of Human Rights NGOs in Kenya
—Betty K. Murungi
PART II. INTERROGATING NGO MANDATES: GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND ESC RIGHTS
Chapter 3. Law, Sexuality, and Politics in Uganda: Challenges for Women's Human Rights NGOs
—Sylvia Tamale
Chapter 4. NGO Struggles for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in UTAKE: A Ugandan Perspective
—Joe Oloka-Onyango
Chapter 5. Feminist Masculinity: Advocacy for Gender Equality and Equity
—Willy Mutunga
Chapter 6. Women's Advocacy: Engendering and Reconstituting the Kenyan State
—Jacinta K. Muteshi
PART III: DONORS AND GRANTEES: CONVERGENCES AND DIVERGENCES
Chapter 7. Donors and Human Rights NGOs in East Africa: Challenges and Opportunities
—Connie Ngondi-Houghton
Chapter 8. Contradictions in Neoliberalism: Donors, Human Rights NGOs, and Governance in Kenya
—Karuti Kanyinga
PART IV STATE/CIVIL SOCIETY RELATIONS
Chapter 9. State and Civil Society Relations: Constructing Human Rights Groups for Social Change
—Livingstone Sewanyana
Chapter 10. Governance and Democracy in Kenya: Challenges for Human Rights NGOs
—J. Wanjiku Miano
PART V. NGO INSTITUTIONAL CASE STUDIES
Chapter 11. The African Women's Development and Communication Network: Pan-African Organizing in Human Rights
—L. Muthoni Wanyeki
Chapter 12. Social Transformation in Uganda: A Study of Grassroots NGOs
—Dani W. Nabudere
PART VI. SOUTH/SOUTH AND SOUTH/NORTH NGO RELATIONS
Chapter 13. The Death Penalty in East Africa: Law and Transnational Advocacy
—Margaret A. Burnham
Chapter 14. Democracy Organizations in Political Transitions: IDASA and the New South Africa
—Shaila Gupta and Alycia Kellman
Conclusion: Coming of Age: NGOs and State Accountability in East Africa
—Chris Maina Peter
Notes
List of Contributors
Index
Acknowledgments
