Globalization, Human Rights and Critical Race Feminism: Voices from the Margins

South Africa and Australia, albeit markedly different in their demographics, politics, and history, share a colonial past, where race was the fault line throughout the society. Although there were marked differences in the colonial structure and various policies of the colonial administrators, both societies shared certain patriarchal attitudes that cemented during the colonial period and left a particular legacy of violence against black women. In both, the incidence of violence against women was so systemic and so ubiquitous that it has been described as a continuing violation of their human rights. The intersection of colonialism, patriarchy and violence and its consequences for black women informs the main thesis of this paper, namely, criticalrace feminism and its particular perspective on the issue of violence against women. In other words, this paper addresses the following question: How can critical race feminism contribute to the continuing feminist project of unmasking structures, legal and otherwise, that generate, tolerate and acquiesce in violence against women? Colonialism\u27s rampant racism, patriarchy, and cultures of masculinity left women in a particularly vulnerable position. In excavating the many causes of violence, my paper references not just the colonial experience, but the remnants and effects of both colonial and indigenous culture. In both South Africa and Australia, however, it was the ordinary processes of law and legalism which kept the colonial structures in place and which continue to raise questions about the role of law today. In my paper, the theme, violence against women, will combine the focus of these two societies

Violence Against Aboriginal Women in Australia: Possibilities for Redress within the International Human Rights Framework

This Article addresses the issue of violence against Aboriginal women. Part I concerns the historical violenceagainst Aboriginal people generally, and Part II concerns violence against Aboriginal women in particular. Part III considers how the priorities and perspectives of Aboriginal women and non-Aboriginal women differ insignificant ways despite their congruence in others. In particular, the Article evaluates the awkward relationship between Aboriginal women and the largely white feminist movement in Australia as a consequence of these different priorities and perspectives, and suggests how political victories for white or non-Aboriginal women could be translated into gains for Aboriginal women. The fourth part of the Article refers to the advantages or possibilities, on the one hand, and the limitations on the other, of the utilization of international human rights law and policy by Aboriginal women to confront these questions in a satisfactory manner. Part V of the Article peruses some local efforts by Aboriginal women to stem violence. Included is a brief reference to some approaches adopted by Black women in South Africa. The Article\u27s conclusion suggests that these local programs and projects, buttressed by a global human rights discourse that is more accessible than ever before, are far more likely to deal with the issue of violence comprehensively and satisfactorily

Who\u27s Afraid of Polygamy? Exploring the Boundaries of Family, Equality and Custom in South Africa

South Africa\u27s post-apartheid constitution has been widely admired and constantly referenced by international scholars, and especially international human rights scholars, for its comprehensive embrace of gender equality. But the commitment to gender equality has been tested by other liberatory discourses, including African nationalism and cultural and religious autonomy. This Article examines the evolution of South African legislation and constitutional jurisprudence in the face of competing imperatives, for example, between equality, legal pluralism, customary law/religious law, and the recognition of polygamy. In particular, it focuses on the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, a statute that purports to regulate customary marriages, including the establishment of such marriages, as well as their termination. The Article evaluates the influence of this statute, if any, on gender equality, and whether its purported protection of women in polygamous marriages in fact results in such protection

Feminist Legal Theory and #MeToo: Revisiting Tarana Burke’s Vision of Empowerment Through Empathy

It is my purpose to ground this Article in ubuntu and the politics of radical love as applied to the goals of #MeToo and its pursuit of redress for victims of sexual harms. Part II explores the convergences and divergences of #MeToo with feminist campaigns of an earlier era. Part III questions whether a renewed quest for gender equality, largely spawned by a Twitter/social media campaign, may lead to sustainable change built on notions of empathy and restorative justice, which was the vision espoused by Carrie in her work and which influenced Tarana Burke when she founded #MeToo. Part IV examines restorative justice approaches in the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a way to address the harms of sexual violence. I conclude in Part V with possibilities and limitations in the restorative justice approach to redressing these kinds of claims

Some Middle-Age Spread, a Few Mood Swings, and Growing Exhaustion: The Human Rights Movement at Middle Age

This paper was presented at a symposium, The Scholar as Activist , dedicated to the work of Nadine Strossen, President of the ACLU. This paper focuses on the subject of international human rights law and the engagement of scholars as activists in this area of law. At fifty-plus years, and therefore soundly middle aged, the global human rights project today provides occasion for reflection and evaluation. This paper observes that human rights have increasingly become the language of progressive politics. In many ways, this focus on human rights globally echoes the struggle for civil liberties and civil rights in the United States in earlier decades. Then, despite widespread opposition, the vision of a society underpinned by human rights and dignity seemed attainable; this emboldened generations of activists and inspired many scholars. And sometimes, inspiration and boldness merged to shape the scholar as activist. The path-breaking contributions of scholars like John Hope Franklin, C. Vann Woodward, and Kenneth Clark to the 1954 decision of Brown v. Board of Education reflect the scholar as activist in the finest light. Using the South African democratic process as a case in point, the article assesses the transformative potential of human rights law