Battling over Human Rights : Twenty Essays on Law, Politics and Governance

This book brings together twenty think-pieces on contemporary Human Rights issues at the international, regional and national level by one of Africa's foremost scholars of International Human Rights and Constitutional Law, J. Oloka-Onyango. Ranging from the 'Arab Spring' to the Right to Education, the collection is both an in-depth analysis of discrete topics as well as a critical reflection on the state of human rights around the world today. Taking up issues such as the African reaction to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the question of truth and reconciliation before the outbreak of post-election violence in Kenya and the links between globalization and racism, the book is a tour de force of issues that are both unique as well as pertinent to human rights struggles around the world. Behind and beyond the 'Arab Spring' : history, philosophy and politics in contemporary human rights struggles -- Clipping the wings of the International Criminal Court (ICC) : assessing African responses to contemporary international justice -- On race, development, responsibility to protect (R2P) and ICC -- From courtroom to praxis : the role of the legal academic in the public arena -- The international Jim Crow : globalization, poverty and contemporary expressions of racial discrimination -- Truth and reconciliation commissions : assessing the African experience -- Towards a pan-East African citizenship and identity : a bird's eye view -- Who owns the East African community? -- From the outside looking in : unleashing the skeletons of truth, justice and reconciliation in Kenya -- The implications of the White Paper on Political Transition in Uganda -- Multiplying the 'jiggers' in the feet of officialdom : reflections on the challenges facing civil society in a multiparty dispensation -- The rights of elderly persons -- Uganda today : what needs undoing? -- Police powers, politics and democratic governance in post-movement Uganda -- 'We are more than just our bodies' : notes on the case of young women-who-have-sex-with-women in an age of HIV / AIDS and homophobia -- Every child has a right to succeed : but do we let them? -- Constitucide : on the birth and death of democratic constitutionalism in Uganda -- The Asian question and lessons of law, policy and politics in the post-repossession era : the larger picture -- Towards a new kind of politics and constitutionalism in (B)uganda : reflections on the next two decades -- Of mice and farmer's wives : unveiling the broader picture behind recent legislation in Uganda