{"title":"Plural-legalities and the clash between customary law and ‘child rights talk’ among rural communities in Kenya","authors":"D. Ngira","doi":"10.1080/17531055.2022.2070301","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Plural-legal societies are often characterized by a clash between various conflicting socio-legal realities. This paper starts by exploring the various contestations in human rights and the clash between rights and moral values. Using fieldwork from the Kipsigis community in Kenya, this paper explores the clash between community customary value systems and the language of rights as contained in child rights instruments. The paper demonstrates the prevalence of care ethics as a customary value system and examines how care ethics is upheld or (violated) in children’s matters among grassroots communities such as the Kipsigis. This research revealed that contrary to universalized notions of child well-being which are anchored on rights realization, children among the Kipsigis attain their well-being through non-rights based approaches that encompass the ethics of care and the ‘do no harm principle’ as well as that of customary entitlements (living rights) whose foundation and enforcement systems are different from universal notions of rights.","PeriodicalId":46968,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Eastern African Studies","volume":"16 1","pages":"25 - 46"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9000,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Eastern African Studies","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2022.2070301","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"AREA STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
ABSTRACT Plural-legal societies are often characterized by a clash between various conflicting socio-legal realities. This paper starts by exploring the various contestations in human rights and the clash between rights and moral values. Using fieldwork from the Kipsigis community in Kenya, this paper explores the clash between community customary value systems and the language of rights as contained in child rights instruments. The paper demonstrates the prevalence of care ethics as a customary value system and examines how care ethics is upheld or (violated) in children’s matters among grassroots communities such as the Kipsigis. This research revealed that contrary to universalized notions of child well-being which are anchored on rights realization, children among the Kipsigis attain their well-being through non-rights based approaches that encompass the ethics of care and the ‘do no harm principle’ as well as that of customary entitlements (living rights) whose foundation and enforcement systems are different from universal notions of rights.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Eastern African Studies is an international publication of the British Institute in Eastern Africa, published four times each year. It aims to promote fresh scholarly enquiry on the region from within the humanities and the social sciences, and to encourage work that communicates across disciplinary boundaries. It seeks to foster inter-disciplinary analysis, strong comparative perspectives, and research employing the most significant theoretical or methodological approaches for the region.