The comeback of chieftaincy, custom and culture is one of the most surprising features of post-apartheid South Africa. As democracy dawned, support for traditional leaders rose not only in national politics, but also in the villages of rural South Africa. Chiefs were no longer considered relics of the past or puppets of the apartheid regime; instead they were heralded as key figures in the upcoming African Renaissance. Sekhukhune in the northern part of South Africa had a tradition of resistance. The author has used the example of this chieftaincy to consider much wider questions - what was the relation between the formal legal and political recognition of chieftaincy and its local insurgence? How are the local, national and global interlinked in the creation of custom? Why did the liberal ANC allow the chiefs to retain power over land, local government and custom? What does this teach us about politics in present-day Africa?

Increasingly, urban actors invoke human rights to address inequalities, combat privatisation, and underline common aspirations, or to protect vested (private) interests. The potential and the pitfalls of these processes are conditioned by the urban, and deeply political. These urban politics of human rights are at the heart of this book. An international line-up of contributors with long-term engagement in this field shed light on these politics in cities on four continents and eight cities, presenting a wealth of empirical detail and disciplinary theoreticalisation perspectives. They analyse the 'city society', the urban actors involved, and the mechanisms of human rights mobilisation. In doing so, they show the commonalities in rights engagement in today's globalised and often deeply unequal cities characterised by urban law, private capital but also communities that rally around concepts as the 'right to the city'. Most importantly, the chapters highlight the conditions under which this mobilisation truly contributes to social justice, be it concerning the simple right to presence, cultural rights, accessible housing or - in times of COVID - health care. Urban Politics of Human Rights provides indispensable reading for anyone with a practical or theoretical interest in the complex, deeply political, and at times also truly promising interrelationship between human rights and the urban. Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Examines the role of customary law and 'traditional' authority in contemporary South Africa. There is a surprising resurgence of traditional authority, custom and culture in post-apartheid South Africa, as part of a conscious African renaissance. Yet customary law studies highlight the artificial origins of these 'traditional' institutions. This book poses three questions: what is the relation between the changing legal and socio-political position of traditional authority and customary law in the new South Africa? Why are they changing in this way? and, what does this teach us about the interrelation between laws, politics and culture in the post-modern world? BARBARA OOMEN is Assistant Professor of Law & Development in the University of Amsterdam North America: Palgrave; South Africa: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press

Cities increasingly base their local policies on human rights. Human rights cities promise to forge new alliances between urban actors and international organizations, to enable the 'translation' of the abstract language of human rights to the local level, and to develop new practices designed to bring about global urban justice. This book brings together academics and practitioners at the forefront of human rights cities and the 'right to the city' movement to critically discuss their history and also the potential that human rights cities hold for global urban justice.

Rights for Others is an empirical study of what happens when international human rights are applied domestically in The Netherlands. It tracks recent debates in Dutch society on citizenship and the rights of immigrants, and analyses the shift from the perception of human rights as a 'foreign policy concern' to the slow processes of homecoming in what has traditionally been a left-wing society, but now includes many more right-wing political parties. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, Oomen combines insights from law, sociology and anthropology to explain how rights gain significance in framing social and political discussions. The book provides comprehensive coverage on relevant constitutional law, legal culture and rights realization as well as discussing case material on human rights education, polarization, socio-economic rights, domestic violence and the rights of minorities. This is an invaluable contribution to the global fields of human rights and socio-legal studies for scholars and researchers.