Constitutions and the Dialectics of Human Rights in Malawi and Kenya

Eunice N. Sahle

• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Print ISBN:
  9780299356705
• Subtopic: African Politics
• eBook ISBN:
  9780299356736
• Index: Politics & International Relations

As in many other countries, the protection of human rights and other practices of constitutionalism remains uneven in Malawi and Kenya. In this book, Eunice N. Sahle argues that the adoption in 1994 and 2010 in Malawi and Kenya, respectively, of new constitutional frameworks, which have the markings of "critical constitutional events," provided significant openings for the promotion of human rights. Nonetheless, the emergence of such opportunities does not mean that the protection of human rights is automatic. Sahle zeroes in on the tension between the possibilities of human rights promotion on one hand, and the historical and contemporary factors influencing that process on the other. In that regard, her analysis shows the importance and limits of transformative constitutional frameworks as tools for social change. Further, by focusing on the promotion of human rights by a diverse range of social actors—individuals, civil society, organizations, and public institutions—she demonstrates the need to broaden who "counts" as an agent of human rights and to go beyond a strictly state-centric approach.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Critical Human Rights
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Introduction
• Part I: Theoretical Foundations and Contextualization
• 1. Theoretical Underpinnings
• 2. Constrictive Constitutional Events and Their Rupturing
• 3. Critical Constitutional Events and the Dynamics of Human Rights
• Part II: Intrastate and Social Accountability Practices
• 4. Malawi’s Office of the Ombudsperson: Human Rights and Transitional Justice
• 5. Kenyan Courts: Rights to Basic Education and Public Participation
• 6. Against Neo-Authoritarianism: The Right to Academic Freedom in Malawi
• Part III: Addressing Inequities
• 7. “We Finally Became Citizens”: New State Spaces and the Right to Health in Kenya
• 8. WLSA-Malawi: Knowledge Production, Lawmaking, and Women’s Rights
• 9. Land Rights, Opportunity Structures, and the Kenya Land Alliance’s Advocacy
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• References
• Index
• Series Page