Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2016

Source Publication

(2016) 33 Windsor Y B Access Just 1-35

Abstract

The article critically reflects on the role of the TWAILian international (human rights) law scholar in the socio-economic and political struggles which take place outside the academe; focusing, for the most part, on our role as scholars in advancing struggles in favour of subaltern Third World peoples from within or in concert with international institutions and various kinds of what I will refer to in this paper as “on-the-ground” activist groups (such as social movements and NGOs). The article begins by examining some of the various ideas and conceptions of praxis, so as to be clear from the outset as to the sense in which that key term is used in this context. The question of the ends or goals for which we do praxis is also discussed at this point. The discussion then moves on to the important question of what it means to enact TWAIL praxis and to do so within or in relation to international institutions or “on-the-ground” groups, and a conceptual/normative framework for such activity is offered. The paper then focuses on a relatively brief analysis of some of the experiences that the author has had as a TWAILian international (human rights) law scholar who has also been closely engaged in some way with international institutions and on-the-ground groups. Following this, a reflection on the promise and perils of such close engagement with this kind of praxis is offered. The article ends with some concluding remarks.

Comments

This article is published by the Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice and is available via https://dx.doi.org/10.22329/wyaj.v33i3.4885

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Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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