Human rights and the judicialisation of African politics / Peter Brett.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part I: Explaining judicialisation -- New norms: the impossible institutionalisation of corporate rights -- New courts: the rights revolution and the new terrain of international law -- New lawyers: South African advocates abroad -- Part 2: Case studies -- Who represents Namibians? -- Who is indigenous to Botswana? -- Who is a Zimbabwean?

"[This book] shows readers how central questions in African politics have entered courtrooms over the last three decades, and provides the first transnational explanation for this development. The book begins with three conditions that have made judicialisation possible in Africa as a whole; new corporate rights norms (including the expansion of indigenous rights), the proliferation of new avenues for legal proceedings, and the development of new support structures enabling litigation. It then studies the effects of these changes based on fieldwork in three Southern African countries – Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana. Examining three recent court cases involving international law, international courts and transnational NGOs, it looks beyond some of international relations’ established models to explain when and why and legal rights can be clarified."-- Provided by publisher.