Are the powers of traditional leaders in South Africa compatible with women’s equal rights?: Three conceptual arguments

This paper is about conflicts of rights, and the particularly difficult challenges that such conflicts present when they entail women’s equality and claims of cultural recognition. South Africa since 1994 has presented a series of challenging—but by no means unique—circumstances many of which entail conflicting claims of rights. The central aim of this paper is, to make sense of the idea that the institution of traditional leadership can be sustained—and indeed given new, more concrete powers—in a democracy; and to explore the implications that this has for women’s equality and equal human rights. This is a particularly pertinent question in the South African context, and I think it is worth reiterating from the outset that there is a distinct impression that women’s equality is always “up for grabs” when other, perhaps more powerful interests, come into play, in a way that would be unacceptable for other aspects of identity, and therefore signifiers of equality. It would be inconceivable, for example, to countenance a claim for a hierarchical racial arrangement in a given community, no matter how deeply culturally entrenched that arrangement was, and regardless of how much support it (ostensibly) had from the community concerned. I think therefore that we are obliged to ask difficult questions about the new legislation on traditional leadership, and to put it under the microscope of political theory in assessing the claim that this is one way of recognizing people’s rights and freedoms in a new democracy. The Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act 2003, omits reference to the “powers” of traditional leaders, but rather refers to “functions and roles” which was regarded as something of a victory for women’s rights groups. However, the Commission on Gender Equality (CGE) and others point out that this victory has been all but nullified by the Communal Land Rights Act, 2004, which allocates powers of land administration to traditional councils, which are headed by traditional leaders. In any event, the “functions and roles” that traditional leaders are allocated in terms of the 2003 Act are sufficiently extensive that they may be seen to allocate “power” with the reference to lesser competence appearing to be a mere semantic device for the sake of compromise.     

Reply to Critics

One of the central moral challenges facing numerous political communities today is political reconciliation. In the aftermath of repression, conflict, and injustice, communities confront the task of repairing damaged relationships among citizens and between citizens and officials. In A Moral Theory of Political Reconciliation, I develop a theory of what this process entails and of its moral significance. My central claim is that political relationships are damaged when and to the extent that they fail to express reciprocity and respect for agency. Failures of reciprocity and respect for agency are how relationships go wrong during extended periods of repression and conflict, and it is in cultivating these two values in relations among citizens and officials that relationships are repaired. I am very grateful for the thoughtful, incisive, and stimulating comments provided by Cindy Holder, Tracy Isaacs, and Alice MacLachlan. In this reply to their commentaries, I first provide a brief background of the motivation for my project and an overview of the main theses that I defend over the course of my book. I then turn to three kinds of concerns raised by Holder, Isaacs, and MacLachlan. The first urges me to rethink the restriction of my analysis of political reconciliation to contexts of transition. The second challenges the particular way that I conceptualize the demands of reciprocity and respect for agency in political relationships. The final set turns to my analysis of the processes that can facilitate reconciliation.     

Building collective action at crime hot spots: Findings from a randomized field experiment

Journal of Experimental Criminology - The study examined whether Assets Coming Together (ACT), a policing intervention directed at increasing collective action and collective efficacy at crime hot...     

What does it mean to be a moderate Muslim in the war on terror? Muslim interpretations and reactions

The rhetorical use of labels in the war on terror has become an important tactic post 9/11. One such example is the deployment of the categories of “moderate” and “extremist” within counterterrorism discourse, with Muslims distinguished as either friend or foe based on this dichotomy. The moderate Muslim label is a relational term, only making sense when it is contrasted with what is seen as non-moderate (i.e., extremism). Such binary constructs carry a range of implicit assumptions about what is regarded as an acceptable form of Islam and the risks posed by the Islamic religion and Muslim communities. In this article, we explore the implications of this labelling for Muslim communities. In particular, we explore the interpretations Muslims themselves accord to the dichotomy of moderate and extremist and consider whether the use of such binary terms is at all helpful as a way of rallying Muslims to the cause of tackling terrorism and radicalisation. We draw on focus group data collected from Muslims living in Australia to inform our analysis.     

Validation of the InnoXtract™ DNA extraction method for bone,teeth, and rootless hair

Forensic casework samples often include human hairs, teeth, and bones. Hairs with roots are routinely processed for DNA analysis, while rootless hairs are either not tested or processed using mitochondrial DNA. Bones and teeth are submitted for human remains identifications for missing persons and mass disaster cases. DNA extraction from these low templates and degraded samples is challenging. The new InnoXtract DNA extraction method utilizes magnetic beads that are optimized to bind small DNA fragments, as small as 100 base pairs, to purify high-yield DNA from compromised samples. This validation study evaluates InnoXtract's ability to obtain amplifiable DNA from samples such as rootless hairs and skeletal remains. Studies performed include sensitivity, stability, repeatability, reproducibility, non-probative samples, and comparison to standard organic extractions. Sensitivity studies demonstrate average yield recoveries ranging from 53% to 100% and 73% to 85% for the InnoXtract hair and bone methods, respectively. Studies demonstrate consistent results across a range of sample types, such as insulted and un-insulted bone and teeth, as well as hair shafts from donors of various ages, gender, race, and hair characteristics. The InnoXtract bone method outperformed organic extraction. The method was successfully automated on a MagMAX™ Express-96, with recoveries over 70% relative to the manual version. InnoXtract has the potential as an automated high-throughput, high-yield bone extraction method with 6 h of total extraction time for up to 96 samples. The validation study results demonstrate that the InnoXtract kits produce high-yield and high-quality DNA from compromised bone, teeth, and hair shaft samples.     

Attitudes on the Responsibility for Child Safety: Key Child Protection Worker Characteristics

The child protection workers’ attitude toward responsibility for child safety is complex and requires further examination. Using the Quality Improvement Project on Differential Response data from Illinois we examined the characteristics that influence worker attitude towards child safety. The attitude variable measures workers’ belief in family responsibility for child safety compared to state responsibility for child safety. Regression analyses suggest that self-perception of skills, confidence in community resources, confidence in the child protection system, and worker age significantly predict worker attitude. Findings support organizations to direct resources towards shifting attitudes in the direction that favors agency mandate and needs.     

Exploring gender differences in constellations of problem behaviors and associated health-related factors during adolescence

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), this study expands on previous research on adolescent problem behavior by (1) examining gender differences in patterns or ‘subgroups’ of adolescents based on self-reported problem behaviors and (2) identifying differences in health-related factors including service utilization, physical and mental health, and violent victimization across the identified gender-specific subgroups. The data used in this study were taken from Wave 2 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) data and includes respondents under the age of 18 (n?=?10,360). Based on 16 problem behavior items measuring delinquency, substance use, risky sexual practices, and status offending, latent class analyses identified a 4-class model for the male subsample and a 3-class model for the female subsample. Important differences in health-related factors were observed across the latent classes. However, these differences were fairly consistent for boys and girls. Implications for prevention and intervention strategies, specifically focusing on the intersection of juvenile justice and public health services, are discussed.