Sometime in the first half of the second millennium, the Pañjāb witnessed a literary transformation. This historical process enabled the people of the region to self-consciously augment and even supplant forms of knowledge that emerged out of Sanskritic and Persianate cultural practices with regional ones, a complex phenomenon that varied tremendously, based largely on the religious identity of the writers. The elite of Sikh, Islamic, and Hindu communities drove this innovation: all literary activity in the Pañjāb was supported almost exclusively by the centers of religion, rather than the royal court. This work stands in sharp contrast to the view that religion played no significant role in South Asia’s so-called “vernacularization.” The confluence of three major religious communities—and the distinct literary cultures that they produced—makes the Pañjāb an ideal ground to examine the complex nature of this literary transformation. While this work engages with premodern literary cultures broadly to understand the larger trends in literary production, the arguments presented are ultimately based on a careful reading of the literary worlds represented in four near-contemporaneous texts that are specific to each religious community—the shabads of the Sikh Gurū Nānak (1469-1539); the kāfīs attributed to the Muslim Ṣūfī Shāh Ḥusain (1538-99); the Hanumān Nāṭak (1623) of the Hirdai Rām Bhallā and the vāṇī of Bābā Lāl Dayāl (17th c.), both Hindū Vaiṣṇavas. The work highlights similarities and dramatic differences in literary production and circulation of discourses within material cultures that were shaped by self-conscious religious communities.

There seems to be a gap between human rights theory and human rights practice. This gap disables rights to be applicable in practice in a meaningful manner. By theorizing this gap with Neil Thompson’s theory of “thinking” and “doing” while shedding light to this gap with a postmodern flashlight, the study shows that the concepts of human rights, human dignity, culture and ideology are in need to be addressed and added to this discourse and certainly to the overall discourse of human rights. A way of doing this is to make rights in the vernacular, as Sally Engle Merry suggests. What will be the consequences of vernacular rights? What is needed is thus to translate universal values into local contexts by acknowledging the cultural dimension of rights and to learning through experience.

This thesis examines the persistent widespread discrimination against widows in Uganda and Nigeria that results from mandatory observance of harmful widowhood rituals, interpersonal violence, disinheritance, and forceful deprivation of property in marriage, in violation of and contrary to the provisions of international and regional human rights conventions and domestic laws. The thesis argues that international, regional, and domestic laws have not been effective to address the violation of widows’ rights because the terms in which these laws are expressed are not meaningful at the grassroots level. The thesis proposes social, cultural, economic, and legal measures to address the use of widows as cultural tools. In this thesis, I use the term ‘cultural tools’ to refer to the use of widows in Uganda and Nigeria, as in many other sub-Saharan African countries, as embodiments of cultural identity, especially in most parts of rural areas. Widows are used as tools to perpetuate traditional cultural customs such as widowhood rituals, levirate marriages, disinheritance, and widow cleansing. Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) proclaims that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. This provision is complemented by various international and regional instruments on discrimination and gender equality. Using the Igbo tribe of the Eastern part of Nigeria and the Baganda tribe of Uganda as case studies, my thesis examines to what extent widowhood rites amount to an infringement of the human rights of the widows in most part of the sub-Saharan African countries. The thesis examines the various international, regional, and domestic laws as they apply to or affect Nigerian and Ugandan widows either as a consequence of their status as widows or as members of the community. Thus, in light of the gap between international and state laws, on the one hand, and cultures and customary law on the other hand, this thesis draws insights from the concept of “vernacularization”. This approach combines the views espoused in Sally Engle Merry’s work and argues that to change the cultures and practices of customary law on the ground, initiatives must be taken at the grassroots level.

In the field of International Development, increased attention has been given to the concept of women’s empowerment as it has been recognized as a potential driver for change. Classified as a global struggle, commitments to this concept have been at the core of many development interventions, whether they be a small NGOs working in a single community or large-scale international aid agencies with presence all around the world. Despite its international recognition, women’s empowerment has been largely left unquestioned within development practices and especially with regards to the impact it may have on local beneficiary communities. This thesis will address how universal ideas such as this one become meaningful in the local setting through a case study of CARE-International’s Women’s Empowerment in Zanzibar project that was implemented from the years 2008-2011. In applying Sally Merry’s (2006) concept of vernacularization, as a theoretical framework, it will be shown that international aid organizations do not simply adapt women’s empowerment to the local arena. Instead, various local actors are involved in a dynamic process of translating, negotiating, and making the concept more meaningful to the beneficiaries and, thus, cause a new hybrid understanding of women’s empowerment to emerge. This new concept draws more extensively on local institutions, knowledge and practices that have been inter-weaved with Islamic practices which play an important role in the lives of Zanzibaris. This thesis will illustrate how NGO culture converges with and diverges from the local communities and expose the realities that exist within the greater development discourse.

In the field of International Development, increased attention has been given to the concept of women’s empowerment as it has been recognized as a potential driver for change. Classified as a global struggle, commitments to this concept have been at the core of many development interventions, whether they be a small NGOs working in a single community or large-scale international aid agencies with presence all around the world. Despite its international recognition, women’s empowerment has been largely left unquestioned within development practices and especially with regards to the impact it may have on local beneficiary communities. This thesis will address how universal ideas such as this one become meaningful in the local setting through a case study of CARE-International’s Women’s Empowerment in Zanzibar project that was implemented from the years 2008-2011. In applying Sally Merry’s (2006) concept of vernacularization, as a theoretical framework, it will be shown that international aid organizations do not simply adapt women’s empowerment to the local arena. Instead, various local actors are involved in a dynamic process of translating, negotiating, and making the concept more meaningful to the beneficiaries and, thus, cause a new hybrid understanding of women’s empowerment to emerge. This new concept draws more extensively on local institutions, knowledge and practices that have been inter-weaved with Islamic practices which play an important role in the lives of Zanzibaris. This thesis will illustrate how NGO culture converges with and diverges from the local communities and expose the realities that exist within the greater development discourse.

The practice of female genital cutting/s (FGC) has been under national scrutiny in Sweden for decades. Besides strong laws and policies enforced by the Swedish government, civil society organisations have played an important role in addressing the subject of FGC in Sweden. The purpose of this research is to examine what roles and functions civil society organisations assume as they tackle the practice of FGC. Based on semi-structured interviews conducted with employees and volunteers from civil society organisations that address the practice on a daily basis, this study sheds light on the possibilities and challenges civil society organisations face when they approach the question of FGC in Sweden. This research finds that civil society organisations carry a lot of responsibility in terms of tackling FGC in Sweden, as governmental efforts are perceived to be insufficient. Criticism against the Swedish government is first and foremost directed to the lack of knowledge and understanding on FGC within authorities and to the lack of grassroot efforts together with diaspora communities. Thus, this examination shows how civil society organisations engage and provide complementary efforts. First, civil society organisations raise awareness and shed light on the complexity on the practice of FGC within several authorities to secure that knowledge about the practice is maintained. Second, civil society organisations strive to involve, engage and empower individuals on grassroot levels by creating safe and familiar spaces to talk about FGC. Finally, local efforts provided by civil society organisations aim to empower people affected by the practice of FGC to make their voices heard and to represent themselves. In conclusion, this research demonstrates that civil society organisations hold vital complementary roles in relation to the Swedish state in terms of addressing the practice of FGC in Sweden.

Le droit international véhicule des principes de droits des femmes dits universels. Pourtant, ces droits prennent un tout autre sens lorsque confrontés aux réalités locales. En Inde, le droit hindou entretient la notion de devoirs par opposition aux droits individuels. Ainsi, la femme est définie selon ses relations à la famille et au mariage plutôt que selon ses libertés sociales. Toute dérogation dans les devoirs de la femme envers sa famille ou son mari est une raison valable pour punir la délinquance et discipliner. Cette étude s’intéresse aux tensions entre les standards internationaux et locaux à partir de l’étude de la Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act de 2005 (PWDVA). Cette loi se trouve au confluent de l’universalisme du droit international des droits humains et du pluralisme culturel en Inde. La PWDVA semble remettre en question le statut de la femme et de la famille dans la société. Les idéaux du droit peuvent-ils être adaptés aux diverses réalités nationales et locales? Comment les organisations non gouvernementales (ONG) s’inscrivent-elles dans la conjugaison du droit vivant et du droit international pour contrer la violence domestique? Cette recherche étudie le rôle des ONG dans l’adaptation et la traduction des normes internationales dans le contexte culturel et social indien. Une analyse approfondie de documents théoriques et juridiques, des observations participatives et des entrevues au sein d'une ONG à Mumbai en 2013 ont permis d’observer la transition des normes internationales vers le local. Un tel séjour de recherche fut possible à l’aide d'une méthodologie suivant le cadre théorique du féminisme postmoderne et de l’anthropologie juridique. L’analyse des résultats a mené à la conclusion que les ONG jouent un rôle de médiateur entre les normes appartenant au droit international, au droit national indien et au droit vivant. Celles-ci doivent interpréter les droits humains intégrés à la PWDVA en reconnaissant ce qui est idéaliste et ce qui est réaliste à la lumière des réalités locales, faisant ainsi l’équilibre entre le besoin de transformations des communautés et le respect des valeurs à préserver. Cette recherche offre donc une ouverture quant aux solutions possibles pour contrer les tensions entre droits des femmes et droits culturels dans un contexte de développement international. / International law carries principles of women’s rights that are called universal. However, those rights take on a whole new meaning when confronted to local realities. In India, Hindu law embodies notion of duty rather than individual rights. Thereby, a woman is defined through her relations towards her family and husband at the expense of social freedoms. In her duties towards her family and husband, any deviation will justify punishment and discipline. This research focuses on the tensions between international and local standards through the study of the 2005 Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA). This law is at the conjunction of the universality of human rights law and the Indian cultural pluralism. The PWDVA seems to question the status of woman and family in India. Can legal ideals be adapted within diverse national and local realities? How do non-governmental organizations (NGOs) get involved in the conjugation of living law and international law to counter domestic violence? This thesis studies the NGOs’ role in the adaptation and the translation of international norms into Indian cultural and social context. A depth analysis of theoretical and legal literature, participative observations and interviews without an NGO in Mumbai in 2013 helped to show the transition of international norms to local justice. The field study was possible through the methodology related to postmodern feminism and legal anthropology. The data analysis led to the conclusion that NGOs play a mediating role between norms for international, national and living law. They have to interpret the PWDVA and the human rights imbedded in it while recognizing different idealistic and realistic components in local realities. They strive to establish a balance between communities’ need of change and observance of values to be preserved. This research provides an overview of local solutions to counter those tensions between women’s rights and cultural rights in an international development context.