Examining the justice paradigms for African feminists in traditional dispute resolution mechanisms : a case study of Nyando Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

There appears to be a disjoint between the everyday experiences of justice by rural women justice seekers and what is primarily regarded as progressive jurisprudence by feminist liberal theorists. This disjoint has its genealogy in the global discourse on justice, which presupposes the universalism of justice. Feminist liberal theorists are central in this debate for advancing the idea of the universalism of justice without due regard to the everyday experiences and the power differentials of a diversity of women justice seekers. The idea of the universalism of justice emerges from liberal feminist scholars who criticize the inadequacy of the centrality of women's voices in John Rawls's justice as fairness in the exposition of the original position. This thesis departs from the predominance of male-led and western feminist discourses on justice. It relies on narrations of the lived realities of justice from ordinary women, more so, rural widows in the Nyando sub-county in Kenya who have resolved land and property rights disputes through cultural justice structures, considered by feminists as agents of reinforcing gendered hierarchies. This thesis reveals that traditional dispute resolution mechanisms can provide justice to rural women justice seekers in a manner that is protective of their rights.

Relying on the diversity of African feminisms, which are predicated on multiple indicators, this thesis reveals the intersectionality of widows’ identities and their oppression within the context of the study. This thesis argues that the use of western universal ideas of justice as a paradigm for understanding women's oppression isolates the experiences of other women. This thesis argues for an approach which engages with the indigenous or local ideas of justice, focusing on the narratives of justice from the widows’ who are the subjects of this study. This thesis adopts feminist narratology as a methodology and illuminates the dominant individual and group narratives of widows’ pursuit of justice within the Nyando sub-county in Kenya. Paradigms of justice were identified based on recurring motifs during the interviews, including justice as recognition of a right, justice as truth and justice as peace. This thesis recognizes that while justice is not universal but contextual, the paradigms of justice identified may resonate in other similar settings. Finally, although this thesis finds that the traditional dispute resolution mechanisms can provide justice to rural widows, it makes recommendations from its analysis of the context of the justice mechanism in Nyando sub-county. Finally, this thesis argues that African feminist justice paradigms must be seen from the lens of the realities of African women who are at the margins, just like the widows in this study, whose ideas of justice are practical – and where human rights standards materialize in the vernacular.