This collection of essays interrogates how human rights law and practice acquire meaning in relation to legal pluralism, ie, the co-existence of more than one regulatory order in a same social field. As a social phenomenon, legal pluralism exists in all societies. As a legal construction, it is characteristic of particular regions, such as post-colonial contexts. Drawing on experiences from Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, the contributions in this volume analyse how different configurations of legal pluralism interplay with the legal and the social life of human rights. At the same time, they enquire into how human rights law and practice influence interactions that are subject to regulation by more than one normative regime. Aware of numerous misunderstandings and of the mutual suspicion that tends to exist between human rights scholars and anthropologists, the volume includes contributions from experts in both disciplines and intends to build bridges between normative and empirical theory.

INTRODUCTION1. Human Rights and Legal Pluralism: Four Research Agendas Giselle CorradiPART ONE: NORMATIVE APPROACHES2. Legal Pluralism as a Human Right and/or as a Human Rights Violation Eva Brems3. Legal Pluralism and International Human Rights Law: A Multifaceted Relationship Ellen Desmet4. Human Rights, Cultural Diversity and Legal Pluralism from an Indigenous Perspective: The Awas Tingni Case Felipe Gómez Isa5. Taking the Challenge of Legal Pluralism for Human Rights Seriously André Hoekema6. Indigenous Justice and the Right to a Fair Trial Giselle Corradi PART TWO: EMPIRICAL APPROACHES7. Gender, Human Rights and Legal Pluralities in Southern Africa: A Matter of Context and Power Anne Hellum and Rosalie Katsande8. Women's Rights and Transnational Aid Programmes in Niger: The Conundrums and Possibilities of Neoliberalism and Legal Pluralism Kari B Henquinet9. Legal Borderlands: Ghanaian Human Rights Advocacy between the Layers of Law Catherine Buerger10. Insiders' Perspectives on Muslim Divorce in Belgium: A Women's Rights Analysis Kim Lecoyer11. Through the Looking Glass of Diversity: The Right to Family Life from the Perspectives of TransnationalFamilies in BelgiumBarbara Truffi n and Olivier Struelens