Håkan Hydén

Gender and Water from a Human Rights Perspective: The Role of Context in Translating International Norms into Local Action

Abstract An important area in the discourse on gender and water is water supply where women are seen as the key actors and beneficiaries. A human rights approach to development has been adopted with access to safe water explicitly recognized as a basic human right. This right places a legal obligation upon governments to translate the international norms into practice. But does explicitly acknowledging the human right to water make a practical difference in women’s lives? Using an actor-oriented perspective, this paper analyzes how the international legal norms for realization of the right get reconstructed in local communities where women are the right holders. The empirical data for the analysis will be drawn from a first-hand qualitative study in rural India. The findings of the study show how the socio-cultural matrix provides the environment for implementing the right and determines its equitable and effective exercise by women.

Pioneiros na sociologia Nórdica do direito

Sociology of Law in the Nordic countries mainly grew up in the postwar period. It was associated with the beginnings of the welfare state establishment. Those mainly to be counted as pioneers are Vilhelm Aubert (1922-1988), Per Stjernquist (1912-2005) and Agnete Weis Bentzon (1918 -). Aubert dealt with topics as conflict resolution, equality before the law and the legal profession. Stjernquist´s main interest was about law as a political instrument. Weis Bentzon´s main contribution is related to laying the foundation for regulation of the Greenlandic society through a survey of the customs of the people of Greenland. Finally there is reason to mention Theodor Geiger (1891-1952), although he did not play the same role for the development of the Nordic Sociology of Law as the German. Geiger argued for including social norms for the understanding of social cohesion. The article presents the work of these scholars.