Negotiating Rights within Diversity: Translocal Networking and Comparisons

Abstract

As shown in the preceding chapters, global development concepts––violence against women, gender, habitat––and the relevant UN declarations play a significant role for civil society organisations in Malaysia. However, concepts corresponding to a Muslim translocality, such as female dignity, are also highly relevant (see Chapters 4, 5, and 6). The concept of rights––be they women’s or human rights and the respective Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)––is of central importance for the women’s movement. However, the meaning of these major concepts is neither static nor uniform. It is subject to manifold negotiations at the local level which lead to a diversification of the discourse on rights while negotiating the meaning of publicness and constituting public spheres (see Chapters 7 and 8). The localisation of the global concept of rights is shaped by different discursive battles around contested sites such as ‘state’, ‘culture’, ‘tradition’, or ‘religion’ and the negotiations on alternative concepts of publicness. Within these sites, the boundaries of rights are negotiated, and new forms of meaning and translations emerge. These localisations are shaped by the process of contesting gender, rights, and development discourses put forward by the strong developmentalist Malaysian state that promotes Islamisation and is moving towards an increasingly authoritarian political system.