Signe-Marie Cold- Ravnkilde – 2009-
In Niger the question of rights to pastoral resources illustrates how ideologies in Western mindset have been transported to the African continent. This book explores the philosophical assumptions behind the rules governing rights to water and pastures. It reveals that points of contest between universalism and cultural relativism in regard to property, public authority and justice are reflected in both national legislation and in international development practices. Ravnkilde accounts for the outcome of conflict and cooperation and explains why herders, like people in other cultures, conceive of their rights in a contradictory manner: as requiring adoption to cultural specific conditions and yet applies universally to all.
Struggling for water and pastures in Niger.
