Lecture Room 2

The course will involve examination of the various theories of Human Rights; like the natural law, the divine law and the human law theories. It will also look at the justifications of the natural law theory, conventional law theory, legal law theory, contractual theories etc. Among others, the sociological theory, the idealist theory, the economic theory, the modern-realist theory, the historical theory and the positivist theory will also be examined  

Gender and development trends in Uganda; gender and plan of action; gender and development analysis of decentralization; the National Gender Policy; the Ministry of Gender and Social Development; gender and the PEAP; MDGs and poverty; UN and Development partners in Uganda; PMA and poverty; policy implementation, monitoring and evaluation; educational institutions, health services, credit schemes; NGOs and CBOs; and their role as change agent.  

 Concepts of human rights and gender; gender and the law; evolution of women’s rights as human rights; international, regional instruments, conventions and mechanisms for the enforcement of human rights; national initiatives for the protection of women’s rights: national gender policy framework, civil society organizations. Social, political and legal perspectives of human rights and violence; gender and customary and statutory law (civil and criminal) in Uganda; property inheritance; marriage, divorce, adultery; gender and crime, imprisonment and rehabilitation.  

 Foundations and epistemologies of feminist thought and practices; current feminist debates in Marxism, psychoanalysis, socialism, liberalism, radical, existentialism, postmodernism; linking feminism and development; historical review of emancipatory discourses; feminist theory and African feminist praxis   

The history of the social sector in Uganda; the gendered significance of the social sector and implication; theorizing gender in education, health, social security, housing; the politics of provisioning, e.g., water, sanitation. Impact of different political and economic policies in the social sector; contemporary gender significance of the social sector in the South    

The meaning of conflict, forced migration, displacement, humanitarianism and peace building; typologies of conflicts; ethical, conceptual and methodological concerns of gender, conflict, displacement and human suffering; gender analysis of conflict and displacement; relief versus development: women movement in peace keeping, building and post conflict reconstruction; highlights of gender dimensions of conflict in the Great Lakes region and Northern Uganda.   

Notions of identity construction, femininity and masculinity, reproduction and reinforcement of identities in the home, the community, the media, the market, the state; Gendered messages in curricula, instructional material, pedagogy, organizational structure; analysis of gender portrayal in the mass media, orature, literature, language and communication. The concept of gaze and othering.   

What is feminist theory; meaning of feminism; introduction to the history and the development of feminist thought including, liberal, radical, Marxist, socialist, psychoanalytic, postmodernism, existentialism and African feminist theories within the different context of the socio-economic and political spheres of society.    

 Feminist analysis of state formation, with emphasis on African states; Women’s role in political and freedom struggles, state systems and structures, gendered understanding of political and policy institutions, processes and impacts, gendered democracy, gendered citizenship, political representation and political mobilization, inclusion and exclusion; state feminism, legal and institutional mechanisms for gender equality.    

The concept of gender and sex; early explanations of gender differences; introduction to basic concepts in gender and origins of gender differences in society; patriarchy; biological determinism; gender analysis, women as a category of analysis; Why gender and development? Feminist critiques of development; origins of women’s studies, gender studies, and feminist studies.