435 18. How to study human rights in plural legal contexts: an exploration of plural water laws in Zimbabwe Anne Hellum INTRODUCTION Human rights, in all parts of the world, operate in a terrain were a plurality of normative orders coexist, interact and sometimes conflict. 1 State-law does not, in spite of the nation-state’s formal status as the main duty- bearer under international law, provide the sole means of regulating social behaviour. This socio-legal phenomenon, termed legal pluralism, is a char- acteristic feature of modern nation-states in all parts of the world. To come to grips with the complex legal situations that legal pluralities give rise to in an increasingly transnational world, many human rights scholars have started to cross disciplines like anthropology, law and political science. 2 There is today a growing body of interdisciplinary human rights research, exploring the interaction between international, national and local norms at different levels of law and in different social contexts. Research from this burgeoning field of study indicates that formal state justice, in most parts of the world, is not readily accessible for vulnerable 1 S.F. Moore, ‘Law and Social Change: The Semi-Autonomous Field as an Appropriate Subject of Study’ (1973) 7 Law and Society Review 719–746; J. Griffiths, ‘What is Legal Pluralism?’ (1986) 24 Journal of Legal Pluralism 1–50. 2 Key analytical contributions to anthropological theory of legal pluralism are: Moore (n 1), Griffiths (n 1); S.E. Merry, ‘Legal Pluralism’ (1988) 22(5) Law and Society Review 869–896; A. Griffiths, ‘Legal Pluralism’ in R. Banakar and M. Travers (eds), An Introduction to Law and Social Theory (Hart 2002) 289–310. How anthropological theory on legal pluralism may be integrated in legal studies that seek an understanding of law in a gendered context is addressed in A.W. Bentzon, A. Hellum, J. Stewart, W. Ncube and T. Agersnap, Pursuing Grounded Theory in Law. South-North Experiences in Developing Women’s Law (TANO/ Mond Books 1998); A. Hellum, J. Stewart, S. Sardar Ali and A. Tsanga, ‘Paths are Made by Walking: Introductory Thoughts’ in A. Hellum, J. Stewart, S. Sardar Ali and A. Tsanga (eds), Human Rights, Plural Legalities and Gendered Realities: Paths are made by walking (Weaver Press 2007) ii–xi; and R. Sieder and J.A. McNeish (eds), ‘Introduction’ in Gender Justice and Legal Pluralities: Latin American and African Perspectives (Routledge 2013) 1–31. Anne Hellum - 9781785367793 Downloaded from Elgar Online at 07/18/2019 12:39:18PM via free access