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Rights-based Litigation, Urban Governance and Social Justice in South Africa considers the overlap between legal and everyday struggles for social and spatial justice in the particular context of Johannesburg, South Africa. Drawing from literature across disciplines of law, urban geography and urban planning, as well as from reported case-law concerning the invocation of constitutional rights in Johannesburg and other South African cities, the book critically examines whether, and to what extent, the invocation of legal rights before South African courts have contributed to the advancement of social justice in the city. It considers the impact of the legal assertion of different constituent aspects of the so-called "right to the city" on the many people simultaneously performing the right, the governance structures responsible for enabling and facilitating its enjoyment and, thirdly, the physical place in which it is performed.
Drawing broad conclusions on the utility of rights-based litigation for the achievement of social change and spatial justice, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of South Africa, constitutional law, human rights law, regulatory law, sociology of rights, studies of law and society, urban studies, urban geography, governance studies, and development studies.
List of contents
1. Johannesburg as a Site for Rights
2. Inhabiting Joburg: Struggles for Housing and Access to the City
3. Struggles over Essential Services
4. Marginal Struggles: Equality, Public Presence and Livelihood
5. Privileged Struggles: Property, Lifestyle, Business and Safety
6. Struggles over Autonomy, Equality and Identity: Sex, Gender and Sexuality
7. The Right to Joburg?
About the author
Marius Pieterse is Professor of Law at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
Summary
Drawing from literature on law, urban geography and urban planning, as well as reported case-law concerning the invocation of constitutional rights in South African cities, this book examines whether and to what extent the invocation of legal rights before South African courts have contributed to the advancement of social justice
