Current debates on the transnational impact of world views (interpretive frameworks) often refer to the concepts of 'globalization' or 'travelling models, ' with an emphasis on domination or on a process of translation. This volume highlights situations where different world views are confronted with each other within Africa, and the question of how the actors mediate between the two. The conceptual chapters foster a critical view on the normative implications of agency itself, as well as how they reflect on the claim of interpretive hegemonony of human rights, concepts of law, democracy, or...

The debate on governance originates in the OECD world. At the latest since the postcolonial debate, we know that we need to “test” our assumptions under radically different conditions. This book offers an extended perspective of local self-governance by examining cases from South Asia, Africa, and Latin America, together with a study of militias in the USA. The chapters present a wide variety of local actors who pursue different notions of order legitimized by local traditions based on hierarchy or deeply rooted communalism, Islamic theology, or grassroots democracy. Some local actors...