A Theoretical Framework for African Exceptionalism in International Human Rights Law: Beyond Universalism and Cultural Relativism

This dissertation develops an original theoretical framework for understanding and evaluating African exceptionalism in international human rights law, moving beyond the entrenched dichotomy between universalism and cultural relativism that has dominated African human rights scholarship. While universalist approaches treat human rights as non-derogable norms applicable equally across cultural contexts, cultural relativist arguments frequently serve as instruments for deflecting accountability rather than advancing genuine cultural dialogue. Drawing on African legal philosophy, postcolonial theory, and critical international law scholarship, this research proposes a contextual universalism framework that acknowledges the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights as a distinctive contribution to universal human rights and examines the theoretical foundations of its unique features including peoples' rights, duties, and the clawback clauses. The dissertation applies this theoretical framework empirically to a series of African Commission and African Court decisions involving Nigeria, Kenya, and Ethiopia, testing whether African regional human rights jurisprudence has developed a coherent and distinctive theoretical orientation or remains derivative of European human rights approaches. It fills a critical gap in the theoretical literature by providing the first comprehensive theoretical framework grounded simultaneously in African legal philosophy and international human rights law. Original contributions include a mapping of African human rights jurisprudential tendencies and a normative proposal for contextual universalism as a guiding interpretive doctrine. Recommendations include adoption of the contextual universalism principle in African Court jurisprudence and its integration into African law school curricula. Keywords: African exceptionalism, human rights theory, African Charter, postcolonial, universalism.