The primacy of care for global security

This study formulates the indispensability of the paradigm of care as an infrastructure to fortify global security by examining how care manifests in an international society characterized by interlocking webs of differences, inequalities, and conflicts. The proposition builds on widespread consensus about human rights as the cornerstone of equality. It foregrounds the role of nonstate actors called the Global Takumbeng, which is a resource constituted by Southern Cameroonian women to bridge critical gaps in care for their communities in the theater of war. Despite the proliferation of scholarship about care, the relationship with international security is underexamined. Similarly, a growing interest in women’s conflict and peace work is yet to give African women’s experiences commensurable consideration. Moreover, wars in Africa seldom attract meaningful attention worldwide, let alone material support. This article addresses these vital deficits. Analyzing women’s agency as constitutive of indigenous resources that can mitigate critiques of the legitimacy, coherence, and universality of human rights, it contributes to literature aimed at unlocking effective strategies to close the gap between human rights theory and practice.