Which of the numbered sentences in the paragraph below is the thesis statement of this paragraph?

Question

(1) Since the end of apartheid, rights-based languages of human dignity have often been central to articulating state obligation and making claims on the state in South Africa. (2) In this article, I explore this moral–legal politics by focusing on a legal case brought against the City of Johannesburg by five Soweto residents on the basis of their constitutionally guaranteed right to water. (3) Examining the epistemologies and evidentiary practices on which it was built, the debates and protests that surrounded it, and the residents’ informal articulations of their discontents, I use the legal case as a lens to explore how the political terrain has been transformed in South Africa in the context of this rise of human rights and the law as languages and modalities of politics. (4) Cape Town would also witness the rise of the “poo wars” during which residents of informal settlements protested by spilling sewage at central locations. (5) It is argued that the controversy transpired amid persistent concern about the inability of communities to participate in decision-making regarding housing or basic service provision and, more broadly, a pervasive disappointment with the speed of post-apartheid transformation. (6) Yet, here, as in many instances before, a moral-legal language of human dignity framed the ensuing public debate around state obligation, with citizenship - as a set of techniques, imaginaries, and practices - refashioned via languages of humanity.


4 and 5


3 and 4


2 and 3


1 and 2


5 and 6

Answer 1

The thesis statement of the paragraph is found in sentence 3. It summarizes the focus of the article and outlines the main points of exploration regarding the transformation of the political terrain in South Africa in relation to rights-based language and legal cases. Therefore, the best choice that identifies the thesis is 2 and 3, as sentence 2 introduces the legal case that will be explored in detail in sentence 3, which serves as the thesis.