Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: mobilization and social movements in the south--the challenges of inclusive governance / Lisa Thompson and Chris Tapscott -- Social movements and rights claims: the case of action groups in the Niger Delta / Echosa E. Osaghae -- Why do garment workers in Bangladesh fail to mobilize? / Simeen Mahmud -- Mobilization through litigation: claiming health rights on asbestos issues in South Africa / Nardi Simpson and Linda Waldman -- Water and rights: state management in South Africa and India / Lyla Mehta, Lisa Thompson and Ndodana Nleya -- Environmental activism in Brazil: the rise of a social movement / Angela Alonso, Valeriano Costa and Débora Maciel -- The struggle towards rights and communitarian citizenship: the Zapatista movement in Mexico / Carlos Cortez Ruiz -- Participation, inclusion and development under conditions of social mobilization / Vera Schattan Coelho and Arilson Favareto -- Popular mobilization, party dominance and participatory governance in South Africa / Laurence Piper and Lubna Nadvi -- Contesting development, reinventing democracy grassroots social movements in India / Rajita Mohanty -- Social mobilization in Cape Town: a tale of two communities / Chris Tapscott.

This authoritative title redresses the predominantly Northern/Western bias in social movement literature with case study material from movements for change in Brazil, India, Bangladesh, Mexico, South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.