Many human rights advocates agree that conventional advocacy tools- reporting abuses to international tribunals or shaming the perpetrators of human rights violations-have proven ineffective. Increasingly, social justice advocates are looking to social and economic rights strategies as promising avenues for change. However, widespread skepticism remains as to how to make such rights real on the ground. Stones of Hope engages with the work of remarkable African advocates who have broken out of the conventional boundaries of human rights practice to challenge radical poverty. Through a sequence of case studies and interpretive essays, it illustrates how human rights can be harnessed to generate democratic institutional innovations. Ultimately, this book brings the reader down from the heights of official human rights forums to the ground level of advocacy. It is a must-read for human rights advocates, development practitioners, students, educators, and all others interested in an equitable global society.
"Stones of Hope is a foundational contribution to the law and social change field. The book is impressive for both what it does . . . and how it does it . . . [Stones of Hope is] a stunning achievement that lives up to its brilliantly evocative title. It is, in my view, essential reading not only for those who care about the sociology of law, but for all students and practitioners who care about
Journal of Legal Education
"Stones of Hope is a terrific book that should be required reading for anyone interested in pragmatic advocacy for economic and social rights . . . [It] provides the rare experience of reading a book that is simultaneously inspiring, analytical, and provocative. Above all, it demonstrates that the effort to make human rights relevant to the world's billion people in poverty is a worthwhile and rea
Human Rights Quarterly
"Stones of Hope presents an unusual set of case studies and theoretical essays on innovative human rights activism arising from Africa. The material on the innovative civil society initiatives in the legal and educational spheres to implement a right of access to health care in South Africa is extremely impressive and, on its own, makes this volume required reading."
Former member of South Africa's Constitutional Court
