Legal Empowerment in Informal Settlements
Grassroots Experiences in the Global South
1st Edition
Published on 30. June 2025
Book
Hardback
276 pages
978-1-032-88637-4 (ISBN)
Description
This book investigates grassroots, community-led justice strategies - known as legal empowerment - being used to promote the human rights of people living in informal settlements in the Global South.
Residents of informal settlements, also known as slums or favelas, encounter a complex array of human rights violations; from systemic discrimination by public officials, to threats to physical security from forced evictions, or arbitrary arrests, to a lack of access to basic services such as housing, water, sanitation, and education. This book shows how grassroots justice organizations around the world are working with residents to defend their rights and secure more dignified living conditions. Drawing on original empirical research across 10 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the book demonstrates how legal empowerment can put residents at the centre of holistic approaches to urban development and confront exclusionary and undemocratic systems of governance. The book encompasses practical recommendations and strategies such as rights-based approaches to informality, participation, community mobilization and litigation.
Bridging the gaps between the law on the books and the harsh realities of informality on the ground, this book will be an important read for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, working in realms of social and economic rights, access to justice and urban poverty and development.
Residents of informal settlements, also known as slums or favelas, encounter a complex array of human rights violations; from systemic discrimination by public officials, to threats to physical security from forced evictions, or arbitrary arrests, to a lack of access to basic services such as housing, water, sanitation, and education. This book shows how grassroots justice organizations around the world are working with residents to defend their rights and secure more dignified living conditions. Drawing on original empirical research across 10 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the book demonstrates how legal empowerment can put residents at the centre of holistic approaches to urban development and confront exclusionary and undemocratic systems of governance. The book encompasses practical recommendations and strategies such as rights-based approaches to informality, participation, community mobilization and litigation.
Bridging the gaps between the law on the books and the harsh realities of informality on the ground, this book will be an important read for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, working in realms of social and economic rights, access to justice and urban poverty and development.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Academic, Postgraduate, and Professional Practice & Development
Illustrations
24 s/w Abbildungen, 20 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder, 4 s/w Zeichnungen, 4 s/w Tabellen
4 Tables, black and white; 4 Line drawings, black and white; 20 Halftones, black and white; 24 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
599 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-88637-4 (9781032886374)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Adrian Di Giovanni | Luciana Bercovich
Legal Empowerment in Informal Settlements
Grassroots Experiences in the Global South
Book
06/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€85.20
Shipment within 10-20 days
Adrian Di Giovanni | Luciana Bercovich
Legal Empowerment in Informal Settlements
Grassroots Experiences in the Global South
E-Book
06/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€0.00
Available for download
Adrian Di Giovanni | Luciana Bercovich
Legal Empowerment in Informal Settlements
Grassroots Experiences in the Global South
E-Book
06/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€0.00
Available for download
Persons
Adrian Di Giovanni is the Team Leader for Democratic and Inclusive Governance at Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC), where has worked since 2011. In his prior role at IDRC, he spearheaded a stream of research on law and development, focusing on public law, human rights and legal empowerment. Past roles have included Counsel for the Department of Justice Canada's Human Rights Law Section, and the World Bank's Legal Vice-Presidency. Adrian holds an LLM in international law from New York University and a JD from the University of Toronto. He occasionally teaches at Carleton University's Norman Paterson School of International Affairs and has worked previously in Uganda and Tanzania. A proud dad of two boys who, on occasion, liked to sit on his lap at the computer well past their bedtimes, while he worked away on contributions to this volume.
Luciana Bercovich is a human rights lawyer and activist from Argentina; she has been working on access to justice and social rights for more than twenty years. Currently, she is leading the agenda of the Grassroots Justice Network (convened by Namati) in Latin America. Previously, she was Co-Director of ACIJ - Civil Association for Equality and Justice in Argentina. She has a Law degree from Universidad de Buenos Aires, a master's degree in Urban and Regional Development from Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC), and a MS `in International Affairs and Development from the New School. She has authored books, papers, and op-eds about social rights, housing, and access to justice.
Luciana Bercovich is a human rights lawyer and activist from Argentina; she has been working on access to justice and social rights for more than twenty years. Currently, she is leading the agenda of the Grassroots Justice Network (convened by Namati) in Latin America. Previously, she was Co-Director of ACIJ - Civil Association for Equality and Justice in Argentina. She has a Law degree from Universidad de Buenos Aires, a master's degree in Urban and Regional Development from Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC), and a MS `in International Affairs and Development from the New School. She has authored books, papers, and op-eds about social rights, housing, and access to justice.
Content
1. Legal Empowerment in Informal Settlements: Grassroots Experiences in the Global South 2. Legal empowerment approaches to gender equality in informal settlements 3. Active citizenship and access to justice: Embedding citizenship indicators within access-to-justice strategies in Rio's favelas 4. Empowering informal settlement communities for recognition and inclusion in the urban development discourse: Lessons from Accra, Ghana 5. Innovating participation to expand water and sanitation access under a special planning area in Mukuru informal settlements, Nairobi 6. Staking a claim: A case study of women's ongoing campaign to ensure inclusive and safe housing in Delhi 7. The right to the city and people's planning in the Philippines: Policies and prospects 8. Past resistance, present challenges: The law's contribution to the urban integration of Villa 31, Buenos Aires 9. Here to stay: Using legal strategies to claim rights in informal settlements in South Africa 10. And our voice opened up the pathway: Four women's fight to provide water to their community in Mexico 11. Winning the battle, losing the war: Land displacement and the limits of legal empowerment in urban Pakistan 12. Building coalitions and cases: Towards climate and housing justice in Bangladesh's informal settlements