Abstract

Throughout the world, civil society organisations (including NGOs) are playing an increasingly prominent role in promoting pro-poor policy change both in their own countries and internationally, whether through advocacy or through direct action and popular mobilisation. In the global re-alignment following the end of the Cold War, the challenge is that of moving from mere protest and opposition to constructive forms of engagement both with the state and with the private sector. Contributors to this book draw on experiences of social action from as far afield as Belgium and Brazil, in areas such as new social movements, governance and the state of law, North-South NGO relations and development theatre for social and political change.