Courts And Social Transformation in New Democracies: An Institutional Voice for the Poor?

Gargarella (Torcuato di Tella University, Argentina) collects case studies from Latin America, Africa, India, and Eastern Europe to examine the role of courts as a channel for social transformation to benefit excluded sectors of society in contemporary democracies. Contributors in law, political theory, and political science assess the role of judicial processes in altering (or perpetuating) social and economic inequalities and power relations in society, with a focus on social rights litigation in post-authoritarian regimes and in countries with fragile state control. Courts and social transformation in India, social rights as middle-class entitlements in Hungary, and legal mobilization in Bolivia are some subjects discussed. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Roberto Gargarella is Professor at the Torcuato di Tella University and the University of Buenos Aires both in Argentina. He is also Researcher at the Christian Michelsen Institute, Norway. Pilar Domingo is Researcher at the Instituto de Estudios de IberoamAcrica at the University of Salamanca, Spain. Theunis Roux is Director of the South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law in South Africa.