Conflicts in Africa, Asia and Latin America have become a common focus of advocacy by Western celebrities and NGOs. This provocative volume delves into the realities of these efforts, which have often involved compromising on integrity in pursuit of profile and influence. Examining the methods used by Western advocates, how they relate to campaigns in the countries concerned, and their impact, expert authors evaluate the successes and failures of past advocacy campaigns and offer constructive criticism of current efforts. Taking in a range of high-profile case studies, including campaigns for democracy in Burma and Latin America, for the rights of Palestinians in Gaza, and opposing the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, the authors challenge the assumptions set forth by advocacy organizations.
Chapters include:
1. Introduction: Transnational Advocacy in Contention, by Jennifer Ambrose, Casey Hogle, Trisha Taneja and Keren Yohannes
2. Genealogies of Transnational Activism, by Alex de Waal
3. Burma’s Struggle for Democracy: A Critical Appraisal, by Maung Zarni with Trisha Taneja
4. The Janus Face of International Activism and Guatemala’s Indigenous Peoples, by Roddy Brett
5. Advocacy Delegitimized: The Convoluted Case of Gaza, by Anat Biletzki
6. Conflict Minerals in Congo: The Consequences of Oversimplification, by Laura Seay
7. ‘Make Him Famous’: The Single Conflict Narrative of Kony and Kony2012, by Mareike Schomerus
8. Getting Away with Mass Murder: The SPLA and Its American Lobbies, by Alex de Waal
9. From Whose Perspective Anyway? The Quest for African Disability Rights Activism, by Tsitsi Chataika, Maria Berghs, Abraham Mateta and Kudzai Shava
10. Activism and the Arms Trade: Exposing the Shadow World, by Andrew Feinstein and Alex de Waal
11. A Right to Land? Activism against Land Grabbing in Africa, by Rachel Ibreck
12. Conclusion: Reclaiming Activism, by Casey Hogle, Trisha Taneja, Keren Yohannes and Jennifer Ambrose
