Legal Empowerment Efforts: Fighting Repression, Deepening Democracy
How Can Legal Empowerment Efforts Respond to Repression?
Grassroots justice defenders are at the frontlines for the fight for democracy and rule of law. By helping communities know, use, and shape the law, they are shaping a more just future for all. And they are doing this work in challenging contexts, shaped by rising authoritarianism and closing civic spaces. Practitioners from the Grassroots Justice Network recently came together to address this pressing question: How can legal empowerment efforts– which combine law and organizing to build power within communities– respond to repression and advance a deeper, more resilient form of democracy? The Playbook of Justice compiles effective strategies that practitioners are using to respond.
The Playbook of Justice
How legal empowerment efforts are fighting repression and deepening democracy
In Their Words
In partnership with Open Global Rights, we share here a collection of key insights that go a step further in responding to the question, “How can legal empowerment efforts respond to repression and advance a deeper, more resilient form of democracy?” Through a series of articles written by Network members, we invite our community to engage in discussions about how we can collectively confront repression and the closure of civic spaces to envision a more just future.
Fighting the playbook of repression with the playbook of justice
Grassroots justice workers around the world are strategizing how to not only defend but deepen democratic governance. By Poorvi Chitalkar Read in Spanish or French As I write this, I am on a flight back to the United States after spending a week in Puerto Princesa, Philippines, with 30 grassroots...
The key to defending and deepening democracy in Africa lies in combining law and organizing
Community paralegals in Africa are demonstrating how to build local democracy and empower communities. By Aimee Ongeso & Morgan Hargrave Read in Spanish or French Africa continues to experience both progress and crises of governance. Despite these contradictory developments, Africans still have faith in democracy and continue to defy the...
Creating pathways to land and environmental justice in the trickiest places
Grassroots environmental defenders are building a variety of strategic, community- based approaches to environmental justice. Global actors can do more to support their work. By Rebecca Iwerks & Ye Yinth & Otto Saki Read in Spanish or French. Fighting for land, environmental, and climate justice is risky. Global Witness annually...
Community paralegals are building power amid shrinking civic spaces in Southeast Asia
Within challenging political and social contexts, community paralegals are empowering communities, exchanging stories, and building solidarity. By Sheila Formento Read in Spanish or French Refugee activist Thuzar Maung was kidnapped from her home in Malaysia for supporting the Myanmar pro-democracy movement. In the Philippines, Marilou Verano faced libel suits for...
To resist populism and autocracy, expand equal access to justice and defend independent justice systems
In the face of attacks on judiciaries, justice systems must deepen their commitment to legal empowerment. By Ben Polk & Meg Satterthwaite Read in Spanish or French Around the world, autocratic and populist leaders are using four common strategies to dominate or undermine courts that would otherwise check their power...
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