On 17 September 2025, the International Development Research Centre, Namati, and the Grassroots Justice Network launched the recently published book, "Legal Empowerment in Informal Settlements: Grassroots Experiences in the Global South". The book includes a chapter written by SERI's Lauren Royston, Thato Masiangoako, and Nerishka Singh entitled "Here to stay: Using legal strategies to claim rights in informal settlements in South Africa". The book, edited by Adrian Di Giovanni and Luciana Bercovich, explores grassroots, community-led justice strategies (legal empowerment) that advance the human rights of residents in informal settlements. It brings together empirical research and experience from across ten countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The chapter by Royston et al. explores the use of legal empowerment in defense of informal settlement residents in South Africa. It examines the use of litigation by Abahlali baseMjondolo as one of a range of tools it deploys to defend land occupations as part of a broader strategy to address landlessness. SERI has worked closely with Abahlali since its inception. What Abahlali's experience of litigation shows is that in navigating difficult terrain in pursuit of structural change, people must hold onto their own power when using legal empowerment strategies. That litigation must work hand in hand with organization, mobilization, popular education, and political conscientization. The chapter also argues that legal victories are not enough, as there is an urgent need for reform of South Africa's property system. The ongoing use of community mobilization strategies is needed to complement and strengthen legal empowerment.
The webinar book launch opened with inputs from the book editors, Di Giovanni and Bercovich, followed by a conversation with chapter authors Aakanksha Badkur (Lawyer at the Supreme Court of India), Jayshree Satpute (Director and Co-founder of Nazdeek), Jane Weru (Executive Director, Akiba Mashinani Trust), and Catalina Marino (Coordinator of the Right to the City Program, Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia (ACIJ)).
This conversation was followed by commentary from the former UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Leilani Farha (currently the Global Director, THE SHIFT), and Diana Mitlin (Director, Global Development Institute, University of Manchester). The launch was attended by approximately 125 people from all over the world. In her comments, Farha said that informality is a beautiful response to exclusion, and the book records powerful experiences of how people have responded to that exclusion. The book is important in recording the responses to fundamental human rights violations and the denial, by governments, of the very necessities of life. In her comments, Mitlin said that the book's important contribution is an account of how litigation is a tool that forms part of a much larger set of tools and is an honest reflection of the challenges of being progressive in the complex area of informal settlements.
The book, published by Routledge, is open source and can be accessed here.