Community Paralegals and the Pursuit of Justice

The United Nations estimates that 4 billion people worldwide live outside the protection of the law. These people can be driven from their land, intimidated by violence, and excluded from society. This Open Access book is about community paralegals – sometimes called barefoot lawyers – who demystify law and empower people to advocate for themselves. These paralegals date back to 1950s South Africa and are active today in many countries, but their role has largely been ignored by researchers. Community Paralegals and the Pursuit of Justice is the first book on the subject. Focusing on paralegal movements in six countries, Vivek Maru, Varun Gauri, and their coauthors have collected rich, vivid stories of paralegals helping people to take on injustice, from domestic violence to unlawful mining to denial of wages. From these stories emerges evidence of what works and how. The insights in this book will be of immense value in the global fight for universal justice.

Vivek Maru is the founder and chief executive officer of Namati, an organization dedicated to supporting legal empowerment around the world.

Varun Gauri is a senior economist in the Development Economics Vice Presidency of the World Bank.