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  • Rooted in struggle

    This book presents the work of the Translocal Learning Network (TLN), a social justice framework fostering non-hierarchical connections and mutual learning between localized social movements across the Global South and Canada. It argues that while local movements are most effective at creating tangible change, they often operate in isolation. The TLN bridges this gap, building solidarity among communities in South Africa, Ghana, and Guatemala confronting interconnected crises of social, economic, and environmental injustice. The chapters are written by the movement partners themselves, offering firsthand accounts of their struggles against state-corporate power, extractive industries, and top-down development models. These narratives detail the violent repression, dispossession, and corruption communities face when defending their land, livelihoods, and rights. Key case studies include the fight against a World Bank dam in Guatemala, the resistance to corporate salt mining in Ghana, the shack dwellers’ movement in South Africa, and opposition to large-scale gold mining in Ghana. Through these stories, common themes emerge: the use of state violence to enable corporate imperialism, the failure of nominal democracies to serve the poor, the silencing of subaltern knowledge, and the disproportionate impact on women. Crucially, the book also highlights the alternatives being built—people-centered, sustainable development visions rooted in self-determination, collective action, and grassroots theorizing. It documents how these diverse movements learn from each other’s strategies and analyses, forging a translocal theory of social movement learning that is essential for building powerful, global solidarities to contest unjust development and advance social and environmental justice.