Legalizing Transnational Activism

“Legalizing Transnational Activism is an invaluable contribution to our knowledge of NAFTA and social policy. It presents important new findings based on original research and uses them to advance the broader debate on the social impact of NAFTA. The work will interest anyone seeking to understand transnational legal issues, especially in the area of labor and the environment.” —Maxwell A. Cameron, University of British Columbia

“A welcome contribution to the study of NAFTA, providing original insights into the operation and political significance of the agreement’s ‘side accords’ on labor and the environment, and a rich empirical appreciation of how transnational social justice actors have struggled to leverage these controversial institutions. Graubart’s ability to weave together the legal and the political, and the domestic and the transnational, brings to life a story of contentious politics that will be of keen interest to political scientists, legal scholars, and engaged citizens trying to understand NAFTA beyond the polemics.” —Stephanie R. Golob, Baruch College–CUNY

“Within the pages of this densely argued and richly documented book, Graubart has effectively challenged both international lawyers and social movement scholars (not to mention political scientists) to take more seriously the incremental effects of soft-law on state legal autonomy in the hard times of international globalization. That is an achievement that social movement scholars who doubt the importance of the political process in the emergence and outcomes of contentious politics will need to contend with.” —Sidney Tarrow, Mobilization

“This short, provocative study is a valuable contribution to the literatures on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), labor and environmental law, and transnational activism.” —M. E. Carranza, Choice