The essays in this collection use case studies to address four vital issues of modern social advocacy. The first is the new social framework which has legitimized advocacy and recognized the immense importance of human rights legislation. The second issue explored is the adoption of various strategies by advocates in empowering social groups to achieve better self-management. A third issue is the link between the process of advocacy and social movements. In the past the sociological study of collective conflict focused on the confrontation between capital and labour, but in recent years social movements have shifted the focus to quality of life or "programmed society" conflicts. Fourth, the essays examine the role of academic social science in the new process of advocacy. Harries-Jones and the other contributors propose that outdated notions of objectivity in the social sciences be replaced by reflexiveness, social commitment, and interested knowledge. The case studies of advocacy in this collection include those concerning human rights in Chile, race relations, refugees, community and labour advocacy, alternative work training, and advocacy in the women's movement.
The contributors to this volume are Howard Adelman, Jinny Arancibia, Marcelo Charlin, John Cleveland, Stewart Crysdale, Harry Diaz, Don Dippo, Jacques Doyer, Peter Harries-Jones, Elspeth Heyworth, Peter Landstreet, Ronnie Leah, Stan Marshall, Gareth Morgan, Tim Rees, Metta Spencer, and Carol Tator.