"Brings together cutting-edge accounts of social movements concerned with civil and political rights, globalization, peace, the environment, migrant and factory labour, the rights of middle- and working-class women, and sexual identity in an overarching framework of analysis that forefronts the importance of human rights and the state as a focus for social activism in a region characterized by a history of authoritarian developmentalism and weak civil society"--Provided by publisher.

"The "Rhetoric of Hope" is a form of political discourse characterized by a forward-looking vision of social progress brought about by collective effort and adherence to shared values. By combining his own personal story with national mythologies, Barack Obama creates a narrative persona that embodies the moral values and cultural mythos of his implied audience"--