Chapter 1 provides the theoretical justification for the book and proposes a new framework for explaining what scholar Albert Hirschman calls "voice" after "exit" against authoritarian regimes.

There had always been antislavery statements in Brazil, but a social movement for abolition arose in the mid-1860s, thanks to changes in the international scene – the abolition of slavery in the United States and its acceleration in the Spanish colonies – that caused a split in imperial political parties over whether to propose a free-womb law. This context triggered the onset of anti-slavery mobilization in Brazil, as an elite based abolitionism, led by dissident members of the imperial elite. Two of them created styles of activism which were used throughout the campaign. The black entrepreneur André Rebouças started lobbying for abolition, working as a bridge between the social elite, court society, and the political system, while the educator Abílio Cesar Borges created abolitionist “civic ceremonies”, with poetic declamations, and encouraged his international abolitionist contacts to pressurize the Brazilian Emperor to be in favor of abolition.

Chapter 1 provides the theoretical justification for the book and proposes a new framework for explaining what scholar Albert Hirschman calls "voice" after "exit" against authoritarian regimes.

Garnering international support has been a strategy for many Environmental Justice (EJ) movements in the Global South. Due to the economic dependency of Southern governments on multilateral funding institutions and international trade, many Southern EJ movements utilized the “boomerang” effect (Keck & Sikkink, 1998). The process entails support by international allies in pressuring Northern governments, which in turn influence international norms and institutions, forcing the Southern domestic governments to comply. I analyze several classic Southern EJ movements which used the “boomerang” effect to better understand the operationalization. These include the Rubber Tappers’ movement in Brazil, the Narmada anti-dam movement in India, the Zapatista uprising in Mexico, and the Ogoni movement in Nigeria. The results show that not all Southern EJ movements could achieve the intended “boomerang” effect, even when they received widespread international support. Thus, internationalization is insufficient on its own, and is usually only one of the many protest strategies deployed by Southern movements. Understanding these processes provide valuable lessons on global EJ movement strategy. The Northern movements could learn from their Southern counterparts, including on how to perform better supporting roles.

Social movements fuel the sociological imagination. Fascination with intentional collective efforts to foster social change is endemic to the discipline (see Jasper, Chapter 23, this volume). Social movements that embody aspirations to defend and promote human flourishing and sustainable community life lie at the heart of this fascination. Analysis of social movements is in turn a core part of sociological theorization of the dynamics of social change. In the contemporary global political economy, analysis of social movements must include transnational social movements. When politics, production, and culture operate via global networks, social movements have no choice but to do the same. Transnational movements complement local and national movements while depending on complementarity with movements organized at other levels for their own efficacy.