John Trimbur teaches rhetoric and writing studies at Emerson College, USA. His research interests include cultural studies of literacy, translingualism and the politics of language in South Africa.

• Introduction: Circumstances, Motives, Methods, and Theories   Chapter 1. On the Periphery: Life and Literacy in the Kuruman DistrictChapter 2. Asbestos Mining in the Written Record: A Brief HistoryChapter 3. The Emergence of Asbestos Activism: From the ‘Period of Non-Awareness’ to the National Asbestos Summit of 1998Chapter 4. Grassroots Activism and the Mobility of Documents: The Formation of the AIGChapter 5. Insurgent Lawfare and Form-Made Persons: From Asbestos Related-Disease Sufferers to PlaintiffsChapter 6. 'The Lawyer Stole the Money': The Political Economy of CompensationConclusion: Grassroots Activism, Popular Participation, and Contextual Spaces

Trimbur demonstrates the transformative power of grassroots literacy in mobilizing the poor and resisting big industries. He merges activism with analytical rigor – adopting a creative style layered with the personal, narrative, and theoretically nuanced – to leave us with a text that will inspire us for similar forms of political engagement and academic relevance.

John Trimbur teaches rhetoric and writing studies at Emerson College, USA. His research interests include cultural studies of literacy, translingualism and the politics of language in South Africa.

• Introduction: Circumstances, Motives, Methods, and Theories   Chapter 1. On the Periphery: Life and Literacy in the Kuruman DistrictChapter 2. Asbestos Mining in the Written Record: A Brief HistoryChapter 3. The Emergence of Asbestos Activism: From the ‘Period of Non-Awareness’ to the National Asbestos Summit of 1998Chapter 4. Grassroots Activism and the Mobility of Documents: The Formation of the AIGChapter 5. Insurgent Lawfare and Form-Made Persons: From Asbestos Related-Disease Sufferers to PlaintiffsChapter 6. 'The Lawyer Stole the Money': The Political Economy of CompensationConclusion: Grassroots Activism, Popular Participation, and Contextual Spaces

Trimbur demonstrates the transformative power of grassroots literacy in mobilizing the poor and resisting big industries. He merges activism with analytical rigor – adopting a creative style layered with the personal, narrative, and theoretically nuanced – to leave us with a text that will inspire us for similar forms of political engagement and academic relevance.

John Trimbur teaches rhetoric and writing studies at Emerson College, USA. His research interests include cultural studies of literacy, translingualism and the politics of language in South Africa.

• Introduction: Circumstances, Motives, Methods, and Theories   Chapter 1. On the Periphery: Life and Literacy in the Kuruman DistrictChapter 2. Asbestos Mining in the Written Record: A Brief HistoryChapter 3. The Emergence of Asbestos Activism: From the ‘Period of Non-Awareness’ to the National Asbestos Summit of 1998Chapter 4. Grassroots Activism and the Mobility of Documents: The Formation of the AIGChapter 5. Insurgent Lawfare and Form-Made Persons: From Asbestos Related-Disease Sufferers to PlaintiffsChapter 6. 'The Lawyer Stole the Money': The Political Economy of CompensationConclusion: Grassroots Activism, Popular Participation, and Contextual Spaces

Trimbur demonstrates the transformative power of grassroots literacy in mobilizing the poor and resisting big industries. He merges activism with analytical rigor – adopting a creative style layered with the personal, narrative, and theoretically nuanced – to leave us with a text that will inspire us for similar forms of political engagement and academic relevance.