Book excerpt: In modern times, political and social reform often starts at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder; common people with ordinary lives enact change through community organization and the desire to improve their own lives and the lives of those around them. Governments that support such movements can experience great advances and achievements in the long term. Cases on Grassroots Campaigns for Community Empowerment and Social Change presents a series of real-world studies on political and social activism in the information age, focusing on how empowerment of minority or underserved populations can serve to enact sweeping reforms regionally, nationally, or globally. This book is a critical resource for political and private actors, including government agencies, community organizers, political parties, and researchers in the social sciences. This reference work features research on timely topics such as women’s empowerment, poverty, social activism and social change, community building, and empowerment of individuals in a variety of socioeconomic settings and roles.