Robin Broad Receives Malott Prize for Recording Community Activism
The Water Defenders: How Ordinary People Saved a Country from Corporate Greed, by Robin Broad (AU SIS) and the John Cavanagh (Institute for Policy Studies), was awarded the 2021-2022 Gene E. and Adele R. Malott Prize for Recording Community Activism from The Langum Foundation.
The Malott Prize for Recording Community Activism is given biannually to the best literary depiction of an individual or small group of individuals whose efforts resulted in a significant improvement of their local community.
A tale of community organizing in the global twenty-first century, The Water Defenders describes the courageous work of activists protecting their communities in northern El Salvador. Their activism transcended the boundaries of their small, densely populated nation, bringing in groups from around the world, but they remained devoted, above all else, to preserving their community in the face of exploitation by vast corporate and banking interests.
Professor Robin Broad’s research focuses on social, environmental, and economic accountability in international development, and she established and heads the two unique professional tracks in SIS’s International Development Program: Rethinking Globalization & Development, and Environment & Development. She came to AU with a wide range of professional experiences – from international economist in the US Treasury Department and US Congress to work with civil-society organizations in the Philippines and El Salvador.
The Water Defenders was published in 2021 by Beacon Press, and was the winner of the 2021 Duke University Juan Mendez Award. The Philippine edition of the book has been short-listed for the Philippine 40th National Book Award.
Learn more about the book .