Social movements and rights claims: The case of action groups in the Niger delta of Nigeria

This article examines how the various claims to, and demands for, rights have enabled and shaped the various equity and justice seeking social movements that have emerged in the Niger Delta of Nigeria, the key point being that claims to rights are fundamental of the logic and coherence of social movements. The article is divided into three sections. The first sets the conceptual and analytical frame by elaborating on the rights-social movements nexus. This is followed by a discussion of the historical and conceptual location of the Niger Delta. The rest of the article interrogates the contexts of relative deprivation, rights denial, and injustice within which social movements have emerged in the Niger Delta. A major objective is to account for why the social movements have been largely ethnic and most recently generational and to analyze the dynamics and outcomes of the rights struggles waged by the various social movements. © International Society for Third-Sector Research and The Johns Hopkins University 2008.