The end of apartheid did not change the basic conditions of life for the majority of oppressed South Africans. New forms of resistance have emerged in communities that have discovered a common oppression and solidarity and forged new and dynamic political identities. Ashwin Desai's book follows the growth of the most unexpected of these community movements, describing from the inside the process through which the downtrodden regain their dignity and defend the most basic conditions of life. As the Chatsworth community begins to organize and discover leaders among its ranks, so their example spreads to other communities in Durban and the KwaZulu-Natal region, and their struggles build links with those in other parts of the new South Africa.