Critical Legal Advocacy and Social Transformation: Toward an Integrated Framework for Developing Contexts

Abstract

Critical legal advocacy plays a pivotal role in advancing social transformation and promoting justice for marginalized communities in developing contexts. However, its transformative potential is often constrained by entrenched structural, political, and socio-cultural barriers. This scoping review explores how critical legal advocacy contributes to broader processes of social change by integrating community-based participation, cultural sensitivity, and data-informed strategies. Guided by the PRISMA-ScR protocol, a comprehensive search was conducted across Scopus, Web of Science, JSTOR, HeinOnline, and Google Scholar using the keywords “critical legal advocacy,” “developing countries,” “social transformation,” “community-based,” and “data-driven.” Twelve peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2025 met the inclusion criteria. Data extraction covered advocacy contexts, methodological approaches, socio-political challenges, and transformative outcomes. The review identifies four persistent constraints—limited resources, political interference, institutional fragility, and socio-cultural resistance—while also mapping innovative practices such as paralegal empowerment, participatory legal education, strategic litigation, and cross-sectoral partnerships. Emerging evidence demonstrates a paradigm shift toward participatory and context-sensitive advocacy models across regions including Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Synthesizing these insights, this study proposes an integrated framework that situates critical legal advocacy as both a legal and socio-cultural process of transformation, providing practical guidance for policymakers, practitioners, and scholars seeking to advance equitable and sustainable justice reform in developing societies.