A version of the Riesz-Sobolev convolution inequality is formulated and proved for arbitrary compact connected Abelian groups. Maximizers are characterized and a quantitative stability theorem is proved, under natural hypotheses. A corresponding stability theorem for sets whose sumset has nearly minimal measure is also proved, sharpening recent results of other authors. For the special case of the group $\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z}$, a continuous deformation of sets is developed, under which an appropriately scaled Riesz-Sobolev functional is shown to be nondecreasing.