This revised edition of Community Organizing and Development fully examines the broad and changing political
and social settings that influence actions while portraying the infra-structure of social change -- the knowledge,
personnel, and organizations -- that enable such work to be successfully accomplished. The text brings together
the practicalities of organizing and development -- fund raising, working out news releases, running an organization,
orchestrating political actions, academic knowledge on why various approaches work, as well as the values and ideologies
that guide what is to be done and why it should be.
Community Organizing and Development presents a comprehensive, holistic introduction to the array of approaches
that guide social change, social activism, and economic and community development work. The various models of
change are illustrated through dozens of real-life contemporary illustrations. Though the text clearly distinguishes
between different theories and models of organizing and development, the text emphasizes that the approaches complement
one another in a shared effort to bring about improvement.
Community Organizing and Development builds upon these theories to illustrate practical techniques of social mobilization,
organization building, learning about social problems, and then the nitty gritty details of how problems are solved
either through confrontional actions or by through economic and social development projects. Dramatic actions
are described, successful projects portrayed as well as details on the technical skills and the behind the scenes
routines that allow actions to succeed.
Features
Broad scope of coverage--integrating direct action, social confrontational models with economic and community
development approaches
Systematically presents background explanations of the social and political problems that necessitate community
actions--and then builds on these to present two complementary approaches to bringing about social change
Examines the multitude of ways in which individuals are involved in social change work, as organizers, as social
change professionals working for support organizations, local leaders and volunteers
Provides detailed nuts and bolts examples of both how to undertake both social mobilization and social production
actions
Blends together practical advice, real world examples with back up material from academic studies
Presents material in integrated units that can be taught independently but that also build upon one another
Portrays the wide array of separate organizations, from small community groups, to national networks and advocacy
groups, that together create a base for social change work
Shows contrasts and similarities between a wide variety of models of organizing and development
Argues that these models complement one another rather than conflict with each other
Integrates academic theories, with practical knowledge and examples from real world social change actions
Illustrates how community actions respond to the changing political, administrative, policy and social environments
in which they take place
Emphasizes the importance of individual social change
Describes how empowerment, capacity, and community provide the three pillars on which organizing and economic
and social production work are based
Emphasizes the importance of understanding the framings that define what constitutes problems; how issues are
understood; and the legitimacy of the actions of social change organizations.
Emphasizes the importance of capacity building
Shows how capacity expands both through the individual efforts of activists and with the help obtained from
the support sector
Emphasizes the importance of reflexivity; that is stepping back and systematically analyzing how well the actions
taken mesh with the goals sought
Emphasize the idea of pre-configuring; that is the community organizations being set up and run in ways that
demonstrate the progressive values that underlie social change models
Continual attention paid to multi-cultural organizing--especially as the underlying demographics of the country
rapidly change