Community organizing : fanning the flame of democracy / David Walls.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Walls, David S.

Series:

Social movements series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Community organization--United States.

Community organization.

Community activists.

Communities.

Political participation.

United States.

Community organization--United States--Case studies.

Communities--Political activity--United States.

Communities--Political activity--United States--Case studies.

Community activists--United States.

Community activists--United States--Case studies.

Community development, Urban--United States--Case studies.

Community development, Urban.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

viii, 184 pages ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, U.K. : Polity, 2015.

Summary:

This incisive book provides a critical history and analysis of community organizing, the tradition of bringing groups together to build power and forge grassroots leadership for social, economic, racial, and environmental justice. Begun by Saul Alinsky in the 1930s, this movement today nearly 200 institution-based groups active in 40 US states and is spreading internationally. David Walls charts how community organizing has transcended the neighborhood to seek power and influence at the metropolitan, state, and national levels, together with such allies as unions and human rights advocates. Some organizing networks have embraced these goals while others have been more cautious, and the growing profile of community organizing has even charged political debate. Importantly, Walls engages social movements literature to bring insights to our understanding of community organizing networks, their methods, allies and opponents, and to show how community organizing offers concepts and tools that are indispensable to a democratic strategy of social change. Community Organizing will be essential reading for advanced undergraduates and graduate students of sociology, social movements, and social work. It will also inform organizers and grassroots leaders, as well as the elected officials and others who contend with them. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction : Making change

Saul Alinsky and the industrial areas foundation

An organizing worldview

Tools of the trade

New networks innovate

Organizing and electoral politics

Alternative approaches

What's next?

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 165-178) and index.

ISBN:

9780745663203

0745663206

9780745663197

0745663192

OCLC:

894547534

Publisher Number:

99960543986