Progressive Community Organizing. Transformative Practice in a Globalizing World [3. ed.] 2020037301, 2020037302, 9780367265946, 9780367265939, 9780429294075


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Table of contents :
Cover
Endorsement
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Contents
Acknowledgments
Part I: Foundations of Community Organizing
Introduction
Introduction
Neoliberalism, Oppression, Intersectionality, and Resistance
Another World is Possible: Vision, Human Rights, and Capabilities
A Transformative Approach to Organizing
Going Forward—Overview of the Book
Conclusion
References
Chapter 1: The Bedrock of Community Organizing
Defining Community Organizing
Questions for Reflection
Suggestions for Further Inquiry
References
Chapter 2: Transformative Practice
Meaning and Organizing
Transformative Organizing
Perils of Organizing
Healing Power in Organizing: An Organizer's Path to Meaning and Success
Questions for Reflection
Suggestions for Further Inquiry
References
Chapter 3: Theories and Praxis
Marxism and the Marxist Tradition
Feminist Perspectives
Civil Society Perspectives
Anarchist Thought
Postmodern Perspectives
Praxis, Reflexivity, and Social Change Ideas
Questions for Reflection
Suggestions for Further Inquiry
References
Chapter 4: Learning From Social Movements
Understanding Social Movements
Dimensions of Social Movements
Emergence and Effectiveness of Social Movements
A Brief History of Social Movements
Reflections on Social Movements
Questions for Reflection
Suggestions for Further Inquiry
References
Chapter 5: Community Organizing Frameworks
Approaches to Community Organizing
Progressive Organizing Frameworks: A Spectrum
Alinsky and the Utilitarian Tradition
Transformative Approaches
Reflections on Progressive Organizing Frameworks
Questions for Reflection
Suggestions for Further Inquiry
References
Part II: Tools for Community Organizing
Chapter 6: Organizing People
Organizing Constituencies and Coalitions
Organizing Individuals
The Relational Meeting
Organizing as Leadership Development
Organizing in Social Services Organizations
Coalition Building
Questions for Reflection
Suggestions for Further Inquiry
References
Chapter 7: Transformative Organizations
Organizing in the Nonprofit World
Organizational Capacity Building
Questions for Reflection
Suggestions for Further Inquiry
References
Chapter 8: Communication For Social Change: Issue Framing, Storytelling, and Social Media
Issue Framing
Story-Based Strategy
Communicating Messages
Media Justice
Questions for Reflection
Suggestions for Further Inquiry
References
Chapter 9: Strategy and Power
Strategy, Power, and Allies
Emergent Strategy and Transformative Approaches
Community Assessment and Issue Identification
Questions for Reflection
Suggestions for Further Inquiry
References
Chapter 10: Tactics For Change
Negotiation, Nonviolent Communication, and Conflict Transformation
Resilience-Based Organizing
Reflections on Tactics
Questions for Reflection
Suggestions for Further Inquiry
References
Part III: Enduring and Emerging Issues in Organizing
Chapter 11: Intersectionality, Solidarity, and Liberation
Oppression and Liberation
Recentering and Allyship
Questions for Reflection
Suggestions for Further Inquiry
References
Chapter 12: Religious and Spiritual Aspects of Organizing
Faith-Based Organizing
Gandhian Nonviolent Approaches to Social Change
Jewish Theological Approaches
Engaged Buddhism
Deep Ecology and Environmental Activism
Catholic Social Justice Perspectives
Faith-Rooted Organizing
Toward Interspiritual Solidarity
Questions for Reflection
Suggestions for Further Inquiry
References
Chapter 13: Global Justice Amidst Climate Crisis
Effects of Economic Globalization on People and Planet
Contemporary Global Justice Organizing
Land-Based, Localization, and Regenerative Movements
Transnational Organizing
Multilingual Capacity Building
Reflecting on Global Justice Organizing
Transformative Organizing in Times of Crisis
Questions for Reflection
Suggestions for Further Inquiry
References
Index
Recommend Papers

Progressive Community Organizing. Transformative Practice in a Globalizing World [3. ed.]
 2020037301, 2020037302, 9780367265946, 9780367265939, 9780429294075

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“This edition of Progressive Community Organizing is far-ranging and timely. In a world of unprecedented and sustained social upheaval, Pyles provides necessary history, theory, practical wisdom, and case studies. This moment for climate, health, racial, and housing organizing represents the convergence of many organizing traditions. For a nuanced overview of a range of organizing traditions in the pursuit of justice, this book is definitive. It takes many hands to bend the moral arc of justice. After reading this book, you will add yours.” Alethia Jones, PhD, Director, Open Society Foundations, USA “… As countries and communities grapple with global pandemics and other public health crises, eco­ nomic loss and rampant inequality, state brutality against people of color and everyday racial microaggressions, there is a critical need for strategic frameworks that offer sound tactics and authentic processes. The [book offers] a comprehensive and holistic framework that encompasses recruitment, consensus building, leadership development, issue framing, communication, power analyses, and more … Pyles deftly addresses the challenges of working cross-culturally and becoming authentic allies, and demands that each of us immerse ourselves in critically self-reflective work in order to engage in liberatory praxis. She guides us in what is necessary to transform our communities and in the process, transform ourselves.” Cheryl A. Hyde, PhD, MSW, Temple University School of Social Work, USA “In this latest edition of Progressive Community Organizing, Pyles expands and develops further her vision and model for a transformative approach to practice that addresses human rights and social justice. She carefully and clearly integrates a strong theoretical perspective with the tools for social change and action. This method integrates internal and individual healing and change with methods to build community and organizational change. It is a call to action for creating a more sustainable, just, and compassionate world.” Lorraine M. Gutiérrez, PhD, Associate Dean for Educational Programs, Professor of Social Work, and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan School of Social Work, USA

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Progressive Community Organizing

Now in its third edition, Progressive Community Organizing: Transformative Practice in a Globalizing World introduces readers to the rich practice of progressive community organizing for social change while also providing concrete tools geared toward practitioner skill building. Drawing from social movement scholarship and social theory, this book articulates a transformative approach to organizing that embraces emergent strategies and healing justice. It emphasizes framing processes and the power of stories using story-based strategy and digital activism. Embracing inter­ sectional organizing, the book addresses topics such as identity politics, microaggressions, internal­ ized oppression, and horizontal hostility with attention to recentering and allyship as a growth-oriented journey of solidarity and liberation. Readers will engage with case studies focused on issues such as poverty, racial justice, immigration, housing, health and mental health, and climate crisis. This new edition includes: Expanded content on transformative change approaches including healing justice New content on the role of digital technology and social media in organizing Case studies of the Poor People's Campaign and Extinction Rebellion Emphasis on the power of stories and story-based strategy for organizing and issue framing Transformative organizations with attention to feminist and decolonized organizational structures and cultures ■ Expanded chapters on strategies and tactics focusing on power analysis and a range of tactics from direct action to resilience-based organizing ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

The book will be of interest to students and practitioners who want to become more skilled in structural analysis, praxis, and self-reflexivity through critical and transformative engagement with historical and current social problems, social movements, and social welfare. Loretta Pyles, PhD, is Professor at the School of Social Welfare at the University at Albany, State University of New York, USA. Her work focuses on environmental disasters, community organizing, and body-mind-spirit social work practice.

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Progressive Community Organizing Transformative Practice in a Globalizing World THIRD EDITION

Loretta Pyles

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Third edition published 2021 by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 Loretta Pyles The right of Loretta Pyles to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. First edition published by Routledge 2009 Second edition published by Routledge 2014 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Pyles, Loretta, author. Title: Progressive community organizing: transformative practice in a globalizing world/Loretta Pyles. Description:Third edition. | New York, NY: Routledge, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2020037301 (print) | LCCN 2020037302 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367265946 (paperback) | ISBN 9780367265939 (hardback) | ISBN 9780429294075 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Community organization. | Social action. Classification: LCC HM766 .P95 2021 (print) | LCC HM766 (ebook) | DDC 361.8–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020037301 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020037302 ISBN: 978-0-367-26593-9 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-26594-6 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-29407-5 (ebk) Typeset in Perpetua and Bell Gothic by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.

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Dedicated to Breonna Taylor

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Part I

xiii

Foundations of Community Organizing

1

Introduction Introduction Neoliberalism, Oppression, Intersectionality, and Resistance Another World is Possible: Vision, Human Rights, and Capabilities A Transformative Approach to Organizing Going Forward—Overview of the Book Conclusion References

3 3

5

7

10

11

12

13

1 The Bedrock of Community Organizing Defining Community Organizing Questions for Reflection Suggestions for Further Inquiry References

17 21

28

29

29

2 Transformative Practice Meaning and Organizing Transformative Organizing Perils of Organizing Healing Power in Organizing: An Organizer's Path to Meaning and Success Questions for Reflection Suggestions for Further Inquiry References

33 33

36

40

46

52

52

53

3 Theories and Praxis Marxism and the Marxist Tradition Feminist Perspectives

57 58

62

ix

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CONTENTS Civil Society Perspectives Anarchist Thought Postmodern Perspectives Praxis, Reflexivity, and Social Change Ideas Questions for Reflection Suggestions for Further Inquiry References

65

70

73

76

78

78

79

4 Learning from Social Movements Understanding Social Movements Dimensions of Social Movements Emergence and Effectiveness of Social Movements A Brief History of Social Movements Reflections on Social Movements Questions for Reflection Suggestions for Further Inquiry References

85 87

88

89

92

106

107

108

108

5 Community Organizing Frameworks Approaches to Community Organizing Progressive Organizing Frameworks: A Spectrum Alinsky and the Utilitarian Tradition Transformative Approaches Reflections on Progressive Organizing Frameworks Questions for Reflection Suggestions for Further Inquiry References

113 113

117

119

123

134

136

136

137

Part II tools for Community Organizing

141

6 Organizing People Organizing Constituencies and Coalitions Organizing Individuals The Relational Meeting Organizing as Leadership Development Organizing in Social Services Organizations Coalition Building Questions for Reflection Suggestions for Further Inquiry References

143 143

150

151

152

153

155

161

161

162

7 Transformative Organizations Organizing in the Nonprofit World Organizational Capacity Building Questions for Reflection Suggestions for Further Inquiry References

165 166

168

185

185

186

x

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CONTENTS 8 Communication for Social Change: Issue Framing, Storytelling, and Social Media Issue Framing Story-Based Strategy Communicating Messages Media Justice Questions for Reflection Suggestions for Further Inquiry References

191 192

196

198

204

208

209

209

9 Strategy and Power Strategy, Power, and Allies Emergent Strategy and Transformative Approaches Community Assessment and Issue Identification Questions for Reflection Suggestions for Further Inquiry References

213 214

219

221

230

230

231

10 Tactics for Change Negotiation, Nonviolent Communication, and Conflict Transformation Resilience-Based Organizing Reflections on Tactics Questions for Reflection Suggestions for Further Inquiry References

Part III

Enduring and Emerging Issues in Organizing

235 236

242

246

249

249

250

253

11 Intersectionality, Solidarity, and Liberation Oppression and Liberation Recentering and Allyship Questions for Reflection Suggestions for Further Inquiry References

255 256

260

271

272

272

12 Religious and Spiritual Aspects of Organizing Faith-Based Organizing Gandhian Nonviolent Approaches to Social Change Jewish Theological Approaches Engaged Buddhism Deep Ecology and Environmental Activism Catholic Social Justice Perspectives Faith-Rooted Organizing Toward Interspiritual Solidarity Questions for Reflection Suggestions for Further Inquiry References

277 278

281

282

284

286

287

288

289

291

291

292

xi

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CONTENTS 13 Global Justice Amidst Climate Crisis Effects of Economic Globalization on People and Planet Contemporary Global Justice Organizing Land-Based, Localization, and Regenerative Movements Transnational Organizing Multilingual Capacity Building Reflecting on Global Justice Organizing Transformative Organizing in Times of Crisis Questions for Reflection Suggestions for Further Inquiry References

295 296

297

299

302

304

306

306

309

310

310

Index

313

xii

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Acknowledgments

It has taken me a long time to write this 3rd edition. When I started in early 2019, I found myself processing what had happened since the writing of the 2nd edition back in 2013 —Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Eric Garner had been killed (to name a few), triggering the #BlackLivesMatter movement; Donald Trump was elected president; the #MeToo movement re-emerged; and so much more. But, in early 2020, still writing and finally making some meaning of it all, the world is hit by COVID-19 and suddenly I'm trying to make sense of the pandemic. How would these blatant health disparities play out? What would social isolation mean for organizing? And then, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor; more Black people killed. Out of the pressure cooker of a pandemic and lifetimes of injustice, people take to the streets. The realities of militarized police brutality are laid bare. Black Lives Matter starts to finally penetrate public consciousness. The fight continues. We must move forward. This book is my offering. Special thanks to Erin Gardner and Sreyashi Chakravarty for their support with accessing and managing references. Thank you to the staff at Routledge for their guidance and hard work in this process. I would like to thank my supportive colleagues and friends who are there for me, listening, cheering me on, teaching me, and helping me to grow—Angie, Meika, Barbara, Salome, Heather, Lani, Karen, Shanna, Liz, Beth, and Jude. And my dear family—Rachel, Aaron, Silvio, Seth, Yianna, Dora, and Lissy; and Mom, Skip and Angie. Thank you all for the love, support, and encouragement. And my dear love, Ted, thanks for being my true north, and for putting up with me. I am truly blessed.

xiii

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Part I Foundations of Community Organizing

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Introduction INTRODUCTION When the U.S. Presidential election of November 2016 was won by a real estate mogul-turned­ reality TV star who promised to “make America great again,” there was shock, confusion, fear, and anger among many people. Despite these strong feelings, or perhaps because of them, activists came together to resist the messages of the campaign and to attenuate the forthcoming policies that the country inevitably would be facing. Concerns included xenophobia, racism, and hostile immigration and policing policies; misogynistic rhetoric, gender-based violence, and regressive policies for women; tax reform that would continue to favor the rich and abandon the middle class, working class, and poor; and environmental policies that would roll back existing protec­ tions and quicken climate change. These concerns set off a resistance movement (#Resist) that included various forms of direct action and organizing. One of the first momentous occasions of the resistance came in the form of the January 2017 Women’s March. It was one of the largest marches in U.S. history, bringing together over 200,000 people in Washington, D.C. and some­ where between 3 and 5 million people in other locations across the United States (2017 Women’s March, Wikipedia, 2017). Some 10 days later, the President issued Executive Order 13769, titled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States, known commonly as the Muslim Ban. This resulted in detainments and the revocation of visas, especially from those people from tradition­ ally Muslim countries; legal residents found themselves detained at airports for indefinite periods of time. One response from organizers and activists was to hold direct actions in airports. Holding signs that said, “all are welcome here,” “nation of immigrants,” and “child of refugee,” protestors sought to push back on this form of anti-immigration policy. Legal advocates pursued court action and the courts ruled that the executive orders (including later iterations of the original ban) were unconstitutional and an abuse of Presidential power, though one iteration still remains in place pending further legal action (National Immigration Law Center, 2019). Around the same period of time (June 2016), the British people voted to leave the European Union. Known as Brexit, the referendum can be explained by pointing to two key trends. One was the increased use of U.S.-style austerity measures implemented by Prime Ministers David Cameron and Theresa May, which slashed social welfare supports creating a sense of scarcity and diminished material conditions and well-being for the British people (Penny, 2019). The second was a rise in anti-immigration sentiment that had been sweeping across Europe in the face of a refugee crisis and austerity. Such anti-immigration rhetoric often takes the form of: “they’re taking our resources!” “they’re taking our jobs!” barely masking underlying sentiments of racism and xenophobia. As of this writing, the future of Brexit is unknown, but what is clear is that it is part of a global trend that has been building for decades.

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FOUNDATIONS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING

Scholars and journalists have argued that there is a resurgence of nationalism, right-wing pop­ ulism, and fascism sweeping the globe today (Giroux, 2017). According to Cornell and Seely (2016): “Trump’s entire movement is rooted in an ethnic, racial, and linguistic nationalism that sanctions and glorifies violence against designated enemies and outsiders, is animated by a myth of decline and nostalgic renewal, and centered on a masculine cult of personality.” Populism, which can be left-wing or right-wing, has been defined as “a strategic approach that frames politics as a battle between the virtuous, “ordinary” masses and nefarious or corrupt elite” (Rice-Oxley & Kalia, 2018). In recent years, such trends have been taking place in France, Hungary, Poland, Italy, and Turkey, to name a few. At the same time, progressive activists have continued to push for the needs of poor, low-income, and working class people as in the case of the Poor People’s Campaign in the U.S., the safety and rights of women as expressed in the global #MeToo move­ ment, and the well-being and dignity of African Americans in the #BlackLivesMatter movement. The current mobilization around climate change activism that started in the U.K., known as the Extinction Rebellion, seeks to mobilize immediate policy change and action with the basic goal of preserving the human race. If viewed with a critical mind, nationalist, fascist, and neoimperialist trends can help community organizers bring the intersections of economic, gender, racial, and earth (in)justice into clearer focus. Regardless of the time period or circumstances, community organizing, community building, and activism require some combination of the following activities: gathering information, iden­ tifying grievances, bringing aggrieved people and their allies together, reframing issues, building on community strengths, developing leadership, disrupting the status quo, confronting those in power who have the ability to make decisions, and creatively building and healing communities through mutual aid and resilience building. Scholars have noted that in order to address injustice and engage in community organizing, citizens must feel that their way of life is being threatened (Kieffer, 1984) it is often a galvanizing event that serves to marshal together diverse individuals and groups. In 2016, in the U.S., the election was one such galvanizing event. The shootings of Trayvon Martin in Florida, Michael Brown in Ferguson, and Eric Garner in New York electrified the movement for Black lives. After the shootings of George Floyd and Breona Taylor, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, #BlackLivesMatter was regalvanized. When construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline was approved and set to be built under the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and part of Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, tribe members, who viewed the construction as a threat to clean water and burial grounds, set up a camp in protest, triggering the #NODAPL Standing Rock protests. And yet, community organizing does not always happen in the context of an event as highly publicized as an election or environmental disaster or pandemic. Most injustices happen without media coverage; they are not in full view for the world to see on television or social media, even though we are seeing more injustice in full view today than we have ever been able to in human history due to the power and scope of digital technology. Most organizing is happening at the institutional, neighborhood, and community levels in response to everyday realities of gentrifica­ tion, environmental racism, mass incarceration, and school violence. Or, at the state level, as organizers and advocates work to address issues, such as minimum wage, health care, and elec­ tion reform. Moreover, most injustice is masked by a narrative that describes it otherwise. Consider the welfare discourse in the early years following the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Oppor­ tunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), known as welfare reform, which reduced the amount of

4

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IntrOduCtIOn

time a person could receive public benefits and emphasized a “work first” philosophy (Kilty & Segal, 2003). Many politicians and media stated that welfare reform had been a success. The wel­ fare rolls had been reduced by half, but many people knew another side to the story, particularly the people who were in need of public benefits and were living the reality of poverty in the United States. Some scholars and activists understood that many of the individuals receiving public ben­ efits had no choice but to work minimum wage jobs and had little prospects for increasing their chances of making more money (Cancian, 2001). If the goal of welfare reform had been to reduce the rolls, then indeed maybe it was a success, but one had to ask whether it was even the right goal in the first place: What about living-wage employment opportunities? What about adequate food, health care, child care, education, and housing? (Jones–DeWeever, 2006; Taliaferro, 2005). Who were the real beneficiaries of welfare reform? It is in the asking of such questions that the work of progressive community organizers really begins. NEOLIBERALISM, OPPRESSION, INTERSECTIONALITY, AND RESISTANCE As noted, the rise of public welfare retrenchment, nationalism, and regressive policymaking has not just been happening in the United States. It is part of a larger global trend transpiring in the context of neoliberal capitalism1, in the backdraft of the 2008 recession, and amidst increasing levels of austerity measures across the globe, and now in the context of a pandemic and another economic recession. For many people, including some who support the idea of “making America great again,” global capitalism has failed the majority as jobs are outsourced and disparity grows. According to Joseph Stiglitz, “Since 1978, CEO pay has grown by 937 percent and the pay of an average worker grew by just 11.2 percent” (Goodman, Gonzalez, & Stiglitz, 2019). The mid-1970s in the United States denote the beginning of neoliberalism and the retrench­ ment of social welfare services, laying the foundation for comprehensive welfare reform (Mink, 1999; Quadagno, 1996). This new federalism was marked by an emphasis on devolution and pri­ vatization (Karger & Stoesz, 2017). Responsibility for social welfare provision was placed in the hands of states and local entities and, ultimately, in the hands of private contractors. Faith-based service providers, social service organizations, and informal citizen networks, i.e. civil society, have attempted to pick up the pieces and coordinate the human welfare needs of citizens with minimal assistance from the government. The idea of “cradle to grave” support for citizens, if it were ever achieved, has become more elusive than ever. These policies evolved from a neoliberal philosophy of the political economy that emphasizes trickle-down economics, free-market capitalism, and social Darwinism (Karger & Stoesz, 2017). This philosophy is based on a “liberal” approach to the flows of capital, unrestricted by govern­ mental interventions. According to Giroux (2005), this neoliberalism “wages an incessant attack on democracy, public goods, and noncommodified values” (p. 2). During the 1980s and 1990s, these neoliberal free markets were ever-expanding into global venues. This globalization has been referred to as the most significant restructuring of political and economic arrangements since the Industrial Revolution (Mander, 2001). The term globalization is a complex and loaded term, and for some, it may refer to the increasing degrees of interconnectedness across the world in terms of transportation, communication, and culture. For others, it is a distinctively economic term refer­ ring to crossnational economic transactions between corporations and governments (Streeten, 2001), which has been marked by tremendous economic growth benefitting the few.

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FOUNDATIONS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING

Multinational and other corporations from the global North, that is, “developed countries,” have for some time been expanding into new territories, or markets, in the “developing” global South. Unfortunately, as these corporations open factories in places, such as Mexico, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Turkey, it often happens without attention to living wages, quality of life of vul­ nerable citizens and families, or the well-being of the planet. Disparity grows in these countries reinforcing the status of the elite minority as poverty accelerates for the majority. Free-trade policies and structural adjustment programs have continued to defy attempts to protect work­ ers’ wages and conditions worldwide. Studies have shown that such policies have had deleterious consequences for the environment and the quality of life of workers, mothers, children, and poor people throughout the world (Kentikelenis, Stubbs, & Thomson, 2017; Lechner & Boli, 2004). Incessant growth means extractivism of natural resources from the environment and the reporting of increasing profits resulting in jobless growth. But economics is never the whole story about the human condition. Indeed, neoliberalism needs other forms of oppression, such as racism and heteropatriarchy to function. Certainly, peo­ ple’s experiences of the economy are mediated by their location in the social structure, such as their race/ethnicity, gender, ability, sexual orientation, immigration status, etc. bell hooks (2016) has used the term “imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy” to help clarify how oppression is structured and interlocking. Oppression occurs when power is used to silence, marginalize, or subordinate individuals or groups of individuals either directly or via social systems, such as economic, educational, or social welfare systems. It is a socially constructed set of arrangements wherein a dominant group “others” another group deemed to be of lower status (Dominelli, 2002). People acquiesce to domination when society leads them to believe in the naturalness of the systemic arrangements of oppression (Kaufman, 2003), the idea that the Italian Marxist thinker Antonio Gramsci called hegemony (Morton, 2007). This kind of dehumanization is a social construction embedded in the dominant economic system and dependent on daily reinforcement in the media, the workplace, and educational and social welfare institutions. In this introductory chapter, I discuss the ways that globalization and neoliberal economic philosophies, policies, and practices have come to exacer­ bate social disparity and human suffering in recent decades. Further, I discuss how oppressions are interlocking and that some people stand at the intersections of multiple oppressions, such as ability, class, gender, race/ethnicity, and immigration status. Thinking about oppression brings forth an opportunity to think about power—where it’s located, the nature of power, and poten­ tial targets who represent that power. Such ideas will be developed later in the book as it moves toward thinking about action planning. Dominant groups benefit from systematic marginalization of subordinated groups whether they believe in the system or not because it is so deeply ingrained in individual and public conscious­ ness and in policies and practices (Ledwith, 2016). Thus, liberation from such oppression requires a kind of unravelling or dismantling of such narratives and practices. Breaking through belief systems is crucial to the practice of liberation and empowerment. In Chapter 2, I will discuss in more detail about the ways that a transformative approach to organizing can take us more deeply into the work of transforming consciousness and in Chapter 3, the concept of liberation will be illuminated within the context of historical and current social movements. Throughout this book, the term intersectionality (Crenshaw, 2018; Taylor, 2017) will be used to point to the ways that multiple marginalized identities can exacerbate people’s social exclusion from resources and opportunities. Important discussions about intersectionality were held around the time of the Women’s March and one study of 20 young Black female march participants

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revealed their perceptions that the march reinforced the primacy of white feminism focusing more on Trump and “pussy hats” than on issues deemed more pressing to marginalized communi­ ties (Brewer & Dundes, 2018). Any social change agenda must embrace inclusivity in terms of analysis, process, and action. Thus, intersectionality is a term that can help guide a transformative approach to organizing in a globalizing world. French philosopher Michel Foucault wrote: “Where there is power, there is resistance” (1990, p. 95). Just like after the election, there has been resistance to these seemingly insurmountable global and local forces for the past several decades. In the Fall of 2011, after the big banks were bailed out shortly after the 2008 recession, a group of activists began occupying Wall Street and camping in Zuccotti Park in New York City in protest of economic injustice. The Occupy move­ ment, inspired by the Arab Spring, that spread throughout the United States and beyond is only one example of such resistance. For many, the Seattle protests of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1999 signified the great strength and resistance of the global justice movement. Union workers, environmentalists, and social change activists from all over the world came together to resist these policies using a diverse range of tactics (Katsiaficas, 2004; Klein, 2002). In countries throughout the world, people are living in a system of privatized or no services where corporate greed and irresponsibility are rewarded. People struggle daily to achieve afford­ able housing, access to clean water, community mental health, reproductive justice, and other basic human needs. To be sure, it is women, people of color, immigrants, queer people, and people with disabilities, who experience this social exclusion most heavily. Activists throughout the world look to grassroots and indigenous struggles in Latin America, Asia, and Africa for inspiration and guidance about how to resist policies and practices that are negatively affecting human rights. For example, after a major economic collapse in Argentina in 2001, multina­ tional corporations pulled out of the country—literally overnight—boarding up workplaces and leaving workers without jobs. Workers took action and organized themselves, occupying the factories and winning the right to form cooperatives and keep the factories going. This National Movement of Recovered Factories showed the world how the power of regular people working together can resist globalization and create an alternative model of business where workers can earn equitable wages, eliminating a boss who is paid a grossly disproportionate wage compared to workers. ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE: VISION, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND CAPABILITIES It can be difficult to see the forest for the trees, to be able to garner a vision for change when everything can seem to be falling apart right in front of our eyes, when social justice seems out of reach. This has not been truer in the context of the police brutality, uprisings, and militaristic style confrontations in U.S. cities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. But, community organizers must continue to ask themselves and each other—what kind of world are we trying to create? What are we fighting for? Although organizers are often clear about what they are “against”—poverty, oppression, violence—it may not always be clear as to what they are “for,” let alone how to get there. In 2001, the first World Social Forum was held in Brazil based on the Latin American prac­ tice of encuentro, a meeting, or encounter, wherein changemakers come together in solidarity to envision their movements and share ideas. Emerging out of resistance to neoliberal policies, the World Social Forum embraces the idea that “another world is possible.” Without such a vision, it

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is hard to know where we are going. As Yogi Berra said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” Appealing to normative ethics and laying the moral groundwork can answer weighty ques­ tions about how the world “ought” to be. Such a framework can guide progressive organiz­ ers with a grounding and vision for their endeavors. It is clear that creating a universal ethical conceptual framework is fraught with philosophical problems. Indeed, it is certainly brazen to claim to know what all people need everywhere, or how arrangements in the social world ought to be for everyone. Human societies are diverse in terms of culture, values, geography, and political systems, as are individuals within societies. Ideally, communities should be able to come together using participatory processes to determine their own needs and visions for the future without that being dictated by those with more power. Nonetheless, in a world where there is such incredible marginalization and disparity, it seems reasonable to formulate a baseline of what is fundamentally necessary for any human to live well and to have choices. In essence, articu­ lating a normative ethical framework is a necessary condition for acting in a world plagued by serious social problems. A significant amount of social justice organizing in the U.S. grounds its normative ethical view in the values and rhetoric of the U.S. civil rights movement. Such approaches seek to ensure the physical safety and integrity of citizens, protect them from discrimination on the grounds of gender, ability, race, religion, national origin, age, and sexual orientation, and affirm political rights (Civil Rights Act, 1964). Other organizers draw from similar rights-based values and language, but instead draw from a more global language of human rights (Ife, 2012). Human rights are considered the universal and inalienable privileges afforded to people to actu­ alize their humanity regardless of race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ability, and so on. Human rights language can be employed as a rhetorical and legal strategy by people organizing in communities, such as the “right to peaceful assembly” or the “right to housing.” Human rights are also codified in such important documents as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and various aspects of international law, including international conventions. Many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in global settings embrace human rights-based approaches as well as U.S.-based organizations, such as the National Eco­ nomic and Social Rights Initiative. Amartya Sen (1999) and Martha Nussbaum (2000, 2011) have grappled with this complex moral terrain through their thinking about global economic and social development. They have developed an approach known as the capabilities (or capability) approach. The view is premised on the idea that all human beings should have the opportunity to live in societies that allow them to achieve their full human functioning. Key to such a view is that society should provide the conditions necessary to allow people “to do” and “to be.” Development of human society goes far beyond improving economic and material conditions; indeed, it means creating democratic con­ ditions that allow people to experience and express their freedoms individually and collectively. The United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) was created to measure development in countries across the globe and was conceptually informed by the capabilities approach. The HDI is concerned not only with income or assets but also with education, political freedoms, and the like. Freedom is a core value of the capabilities approach; however, to be sure, humans are always free not to pursue their full human functioning, but the opportunities should be there. Amartya Sen (1999) has proposed that there are five basic instrumental freedoms that are nec­ essary to facilitate human development. They are political freedoms, economic facilities, social opportunities, transparency guarantees, and protective security. These are the kinds of freedoms

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nussbaum’s (2011) 10 Central Human Functioning Capabilities

Capability/Description 1. Life—Being able to live a human life of normal length; not dying prematurely 2. Bodily Health—Being able to have good health, nourishment, and shelter 3. Bodily Integrity—Being able to move freely and to be secure against assault; being able to have opportunities for sexual satisfaction and to have a choice in reproductive health 4. Senses, Imagination, and thought—Being able to use one’s mind and senses in matters of expression both politically and artistically 5. Emotions—Being able to be attached to and love others; not having one’s emotional

development thwarted by fear and anxiety

6. Practical reason—Being able to conceive of what is of most value and to critically

reflect and plan for one’s life

7. Affiliation—Being able to live with others and engage in social interaction and to have the social bases of dignity and to be free of humiliation and discrimination 8. Other Species—Being able to live in and be concerned about animals, plants, and the

world of nature.

9. Play—Being able to laugh, play, and recreate. 10. Control over one’s environment—Being able to participate politically and have free speech protections; being able to hold property, seek employment on an equal basis with others

that organizers advocate for—welfare benefits, accountability of politicians and CEOs, and a host of political rights. If these basic democratic facilities are not in place, then humans are not able to pursue their desires, and, hence, they cannot flourish. Table 0.1 articulates 10 central capabilities that Nussbaum (2011) asserts are necessary and interconnected conditions for achieving full human functioning. Whereas some of the capabilities focus on specific material outcomes, such as health, shelter, and safety, others affirm the impor­ tance of groups of individuals coming together to connect with one another and reflect on and advocate for the kinds of communities that they envision. The capabilities approach has been employed by some scholars to think about poverty (Baner­ jee & Canda, 2012), violence (Pyles, 2008), disasters (Gardoni & Murphy, 2010), participatory methods (Frediani, 2006), and other social issues and practices. Although organizers have not often employed this approach explicitly in U.S. contexts, it can be a compelling lens through which progressive organizers consider and articulate for what they are organizing. The capabilities approach is arguably commensurate with the kind of world that Occupy organ­ izers were working for, in terms of the specific substantive issues as well as the emphasis on human freedom and the birthright of all individuals to pursue such freedoms regardless of country of origin or any other individual characteristics. The Center for Popular Economics (2014) produced a resource for Occupy activists that articulates a vision of a dignified society, advocating for the reforms listed in Table 0.2. As with Amartya Sen’s value around transparency guarantees (the kinds of activities that pro­ mote transparent democratic processes), Occupy activists articulated ways to hold elites account­ able. Furthermore, one can notice that the needs of the 99% are commensurate with the kinds of capabilities that Nussbaum has articulated. Throughout the text, I connect various aspects of social justice values and community organizing practice to both human rights and these central human

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Visions of the Occupy Movement

Meet the needs of the 99% Achieve full employment for all Maintain a standard of living that affirms human dignity Eliminate discriminatory barriers that prevent the full participation of all Provide decent medical care for all Preserve fresh air, clean water, safe food, and the planet itself Establish a first-class education for all Limit the power of the 1% Make the rich pay their fair share in taxes Make those who caused the financial crisis pay for it Support the right of workers to organize unions Stop companies from shipping jobs abroad Promote democracy Get corporate money out of politics Eliminate barriers to voting Encourage economic democracy as well as political democracy

capabilities. To be sure, the question—what are we fighting for?—must be countered by the equally important question—how are we “fighting” for it? The idea of transformative organizing offers a framework and pathway for addressing this question more deeply. A TRANSFORMATIVE APPROACH TO ORGANIZING While technology may give people a sense that the world is shrinking—connecting, sharing infor­ mation and opinions efficiently, and networking—it is not necessarily the case that this is coupled with a felt sense of belonging (Block, 2018). Grace Lee Boggs (2012) wrote: We urgently need to bring to our communities the limitless capacity to love, serve, and create for and with each other.We urgently need to bring the neighbor back into our hoods, not only in our inner cities but also in our suburbs, our gated communities, on Main Street and Wall Street, and on Ivy League campuses. Social media and other forms of technology do “not create the connection from which we can become grounded and experience the sense of safety that arises from a place where we are emo­ tionally, spiritually, and psychologically a member” (Block, 2009, pp. 1–2). Indeed, many peo­ ple are experiencing a pervasive sense of fragmentation within themselves, within and between communities, across political divides, and between countries. Moreover, loneliness has been viewed as a significant public health issue, resulting in risk for disease and lower life expectan­ cies (Cacioppo & Patrick, 2008). Thus, a central intention of this book is not just to teach the utilitarian technology of creating social change, but for readers to reflect on how humanity might reweave the tattered threads of our social fabric, at the same time that we endeavor to heal our­ selves.To be sure, such a project is essential to the survival of the human species. Author and poet Mark Nepo (2018) has noted that media and society have become addicted to the narrative of things “falling apart” which blinds us to the realities of people “coming together.” And while it is important to understand injustice in all its manifestations, this book seeks to emphasize the cooperation, solidarity, and challenges involved when people come together. A

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transformative approach to organizing makes a virtue of this coming together emphasizing that it is in the coming together that we begin to heal ourselves and each other from the tyrannies of patriarchy, individualism, authoritarianism, and white supremacy. Some approaches to organizing and change work have solely focused on changing policies and changing the real material conditions of people’s lives. And this is essential. But, transformative organizing rests in the tradition of liberatory social movements. Rather than seeking to adapt to the current system, liberatory movements seek to transform the system into something else— another world is possible. This means that organizers move beyond single-issue movements and connect the dots between issues, such as mass incarceration and police brutality, on one hand, and assaults on the welfare state, the environment, and women, on the other. Because “imperialist, white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchy” impacts our institutions, interpersonal functioning, and our own personal well-being there is internal and process-oriented work to be done. There must be both “a change of consciousness and structural change” (Giroux, 2017). While organizing in the past focused only on external change, transformative organizing seeks to do the work of internal change as well. This work, known also by the name “healing justice,” attends to internalized oppression, transhistorical trauma, the whole selves of organizers, and seeks to dismantle the culture of domination which impacts our ability to be in authentic and lov­ ing relationships with others. In discussing the “illness” of white supremacy, activist and medita­ tion teacher, Reverend Angel Kyodo Williams (2019) writes: I want no part of any illness that renders people unable to see the beauty of all of our differences, the beauty of my own mixed racedness, blackness, queerness, all of the things I am. I want no part of an illness that renders me unable to connect to love.That is not a privilege. So, we have to begin by recognizing that the construct of white supremacy is an illness. I don’t wish it on anyone—not on myself, and not on you.We have all been told a lie, and our work—particularly for those of us who say we identify with this path of liberation—is to free ourselves of that lie, to get in there and observe that construct and the ways in which it limits us from our full potential. And so, transformative organizing also recognizes that systems of oppression affect everyone nega­ tively even though some people reap more rewards from the system. There is work to be done to attend to internalized oppression and the recycling of trauma that can transpire in organizations and social movement spaces. It is only when organizers do this sometimes-unpleasant internal work of attending to discomfort, conflict, and confusion, that they can be successful in their external work for change. Solidarity is only possible when groups are capable of working together across positionalities and differences. GOING FORWARD—OVERVIEW OF THE BOOK The first section of this book will focus on the foundations of community organizing. In Chapter 1, I focus on defining community and community organizing taking an inclusive approach to organizing but also differentiating it from other types of interventions, such as social services and advocacy. In Chapter 2, I introduce transformative practice as a way of changing and healing the historical, intergenerational, and intersectional traumas and injuries caused by oppressive social systems, through social action, participatory processes, and healing justice. Chapter 3 brings attention to the syner­ gies between social action and theory identifying praxis as a habit of reflection, action, and theory building that emerges out of cycles of engagement in community and collective deliberation.

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I introduce and analyze five major schools of thought relevant to progressive and transformative social change work—Marxist traditions, feminist theories, civil society perspectives, anarchism, and postmodern perspectives. Chapter 4 begins by discussing key debates around the emergence and effectiveness of social movements, such as resource mobilization theory, the radical flank effect, and political opportunity structures. I then present five historical social movements—civil rights, women’s, labor, LGBTQ, and disability rights. I conclude the first section of the book, Chapter 5, by discussing the major community organizing frameworks including the reformoriented utilitarian approach and the revolutionary-oriented transformative approach highlighting key actors and thinkers, such as Saul Alinsky, Myles Horton, and Paulo Freire, as well as essential contributions from feminist organizing traditions. Part two of the book focuses on the essential tools of organizing with Chapter 6 beginning with attention on organizing individuals and building coalitions, accentuating empowerment, accountability, relationship, and transformation. Chapter 7 concentrates on transformative organizations drawing from feminist and other decolonizing approaches to organizations. The chapter considers several key domains of organizational life, such as transformative leadership models, consensus-decision making, progressive fundraising, and evaluation. Chapter 8 focuses on the power of stories and communication in organizing discussing story-based strategy, issue framing, social media, and media justice. In addition to digital activism, the chapter also empha­ sizes communication and messaging through the arts, in the streets, and as cultural organizing, and concludes with a case study focused on the contemporary Poor People’s Campaign. Chapter 9 introduces power analysis and strategy in organizing; at the same time, it problematizes the militaristic terms—strategy, tactics, and campaign—offering transformative and emergent approaches. I introduce strategic planning, the spectrum of allies graphic, the power cube, and various forms of community assessment. The final chapter in this section, Chapter 10, attends to a diversity of tactics including negotiation and conflict transformation, direct action, resiliencebased organizing, and cultural organizing. The final section of the book, Enduring and Emergent Issues in Organizing, begins with Chapter 11 and extends the conversation on intersectionality and identity politics, addressing topics, such as microagressions, internalized oppression, and horizontal hostility with attention to recentering and allyship as growth-oriented journeys of solidarity and liberation. Chapter 12 explores spiritual and religious aspects of organizing centering on faith-based and faith-rooted organizing and giving attention to five different religious/spiritual traditions in change work including Hindu Gandhian, Deep Ecology, Jewish theological perspectives, Engaged Buddhism, and Catholic social justice perspectives. In the final chapter of the book, Chapter 13, I explore further the harm that neoliberal globalization (globalization from above) has caused people and planet while highlighting the resistance of global justice movements (globalization from below). The chapter focuses on land-based organizing and transnational labor organizing and concludes with a case study of the global social movement to confront the climate crisis known as Extinc­ tion Rebellion. CONCLUSION “We are the ones we have been waiting for.” This clarion call of organizing has perhaps never resounded so truly and beautifully. The opportunity to resist the values, policies, and culture that harm many and benefit few is perhaps more important than ever. But, it is first necessary to believe that another

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world is possible. The benefits of organizing are clear and the risks of not doing so are also clear. The purpose of this book is to take you on a journey of body, mind, and spirit, as you confront the pain, grief, and outrage we are facing as a global community. If you’re willing to go deeply, the benefits at the very least will be a greater sense of connection, belonging, and solidarity as you go forward on a transformative organizing journey. My hope though is that it is ultimately a call to action. NOTE 1. This “neoliberal” approach to economics is not to be confused with the political spectrum of liberal and conservative commonly used in the United States.

REFERENCES Banerjee, M., & Canda, E. (2012). Comparing rawlsian justice and the capabilities approach to justice from a spir­ itually sensitive social work perspective. Journal of religion and Spirituality in Social Work, 31(1–2), 9–31. doi: 10.1080/15426432.2012.647874. Block, P. (2018). Community: the structure of belonging (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Boggs, G. L. (2012). the next American revolution: Sustainable Activism for the twenty-First Century. university of California Press. Brewer, S., & dundes, L. (2018). Concerned, meet terrified: Intersectional feminism and the Women’s March. Women’s Studies International Forum, 69, 49–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2018.04.008 Cacioppo, J. t., & Patrick, W. (2008). Loneliness: Human nature and the need for social connection. new York, nY: WW norton & Company. Cancian, M. (2001). rhetoric and reality of work-based welfare reform. Social Work, 46(4), 309–314. doi: https:// doi.org/10.1093/sw/46.4.309. Center for Popular Economics (2014). Economics for the 99%. retrieved June 4, 2019 from https://www. populareconomics.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/EconomicsForthe99pct2014.pdf Civil rights Act of 1964. Pub.L. 88–352, 78 Stat. 241 (1964). Cornell, d., & Seely, S. d. (2016, november 28). Seven theses on trump [Blog post]. retrieved from http:// criticallegalthinking.com/2016/11/28/seven-theses-trump/ Crenshaw, K. (2018). demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimina­ tion doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. In K. t. Bartlett & r. Kennedy (Eds.), Feminist legal theory: readings in law and gender (pp. 57–80). new York, nY: routledge. (Original work published 1991) dominelli, L. (2002). Anti-oppressive social work theory and practice. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan. Foucault, M. (1990). the history of sexuality, volume 1: An introduction (Vol. 1) (robert Hurley, trans.). new York, nY: Vintage Books. (Original work published 1976) Frediani, A. A. (2006) Participatory methods and the capability approach. retrieved from https://hd-ca.org/ publications/participatory-methods-and-the-capability-approach Gardoni, P., & Murphy, C. (2010). Gauging the societal impacts of natural disasters using a capability approach. disasters, 34(3), 619–636. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7717.2010.01160.x.

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FOUNDATIONS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING Giroux, H. A. (2005). the terror of neoliberalism: rethinking the significance of cultural politics. College Literature, 32(1), 1–19. doi: 10.1353/lit.2005.0006. Giroux, H. A. (2017, december 7). Challenging the neoliberalism at the root of trump’s authoritarianism. retrieved from https://truthout.org/articles/challenging-the-neoliberalism-at-the-root-of-trump-s-authoritarianism/#ftn3 Goodman, A., Gonzalez, J., & Stiglitz, J. (Interviewee). (2019). Economist Joseph Stiglitz: Capitalism hasn’t been working for most people for the last 40 years [Interview transcript]. retrieved from democracy now website: https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/24/economist_joseph_stiglitz_capitalism_hasnt_been hooks, b. (2016, March 16). Feminist democratic process [Blog post]. retrieved from http://www.bellhooksinstitute. com/blog/2016/3/17/feminist-democratic-process Ife, J. (2012). Human rights in a globalised world. In J. Ife (Ed.), Human rights and social work: towards rightsbased practice (3rd ed., pp. 5–41). new York, nY: Cambridge university Press. Jones-deWeever, A. A. (2006). When the spirit blooms: Acquiring higher education in the context of welfare reform. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, 27(3–4), 113–133. https://doi.org/10.1300/J501v27n03_08 Karger, H. J., & Stoesz, d. (2017). American social welfare policy: A pluralist approach (8th ed.). new York, nY: Pearson. Katsiaficas, G. (2004). Seattle was not the beginning. In E. Yuen, d. Burton-rose, & G. Katsiaficas (Eds.), Confront­ ing capitalism: dispatches from a global movement (2nd ed., pp. 3–10). new York, nY: Soft Skull Press. Kaufman, C. (2003). Ideas for action: relevant theory for radical change. Cambridge, MA: South End Press. Kieffer, C. H. (1984). Citizen empowerment: A developmental perspective. Prevention in Human Services, 3(2–3), 9–36. doi: . http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J293v03n02_03. Kilty, K., & Segal, E. (2003). rediscovering the other America: the continuing crisis of poverty and inequality in the united States. new York, nY: routledge. Klein, n. (2002). Fences and windows: dispatches from the front lines of the globalization debate. new York, nY: Picador uSA. Ledwith, M. (2016). Community development in action: Putting Freire into practice. Bristol, uK: Policy Press. Mander, J. (2001). Facing the rising tide. In J. Mander, & E. Goldsmith (Eds.), the case against the global economy and a turn toward the local (pp. 1–16). Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England: Earthscan. Mink, G. (Ed.) (1999). Whose welfare? Ithaca, nY: Cornell university Press. Morton, A. d. (2007). unravelling gramsci: Hegemony and passive revolution in the global economy. London, uK; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press. national Immigration Law Center. (2019). understanding trump’s Muslim bans [Fact sheet]. retrieved May 31, 2019, https://www.nilc.org/issues/immigration-enforcement/understanding-the-muslim-bans/ nepo, M. (2018). More together than alone: discovering the power and spirit of community our lives and in the world. new York, nY: Atria Books. nussbaum, M. C. (2000). Women and human development: the capabilities approach. Cambridge, England: Cam­ bridge university Press. nussbaum, M. C. (2011). Creating capabilities: the human development approach. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. Penny, L. (2019, February 4). How austerity caused Brexit. Pacific Standard. retrieved from https://psmag.com/ ideas/brexit-how-austerity-and-a-cowardly-ruling-class-brought-down-england

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IntrOduCtIOn Pyles, L. (2008). the capabilities approach and violence against women: Implications for social development. Inter­ national Social Work, 51(1), 25–36. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872807083912. Quadagno, J. (1996). the color of welfare: How racism undermined the war on poverty. new York, nY: Oxford university Press. rice-Oxley, M., & Kalia, A. (2018, december 03). How to spot a populist. the Guardian. retrieved from https:// www.theguardian.com/news/2018/dec/03/what-is-populism-trump-farage-orban-bolsonaro Sen, A. (1999). development as freedom. new York, nY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Streeten, P. (2001). Globalisation: threat or opportunity? Copenhagen, denmark: Copenhagen Business School Press. taliaferro, J. (2005). Local welfare reform: Challenges and triumphs of the comprehensive support services interven­ tion. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 12(2/3), 261–280. doi: https://doi.org/10.1300/ J137v12n02_14. taylor, K. Y. (2017). How we get free: Black feminism and the combahee river collective. Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books. thomson, M., Kentikelenis, A., & Stubbs, t. (2017). Structural adjustment programmes adversely affect vulnerable populations: A systematic-narrative review of their effect on child and maternal health. Public Health reviews, 38(13). doi: 10.1186/s40985-017-0059-2 Williams, A. K. (2019, May 17). Your liberation is on the line. Lion’s roar. retrieved from https://www.lionsroar. com/your-liberation-is-on-the-line/ Women’s March. (2017). In Wikipedia. retrieved June 10, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_ Women%27s_March World Social Forum (2001). Porto Alegre call for mobilization. In F. J. Lechner & J. Boli (Eds.), the globalization reader (2nd ed., pp. 435–437). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

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Chapter 1

The Bedrock of Community Organizing Beneath the surface layers of buildings, trees, plants, grasses, and soils lie the bedrock, the solid ground of granite, limestone, and sandstone that support life. In community organizing, it is essen­ tial to understand that which undergirds the work, i.e. the bedrock of community organizing. So, before articulating what community organizing is, it is helpful to look at some key concepts, values, and aspirations that undergird and sustain community organizing. The terms social change, participation, and empowerment are utilized with regularity among organ­ izers, activists, community development specialists, and social workers. Not only are the defini­ tions of these words often unclear, but the activities that correspond to them are sometimes at odds with the definitions. For this reason, it may be useful to define a few of these terms, noting that many of them are interrelated and that there is not always agreement on what they mean in theory and in practice. Social change is a vision and process of challenging a set of oppressive structural arrange­ ments and practices and creating the kind of world that is liberating for all. Activists have argued that the U.S. is in a moral crisis and that what is needed is “a transformed national heart, a moral movement for families and communities rooted in the constitutional and sacred values of compas­ sion, empathy, and courageous dedication to the common good” (Barber, Lowery, and Theoharis (2018,p. xii). Harper and Leicht (2016) defined social change as “the significant alteration of social structure and cultural patterns through time” (p. 5). Although social change is something that occurs over time, it is also something that individuals and groups can continuously be working on, a way of life, moment by moment. Social change is both a process and an outcome. Whereas some may argue that one can only view social change in terms of the long-term outcomes that are engendered, the process is equally important and the strategies organizers use are integral to social change. As Audre Lorde (1984/2007) famously said, “The master’s tools can never dismantle the master’s house.” The seeds that organizers plant and the quality of care that they take with their work are essential in producing the social change outcomes they desire. If one is trying to grow green beans, then it is necessary to plant green bean seeds; it would not make sense to plant squash seeds to grow green beans. If one is trying to grow tomatoes, then the tomatoes should be put in a location that provides them with lots of sunlight; it would not make sense to put them in the shade. These are natural laws that cannot be ignored. And thus is the case with social change: one must plant the seeds and create the conditions one wants to see in the world. As Gandhi famously said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” This definition rests on the idea that oppression and social injustice, such as sexism, racism, ageism, or heteronormativity are deeply entrenched in society and manifest themselves in manifold ways, and thus transforming this sce­ nario requires a multiplicity of strategies. Some have argued that the only real social changes that occurred in the 20th century were dur­ ing the time of the New Deal in the 1930s and during the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s (Piven & Cloward, 1979). Others may see social change successes on smaller scales, such

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as transforming a mental health organization to being consumer-driven or securing a living-wage ordinance in a city or a municipality. Papa, Singhal, and Papa (2006) offer a definition of the phrase organizing for social change: “the process through which a group of individuals orchestrate their skills, resources, and human potential to gain control of their future” (p. 31). I like this definition because it emphasizes organizing for social change as a process and indicates that the goal of such activities is fairly broad, that is, “to gain control of their future.” This phrase has both an empow­ erment element and a social change element; it leaves open the possibility that the goal may be to pass a piece of legislation and get new programming or funding, or it could be developing leader­ ship, creating a new way of living, a new community, such as a community-based, cooperative business venture that is empowering to previously marginalized populations. To commit to social change work is to commit to a journey. When one embarks on any journey, it is always helpful to try to be prepared—pack a map, tools, and other provisions that one may need over the course. Anything can happen on a journey, however, and thus being open to any eventuality or adventure, and the new insights that can arise are enormous opportunities. It is when one thinks one knows all the answers when doing social change work that some of these new opportunities can pass one by. Just when one thinks one has arrived at their destination, one realizes that the journey is still ongoing. Drawing from transformative organizing and healing justice approaches, which are developed further in the next chapter, can help organizers stay committed to their ideals and analy­ ses and be open to critical new findings, learning to improvize along the way. This is an important dimension of praxis, which I will discuss more in this book, but it is the idea that theory and critical consciousness-raising is synergized with the actual doing of social change work. Empowerment is to develop and deepen critical consciousness, community solidarity, and/or personal and collective power and efficacy. This may happen through consciousnessraising, participation in social action, and leadership development. Empowerment has been an important concept in community organizing, social work practice, and community develop­ ment, rooted in and related to Marxist/critical, feminist, and strengths perspectives (Gutier­ rez, Parsons, & Cox, 1998; Ledwith, 2016; Saleebey, 2012). Though the term empowerment has arguably been co-opted, it was always meant to emphasize both personal and political power. In the context of collective critical consciousness-raising about oppressive social arrangements, this kind of support of the development of people’s abilities to reshape their environments reflects a belief that people ultimately have agency, something that the dominant social struc­ ture obfuscates. Unfortunately, similar to other terms and ideas that organizers use to inform and inspire their practice, empowerment is a term that has become diluted and co-opted by the community development and social service establishments. There has been a greater emphasis on neoliberal, individual “empowerment,” which has come to be equated with human capital, and less emphasis on the collective dimensions of political consciousness-raising and social change. At the end of the day, the role of the organizer is to “nourish, encourage, assist, enable, support, stimulate, and unleash the strengths within people; to illuminate the strengths available to people in their own environments; and to promote equity and justice at all levels of society” (Cowger, 1997, p. 62). Bobo, Kendall, and Max (2010) note that empowerment is a matter of degrees ranging from charity to empowerment. The framework does not mean to imply that direct services do not have a place, but that there needs to be clarity about the extent to which people are actually engaged in changemaking. Such frameworks are very relevant because they do not succumb to unnecessarily dichotomous thinking that might tend to identify organizing activities as either empowering or disempowering or either just or unjust. Thus, it seems fairly obvious that measuring the degree of

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participation and empowerment of a social action campaign is fairly complex and only lends itself to such subtle analysis. Closely linked to empowerment is participation. Participation is the intentional commit­ ment to engage and support the leadership development of community members who are most directly impacted by oppression and social exclusion. This means the people in communities most affected by climate change, or the low-income people who are being hit the hardest by social wel­ fare cuts, or the women of color who are most likely to experience infant mortality, are centered in identifying and analyzing community issues, creating plans for change, implementing cam­ paigns, and reflecting on the work. Considering participation or empowerment as a metaphor of a ladder is a useful heuristic that emerges from the planning and development literature (Arnstein, 1969; Murphy & Cunningham, 2003; Oakley, 1995). Greater degrees of participation and thus empowerment are achieved as one climbs up a ladder. Arnstein’s ladder of participation (see Figure 1.1) incorporates the idea of a ladder to convey how some activities on the lowest rungs of the ladder, such as “social service provision” and “therapy,” represent low degrees of citizen par­ ticipation. Activities, such as “informing” and “consultation,” represent medium degrees and the middle rungs of the ladder. Many national advocacy organizations, such as the Children’s Defense Fund or the National Organization for Women, fall into this category. Professional and paid staff members consult with their constituencies to learn about what issues are important to them, as well as to inform them of new campaigns and other relevant policy actions. “Partnership” and “citi­ zen control” are the highest degrees of citizen participation and engagement, represented by the highest rungs of the ladder. Thus, empowerment is best achieved on the highest rungs of the par­ ticipation ladder and is exemplified in grassroots organizations, such as the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, and the disability rights group ADAPT.

8

Citizen Control

7

Delegated Power

6

Partnership

5

Placation

4

Consultation

3

Informing

2

Therapy

Citizen Power

Tokenism

Nonparticipation 1

FIGURE 1.1

Manipulation

Arnstein’s (1969) Ladder of Participation

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Similarly, Pretty (1995) has proposed a typology of participation which also views participation on a spectrum. This typology emerges from experiences and research on international develop­ ment projects and the role that local people play in their own development in relation to projects initiated by outside actors, such as international NGOs. The typology of participation includes seven types ranging from manipulation to self-mobilization: 1. Manipulative participation—A pretense; participants are not elected and have no real power 2. Passive participation—Involves being told what has already been decided 3. Participation by consultation—Information-gathering process by external agents 4. Participation for material incentives—Participants contribute labor for food, cash 5. Functional participation—A means to achieve project goals more cost-effectively 6. Interactive participation—People participate in joint analysis and development of action plans; participation is a right 7. Self-mobilization—Local people take initiatives independently of external institutions though they may use external resources; retain control over how resources are used The Occupy movement serves as an excellent example to facilitate thinking about participation. The movement created a context wherein people from all walks of life were able to intermin­ gle. It was a space in which, at least in theory, everyone from the 99% could have a place at the table—low-income mothers, immigrants, teachers, community organizers, etc. It created an opportunity to dissolve oppressive hierarchies in which one person is the helper and the other is the helped. Instead, mutual problem-solving approaches were favored, from deciding what direct actions to take to creating guidelines for consensus decision making in a general assembly. These kinds of mutual problem solving and consensus decision making activities, which are discussed in more detail later in the text, are clearly useful skills that foster deeper participation. Such skills have been developed and refined by radical feminists, anarchists, and environmental groups over the years. But, the Occupy movement had its own limitations that community practitioners can learn from. The frame that Occupy adopted—“we are the 99%”—although successful in its ability to create solidarity and name perhaps the most pressing problem facing our communities, i.e. income inequality, masks the nuances of power, privilege, and oppression within the 99%. Cor­ porate greed has an impact on single moms of color in ways much different than it does young, White, middle-class men. And although many Occupy groups made significant efforts within gen­ eral assemblies and individual caucuses to shed light on these issues, Occupy and other groups are challenged to avoid perpetuating existing hierarchies. Nonetheless, the fact that Occupy and other social movements created spaces to address such hegemonies and facilitate greater participation moves the needle. Empowerment, participation, and social change are mutually reinforcing concepts. Although empowerment is an end unto itself, it also provides fuel for social change. None of these can happen without participation. The more individuals feel empowered to participate, the more sustainable organizing campaigns will be over time. However, it is not uncommon for activists to overstate the amount of empowerment and social change that their activities engender. By thinking about these bedrocks of organizing as a matter of degree and always

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in flux, organizers are better able to be transparent and critical of their practices. Moreover, understanding these core ideas and relating to them in a flexible and fluid way is key. Although social systems are indeed formidable, doing one’s personal work on the important issues of oppression and clarifying one’s own reasons for doing organizing are critical and ongoing steps to social change work. The word radical literally means “to the root.” To engage in transformative community organ­ izing for social change in a globalized world is indeed radical work; it necessarily involves get­ ting to the root of social issues. Alinsky (1971) reminded us, though, that the most effective organizers were always “realistic;” that is, they understood the context and how to achieve their victories. And thus no matter how one defines oneself—citizen, advocate, social worker, organ­ izer, activist—one should first be a student of history and culture, a student of the political econ­ omy, a student of social welfare policies and programs, and a student who understands the various ways that oppression gets played out in people’s lives. Finally, as the next chapter articulates, an organizer must be interested in studying their own consciousness—understanding one’s own personal and socially constructed life history, fears, and hopes. DEFINING COMMUNITY ORGANIZING Most books on organizing spend significant space discerning what community organizing is and what it is not, distinguishing it from other forms of community intervention. While this is not unreasonable, most organizations and organizers do not necessarily fall within such strict confines. Civil society is variously engaged in a range of activities to build democracy, remedy injustice, and fill in the gaps left by often waning public services provision. Trying to force a definition of com­ munity organizing and attempting to include some activities and exclude others is difficult and, ultimately, a false construction. As I reflect on and analyze the organizing literature which emerges from numerous practice and academic fields, I have noted a preoccupation with making it clear that community organ­ izing is distinct from other forms of intervention (e.g. community building, community devel­ opment, solidarity activities, social services, mutual aid, and consciousness-raising). And, to be sure, community organizing is a distinct method indeed. But, I wonder if this level of discrimi­ nation perhaps reflects a Eurocentric, middle-class, and masculine bias, replicating a penchant for the segregation of ideas and the privilege to ignore the mundane tasks of social care, such as feeding and housing people or caring for children, youth, and elderly. Because direct action tac­ tics have been dominant in the field of community organizing, this has privileged white cisgender men in the work who are more adroitly socially situated to express anger publically and to put themselves in the precarious situations that people of color, women, immigrants, and others may not be able to do. This is not necessarily a bad thing and certainly, it could be argued that this is an example of using one’s privilege for good. But, the people who get to write about these practices are often the people with the most privilege, time, and resources to do so (including myself), and thus their analyses will reflect their conscious and unconscious biases. So, this is why I think it is important to be cautious around drawing such bright lines around community organ­ izing. Nonetheless, it is clearly worth setting some parameters around community organizing as characterized in this text. Before defining what organizing is though, it is useful to define what is meant by community.

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What Is Community? It is easy to make a mistake in thinking that creating change for a large number of individuals will automatically result in changes to the community (Block, 2018). Indeed, most knowledge about interventions focuses more on individuals (e.g. addressing addictions or depression or eating behaviors) than on groups of people. We actually know much less about how to create neighbor­ hood/community change and systems change, let alone global change. In order to better under­ stand how to create social change, it is essential to begin by gaining a better understanding of the specific community in context, including the uninterrogated stories and beliefs about it, and the conversations that have created it (Block, 2018). Defining community has become a more complex undertaking in a diverse, globalized, and technology-oriented world. For many people, it could refer to the boundaries of a small town, vil­ lage, or neighborhood. For others, it implies a special kind of membership, such as in a religious or professional group. Or, others may refer to specific kinds of online social networks as a form of com­ munity. Furthermore, the notion of community harkens a wide range of feelings and experiences, including trust, mutuality, commitment, inclusion, and solidarity, as well as contestation, conflict, and exclusion (Smith, 2001). Bourdieu (1984) pointed out that the types of social spaces that people inhabit, particularly economic and cultural, are related to lifestyles, power levels, and identities. It is useful to shed more light on the notion of community by dividing the concept into three types, namely geographically based communities, choice-based communities, and identity-based communities. To be sure, people who live in close proximity to one another also tend to have some com­ mon interests and are representative of this complex idea known as “community.” It has been referred to as a “sense of place” (Adams, 2013). People tend to reside near those who are simi­ lar to them, especially with regard to social class and race/ethnicity. Indeed, theories of social exclusion trace, for example, the ways that social exclusion, in particular racial exclusion, can be manifested in a domain, such as housing (Somerville & Steele, 2002). Tönnies (as cited in Douglas, 2010, p. 3) referred to such traditional communities where there is regular interaction and support, as Gemeinschaft. Such complexities in social geography can be understood by further inquiring into policies and practices related to social planning, economic development, and real estate development. While people live in neighborhoods with people who are somewhat like them, it is the case that even in the most diverse of neighborhoods, a toxic waste dump can bring dissimilar groups of people together pretty quickly. In a world more and more defined by digital and transnational connections where “networked individualism” (individual members who are sparsely linked without regard to physical space) (Douglas, 2010) is more common, this notion of community, understood through place-based organizing, is vital for attending to social problems, such as gentrification and gun-based violence. It is an essential avenue for addressing issues, such as environmental racism and developing sustainable food systems in the future. Thus, geographi­ cal propinquity is still a valuable factor for understanding community. One could say that there are four types of geographic communities: 1) small-scale communities of place and neighborhood groups; 2) local friendship networks, primarily activity-based; 3) communes and collectives; and 4) local friendship networks, primarily cultural (Brint, 2001; Douglas, 2010) And yet, many people today tend to find that they have more in common with people with whom they are not in physical proximity. Indeed, such extended social networks may define com­ munity for many people (Putnam, 2000). Recent sociological theories of identity have opened up conceptual space for thinking about community in terms of political interests or various forms of cultural identities (Hoggett, 1997). Rather than “a sense of place,” there is a “sense of community.”

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A community may be united by shared racial, ethnic, gender, cultural, or other identities, though not necessarily sharing geographic location or all common values. One could say there are four types of choice-based communities: 1) activity-based elective communities; 2) belief-based elec­ tive communities; 3) imagined communities; and 4) virtual communities (Brint, 2001; Douglas, 2010). Choice-based communities may be conceptually blurred with identity-based communities, such as the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-queer (LGBTQ) community. Although there is great diversity within the LGBTQ community (in terms of gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, class, religion, etc.) and even oppression within it, many activists have strategically aligned them­ selves as a community of people with common political interests (for example, an interest in universal access to the institution of marriage). Thus, the notions of place, interest, and identity appear to be important when developing an inclusive concept of community (Smith, 2001). And, of course, the community is a global concept and reality. Most people have heard the phrase “think globally, act locally.” But, increasingly, it is possible to act globally because a person can message someone across the globe to plan a social action. The global justice movement rep­ resents a community of people from across the planet whose members align themselves with one another based on shared values and indeed as a form of identity. Part of their alignment is based on the fact that, for example, they consider themselves oppressed by the policies and practices that facilitate corporate global capitalism at the expense of workers and the environment. From environmentalists in the Australian outback to European labor organizers to indigenous peoples in Mexico who have lost their land to corporatization, this is indeed a community that includes a broad range of members. Due to the expansion of social networks, a result of the intensification of digital technology in a globalizing world, the concept of community can be considered broadly. Online social networks are social structures made up of actors and the social ties between these actors. Global summits of grassroots organizers, such as the World Social Forum, first held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2001, are an indicator that the denotation of a community has broadened. It can be helpful when thinking of community in the context of organizing that, although a group may have strategic, political reasons for aligning themselves, their experiences and values are not always unified (Hartsock, 1996; Stephen, 2005). To be sure, however, community mem­ bership has been contested by both insiders and outsiders, just as the diversity within a group has been problematized. How can members of a community maintain their uniqueness and still stand in solidarity with the group? To what degree can allies of a community be considered part of that community? These are important questions that, although they do not have explicit answers and are certainly context-specific, must be considered when thinking about community and organiz­ ing. Throughout the book and especially in Chapter 11, I discuss some of the complexities around issues of intersectionality, solidarity and what has been termed as identity politics and how organ­ izers can work with the important nuances of community identity in order to create more power and solidarity within movements. In sum, a community can be defined as a group of people with a common affiliation, identity, or grievance that may be geographically or nongeographically based. What Is Organizing? The illustrious Chicago-based community organizer, Saul Alinsky (1971) once said that one should never do things for people that they can do for themselves. This is an interesting notion, particularly when considered by practitioners whose vocation may be to provide material necessities or social services to people who are in crisis or who are otherwise living in poverty. Indeed, being of service to people or

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being a “voice for the voiceless” is perhaps a noble pursuit. What Alinsky tried to communicate, however, is really a key feature of what tends to make community organizing unique from other types of interventions—helping people help themselves, especially through participatory pro­ cesses and the cultivation of local leaders. Frederick Douglass believed, and Saul Alinsky agreed, that “power concedes nothing without a demand,” i.e. the establishment will not relinquish power and its benefits if the marginalized do not demand it (Alinsky, 1971). These two features—people organizing themselves and confronting power with grievances—have often been considered cen­ tral attributes of organizing (Bobo, Kendall, & Max, 2010). Thus, community organizing can be defined as efforts to engage impacted people through leadership development to address their identified issues and confront power to effect change. The ultimate objective of community organ­ izing is to bring together disenfranchised people on their own behalf, often in relation to some power structure, in order to achieve needed changes. And many would add that building mutually supportive communities is vital to organizing and change work (Murphy & Cunningham, 2003). And still, others would add that an additional and critical component of organizing, indeed the real raison d’être, is to overcome oppression, change power relations, and achieve liberation (Freire, 2018; Pharr, 1996). All of these components are integral to what I call progressive community organizing, which I define as community organizing that works toward the liberation of oppressed and margin­ alized individuals and the transformation of social systems that perpetuate the oppression. Staples’ (2016) definition of (grassroots) community organizing can be helpful here: “collective action by community members drawing on the strength of numbers, participatory processes, and indig­ enous leadership to decrease power disparities and achieve shared goals for social change” (p. 2). To be sure, organizing communities for change is clearly not a value-neutral endeavor. Indeed, no community work could ever be value-neutral. Although this book seeks to exemplify a strong value orientation, my approach is to offer a critical and balanced view of the theories, perspectives, and practices associated with such progressive change work. However, not all progressive organ­ izers will emphasize these various elements of organizing equally, that is, self-organization, con­ fronting power, building leadership and community, and transforming oppression. For example, some community organizers, including neighborhood organizers, labor organizers, and others, may not focus their work on transforming multiple interlocking oppressions, such as sexism, rac­ ism, and homophobia. Their work may be more utilitarian in nature and focus instead on achiev­ ing winnable victories or righting a specific injustice. There is always something to be learned from the diversity of community organizers and frameworks. Community builders or community developers may focus more on identifying the existing assets and working to leverage these assets to advance specific economic projects or other programs. They may be less inclined to confront power or transform oppression. Organizing Versus Other Interventions In order to comprehend more clearly just exactly what community organizing is, it is useful to compare and contrast community organizing to other kinds of social welfare interventions—social services, activism, advocacy, and community building/development. Historically, the field of com­ munity organizing has gone to great lengths to distinguish itself from what it appears not to be, namely social service. Social services are the provision of support and assistance by formal and informal helping systems, by a governmental, nongovernmental, faith-based, or grassroots organization or

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group. Saul Alinsky had a disregard for what he called “do-gooders” who were helping people who are poor; instead, he believed in helping the people help themselves (Boyte, 1984). In some sense, however, any work that one does in the name of social justice for all people is a kind of service, that is, a “call to service” (Coles, 1993). But, clearly, community organizing has unique empowerment and change orientations, and, thus, it is necessary to make some important distinctions. Examples of services in the traditional sense are case management services for people with chronic mental health issues, food banks for the working poor, disaster relief, and assistance with filling out disability applications. Although some of these activities can involve case advocacy (for example, a social worker making demands for welfare benefits for which a particular client may be eligible) and may have a strong emphasis on empowerment, they are traditionally viewed as services. And yet, it is possible that such services could be provided with a strong social change or activist orientation, or with a participatory sensibility, whereby people who share some of the same needs provide services to each other, what is known as mutual aid. For example, the Black Panther Party, a progressive, politically oriented civil rights organization active in the 1960s and 1970s, provided services through what was referred to as “survival programs pending revolution,” which included medical clinics, free breakfast for children, free clothing, pest control, sickle cell anemia testing, education, and prison support. Another example is services for people with chronic mental health issues that are provided by peers in ways that attempt to deconstruct the power of social services hierarchies, which tend to uphold strong distinctions between the pro­ fessionals who provide services and the clients who receive them. Such consumer-led efforts, as opposed to efforts that may only seek input from consumers, are not forms of community organ­ izing, strictly speaking, but are allied and sometimes adjunctive endeavors that are important to progressive organizing agendas. These efforts are important because of the strong emphasis on the empowerment of traditionally marginalized people and because of a social-change agenda that seeks to unravel societal power structures that oppress people with mental health issues. Offering training on antiracist practice to social service agencies or providing technical assis­ tance on immigration issues to legal aid clinics is also a service in the narrowest sense. How­ ever, such training and/or services may happen in the context of a larger organizing or social movement campaign, and such allied endeavors by supportive organizations ultimately seek to strengthen liberation. Social services work can be done with an activist and social change orientation. Interestingly, in my experience, women and low-income people of color do not often so clearly separate com­ munity organizing from service provision or mutual aid because they often do not have the luxury to ignore the human suffering in front of them, including their own, and just focus on organizing. Women, in particular, tend to be service providers, the caretakers for communities in crisis, the ones who are forced to pick up the pieces of a society that too often perpetuates capability depriva­ tions and abandons its basic social welfare infrastructure. There is a famous indigenous parable of a tribe that comes upon some drowning babies in a river. The group begins taking the babies, one after the other, out of the river to save them, trying to bring them back to life. It is very exhaust­ ing and seemingly incessant work. Eventually, however, somebody gets the idea to go upstream and find out why the babies are drowning, to get to the bottom of the situation, and to try to stop it from happening in the first place. And this might be a good way to think about the difference between social services and community organizing work—both are necessary, but ultimately, organizing has the potential to get to the root causes of social problems. Consider now the practice of advocacy, which is to work on behalf of a marginalized group by changing policy, securing new programs and funding, or redressing some other injustice. Policy

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advocacy is the practice of influencing legislation, appropriations, or planning processes (“Public Policy Advocacy: What, Why & How,” n.d.; Building Community Resilience, 2018). This usu­ ally implies advocating for or on behalf of a group of people, of being a “voice” for the so-called voiceless. But, compare the differential impact of a small group of people with disabilities testi­ fying on a bill at the state legislature about local building codes and accessibility issues versus an able-bodied paid staff person testifying on the same bill. By organizing a group of impacted people to participate, particularly if the group is led by a person with a disability, a sense of personal and collective empowerment, as well as group identity may be strengthened. This empowerment could then be leveraged and sustained for future endeavors. Also, consider the effects on the leg­ islators at the hearing. They may be more moved by and, thus, be more inclined to respond to the stories of people for whom the effects of the policy are real rather than to those told by a person whose job is to testify. In this case, it may well be the job of a community organizer (able-bodied or not) to bring this group together and to support them in this process. Advocacy work, although often better funded than organizing work, transpires without accountability to a base constitu­ ency or with only little input from the base. It should also be noted that advocacy may involve a certain amount of organizing a constituency, just like leaders of grassroots community organizing ventures engage in advocacy; to be sure, the definitions are slippery. Community organizing and advocacy are both important interventions, but organizing with people for whom the issues are most real, i.e. maximizing participation, is arguably a more effective and sustainable strategy for long-term social change. Community development is the practice of identifying assets and problems and seeking resources and solutions in a specific geographic area. It is sometimes contrasted to community organizing. Again, the distinctions are not completely clear, nor it is necessary that they be totally distinct. A community development corporation, known as a CDC, for example, may emphasize building housing and supporting small-business ownership for people of color in a depressed com­ munity instead of confronting power structures in order to create systemic change. Their major focus may be to empower local business owners and support neighborhood economic develop­ ment, and only rarely, if ever, would they engage in an action that would directly attempt to take back power or transform inequities. Although policy advocacy and community development have received thorough treatments elsewhere, I do consider components of them in this book, particularly to the extent that they are part of larger organizing campaigns and social change efforts (Jansson, 2018; Kretzmann & McK­ night, 1993). Although some consider community organizing to entail only those activities whose primary purpose is to organize constituents and take back power, my belief is that organizing, similar to the notion of community, should be considered more broadly. Organizers should have a comprehensive understanding of the kinds of allied work that are a part of a progressive organiz­ ing agenda. Community organizing always involves regular people who confront or resist power, where power is manifested through governmental institutions, legislators, corporations, media outlets, and landlords, among others. Tactics such as resilience-based organizing utilize collective power to meet collective needs and expose oppressive power structures. There are also lessons to be learned from community development work, advocacy groups, and social change-oriented service organizations. The preceding discussion reveals the slippery nature of historic definitions and the socially constructed nature of civil society interventions. Another social change term relevant to this inquiry is activism. I define it as a general term covering any number of social-change activities that are political in nature, including actions done by regular people, such as letter writing, protest, or other forms of consciousness-raising.

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It may include the work of nonprofessionals or paid individuals who work in social-change organ­ izations and it may or may not be accountable to impacted communities. There are numerous ways to engage in communities as a practitioner. These ways are often based on a variety of goals and methods. Other methods emphasize changing a particular policy or achieving a victory. Some methods of engagement embrace strong elements of social change and individual empowerment. And still, others may emphasize the role of paid staff and, as a result, embody lesser degrees of community participation and base building in the process. These dif­ ferent goals and methods may all have their place in the process of community change, but it is important to understand them and know when it is appropriate and feasible to incorporate various strategies and tactics. Understanding the strengths and limits of the organization a person works for, the ideologies underlying its structure and culture, and its available resources are also all a part of knowing one’s power and limits as an organizer. I submit that understanding one’s own self, especially one’s personal history and values, is essential in organizing work. Chapter 2 focuses on transformative organizing and healing justice and the importance of becoming a more self-aware organizer. Some organizations may believe that they are engaged in social change activities that, unfortunately, may actually be perpetuating current structural arrangements. As Dominelli (2002) noted, some social welfare practices have been “implicated in oppressive processes by fostering relations of domi­ nance that are consistent with supporting the status quo” (p. 28). Organizations may believe they are promoting empowerment when they are actually doing things for their constituency rather than doing the work with their constituency. An organization that advocates for the rights of undocumented immigrants but that is composed only of citizen professionals with privilege is missing something very important. The ability of such a group to be truly accountable to impacted people is virtually impossible without being driven by immigrant voices. In order to actualize this kind of accountability and participation, it takes strong organizational commitments and individual humility in terms of giving up power, changing organizational policies and tactics, and being open to critique by those who are marginalized. Transformative Social Change: Roles and Approaches It can also be helpful to think about social change in a wider sense and then consider the vari­ ous activities that it might entail. Hunter (2015), who is affiliated with the group, Training for Change, along with other civil rights activists, have proposed a framework for identifying four roles in social change work. It is certainly not exhaustive of all the possibilities but can be a helpful way to understand one’s own proclivities and to remind us that no one approach is more impor­ tant. It also offers an opportunity to muddy the waters a bit and to see how these roles can get blended and blurred. Importantly, by reviewing these different roles, it can facilitate understand­ ing of the ways that efforts in each of these categories can be both effective and ineffective in meet­ ing social change goals. The roles are helper, advocate, rebel, and organizer and I present them in the way that Hunter does, namely through the lens of the movement to end mass incarceration as a case illustration. Helpers, like people who deliver social services, attempt to meet human needs directly in real time. They may be professional or nonprofessional and may provide food, shelter, therapy, and other forms of face-to-face, caring-focused services. They meet needs that the government and other civil society actors may not be meeting. Providing job skills for those who are re-entering

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the community after incarceration can be considered a vital form of helping in the context of end­ ing mass incarceration. And yet, there is a shadow side to helping as sometimes the helper does not see the structural barriers to employment, for example, and resorts to pointing to an individual’s failings as the cause of such challenges. Some antidotes to this include popular education that utilizes structural thinking and consciousness-raising about mass incarceration, bringing formerly incarcerated people together, and centering the leadership of formerly incarcerated people. Advocates help people function within the current system in order to access institutional resources. This is the work of lawyers, social workers, and policy analysts. While a lawyer pro­ viding pro bono services to incarcerated individuals is critical to helping people get an early release or alleviate the impacts of harsh sentencing, these services can have a shadow side as well; namely advocates, with their expert insider knowledge, can be blinded to the possibility of a new and dif­ ferent kind of system altogether, and instead just accept the system as it is. Rather than dampening people’s desire for change, transformational advocates can recruit people they are advocating for into social movement-building work, supporting them in using their experiences and voices to create change. Organizers are the people who walk upstream and try to attend to the causes of social injustice. Unlike helpers and advocates, who tend to work within the existing system, organizers seek to bring people together most impacted by systemic oppression to exert pressure from outside the system to change. Bringing people together, who have been impacted by mass incarceration, whether it is a formerly incarcerated person, a family member, or somebody on probation or parole, can lead to changes in election outcomes, for example, by turning these folks out to vote, becoming precinct chairs, or even running and winning office. However, there are stumbling blocks for organizers too, who can get embroiled in organizational dynamics or can be so focused on achieving a winnable campaign and fail to attend to participatory processes and the inclusion of people most impacted by an issue, such as mass incarceration. Rebels, who may share qualities in common with activists, are willing to use their passion for change to stand up to powerful forces and actors. They engage in direct actions and civil disobedi­ ence and are willing to take personal risks to create change. Unfortunately, they can be ineffective “when they are too attached to a marginal identity, use tactics without a realistic strategy, or selfrighteously view everyone else as less radical or less moral” (Hunter, 2015, p. 13). But, when they are well connected to groups that are strategic and led by people most impacted by the issues, they can provide an edginess and radicalism to groups that might not otherwise have the wherewithal or skills to engage in impactful actions. In my community, a group called Capital Area Against Mass Incarceration (CAAMI) engaged in direct action by disrupting the local mayor’s speech in Albany, New York, to protest the death of an unarmed mentally ill black man named Dontay Ivy. Singing songs and engaging in call and response chanting, they peacefully drew attention to the issue and forced the mayor to stop her speech and speak about the issue that would otherwise have gone unacknowledged.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION 1. What communities are you a part of? What communities do you feel alliances with? 2. Discuss the specific organizations in which you work or have worked. Do these organizations fit into the categories of social services, advocacy, community organizing, and/or activist? How so?

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3. Reflecting historically, what in your view have been some of the most impactful social change efforts? Why? Do these efforts share any qualities among them? 4. Discuss the roles of helper, advocate, organizer, and rebel and also discuss where you think you fit in knowing you may embody more than one category. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER INQUIRY Books Alinsky, S. (1989). Rules for radicals. New York: Vintage. Brown, M. J. (2007). Building powerful community organizations: A personal guide to creating groups that can solve problems and change the world. Arlington, MA: Long Haul Press. Crutchfield, L. R. (2018). How change happens: Why some social movements succeed while others don’t. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Rani Jha, S. (2017). Transforming communities: How people like you are healing their neighborhoods. Danvers, MA: Chalice Press. Web Training for Change. https://www.trainingforchange.org/ Movement Generation Justice and Ecology Project. https://movementgeneration.org/about/ The Midwest Academy. https://www.midwestacademy.com/ Social Movement Technologies. https://socialmovementtechnologies.org/ REFERENCES adams, J. d. (2013). Theorizing a sense of place in a transnational community. Children, youth and environments, 23(3), 43–65. doi: 10.7721/chilyoutenvi.23.3.0043. alinsky, S. d. (1971). rules for radicals: a practical primer for realistic radicals. new york, ny: random house. arnstein, S. r. (1969). a ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the american institute of Planners, 35(4), 216–224. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/01944366908977225. Barber, W. J. ii., Lowery, r., & Theoharis, L. (2018). revive us again: Vision and action in moral organizing. Boston, ma: Beacon Press. Block, P. (2018). Community: The structure of belonging (2nd ed.). San francisco, Ca: Berrett-koehler Publishers. Bobo, k., kendall, J., & max, S. (2010). organizing for social change: midwest academy manual for activists (4th ed.). Santa ana, Ca: The forum Press. Bourdieu, P. (1984). distinction. Cambridge, ma: harvard university Press. Boyte, h. C. (1984). Community is possible: repairing america’s roots. new york, ny: harper & row. Brint, S. (2001). gemeinschaft revisited: a critique and reconstruction of the community concept. Sociological Theory, 19(1), 1–23. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/0735-2751.00125.

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FOUNDATIONS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING Building Community resilience. (2018). Policy and advocacy guide. retrieved from https://publichealth.gwu.edu/ sites/default/files/downloads/redstone-Center/BCr%20Policy%20and%20advocacy%20guide.pdf Coles, r. (1993). The call of service: a witness to idealism. new york, ny: houghton-mifflin.

Cowger, C. d. (1997). assessing client strengths: assessment for client empowerment. in d. Saleebey (ed.), The

strengths perspective in social work practice (2nd ed., pp. 59–73). new york, ny: Longman. dominelli, L. (2002). anti-oppressive social work theory and practice. Basingstoke, england: Palgrave macmillan. douglas, h. (2010). Types of Community. in international encyclopedia of Civil Society (pp. 539–544). retrieved from https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2f978-0-387-93996-4_542 freire, P. (2018). Pedagogy of the oppressed (4th ed.). new york, ny: Bloomsbury academic. gutierrez, L. m., Parsons, r. J., & Cox, e. o. (1998). empowerment in social work practice: a source-book. Pacific grove, Ca: Brooks/Cole. harper, C. L., & Leicht, k. T. (2016). exploring social change: america and the world (6th ed.). abingdon, oxon, england ; new york, ny: routledge. hartsock, n. (1996). Theoretical bases for coalition building: an assessment of postmodernism. in h. gottfried (ed.), feminism and social change: Bridging theory and practice (pp. 256–274). urbana, iL: university of illinois Press. hoggett, P. (1997). Contested communities. in P. hoggett (ed.), Contested communities: experiences, struggles, policies (pp. 3–17). Bristol, uk: Policy Press. hunter, d. (2015). Building a movement to end the new Jim Crow: an organizing guide. denver, Co: Veterans of hope, hyrax Publishing. Jansson, B. S. (2018). Becoming an effective policy advocate: from policy practice to social justice (8th ed.). Belmont, Ca: Brooks/Cole. kivel, P. (2017). Social service or social change? in inCiTe (eds.), The revolution will not be funded: Beyond the non-profit industrial complex (pp. 129–149). Cambridge, ma: South end Press. kretzmann, J. P., & mcknight, J. L. (1993). Building communities from the inside out: a path toward finding and mobilizing a community’s assets. Skokie, iL: aCTa Publications. Ledwith, m. (2016). Community development in action: Putting freire into practice. Bristol: Bristol university Press. Lorde, a. (2007). Sister outsider: essays and speeches. Berkeley, Ca: Crossing Press. (original work published 1984) murphy, P. W., & Cunningham, J. V. (2003). organizing for community-controlled development: renewing civil society. Thousand oaks, Ca: Sage. oakley, P. (1995). People’s participation in development projects: a critical review of current theory and practice. oxford, uk: inTraC. Papa, m. J., Singhal, a., & Papa, W. h. (2006). organizing for social change: a dialectical journey of theory and praxis. new delhi, india: Sage. Pharr, S. (1996). in the time of the right: reflections on liberation. Berkeley, Ca: Chardon Press. Piven, f. f., & Cloward, r. a. (1979). Poor people’s movements: Why they succeed, how they fail. new york, ny: Vintage Books.

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The BedroCk of CommuniTy organizing Pretty, J. n. (1995). Participatory learning for sustainable agriculture. World development, 23(8), 1247–1263. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(95)00046-f. Public Policy advocacy: What, Why & how. (n.d.). retrieved from nao website: https://nonprofitoregon.org/ advocacy/nonprofit_advocacy Putnam, r. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of american community. new york, ny: Simon & Schuster. Saleebey, d. (2012). The strengths perspective in social work practice (6th ed.). Boston, ma: Pearson. Smith, m. k. (2001). What is community? in The encyclopedia of informal education. retrieved from http://www. infed.org/community/community.htm Somerville, P., & Steele, a. (eds.) (2002). ‘race’, housing and social exclusion. London, uk: Jessica kingsley Publishers. Staples, L. (2016). roots to power: a manual for grassroots organizing (3rd ed.). Santa Barbara, Ca: Praeger. Stephen, L. (2005). gender, citizenship, and the politics of identity. in J. nash (ed.), Social movements: an anthro­ pological reader (pp. 66–77). malden, ma: Blackwell.

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Chapter 2

Transformative Practice A new development in organizing and social change work has been emerging in the past sev­ eral decades. Descriptive terms of this approach include transformative justice, transformative practice, transformative organizing, and transformative social change. While the origins of this work can be traced to feminist and other organizing frameworks of the 1970s, recent itera­ tions of transformative approaches to organizing are marked by a need to go deeper, beyond the outward-looking practices of changing policies and material conditions, into the inward-looking work of changing human consciousness, and attending to interpersonal functioning, organizational dynamics, and innovative strategies and tactics. Moreover, with growing awareness of the impacts of trauma, historical trauma, and intergenerational trauma, transformative organizing responds to the effects of oppression on individuals’ bodies, minds, hearts, and spirits, as well as to some of the problematic organizational arrangements in which change work transpires. Transformative approaches to change invite organizers into self and group inquiry about who they are, disrupt the boundaries between the personal and professional, and form people’s indi­ vidual and collective identities as change agents. Sociologists and social psychologists have noted that social movements can have a transformative effect on people’s identities (Bosi, Giugni, & Uba, 2016; Yang, 2000). Social-change work helps participants break free from structural con­ straints and offers them the power and freedom to reconfigure themselves and society. Identity, in this case, is not just about personal identity, but it can also be understood as a collective identity, which is an individual’s cognitive, moral, and emotional connection to a group or organization. Collective identity is constructed in three ways: 1) through the formation of boundaries that dif­ ferentiate group members from nongroup members, 2) through the advancement of conscious­ ness as a group with common interests as compared with the larger social order, and 3) through the negotiation of novel ways of thinking and acting (Taylor & Whitter, as cited in Staggenborg, 2005). Membership in social-change organizations may provide people with opportunities to experience a rare culture that may be distinct from the larger society, paving the way for unique experiences of solidarity, collective care, and empowerment. Membership in a social group with shared values can offer organizers a sense of self-definition, belonging, and inclusion. MEANING AND ORGANIZING People become inspired to organize for a plethora of reasons. These inspirations may include personal or familial experiences with hardship or marginalization, transformative encounters with other change agents, generalized anger with “the system,” and/or a love for humanity. What seems to be true for all activists and organizers, though, is that social-change work gives meaning to their lives. Practitioners often engage in social justice work due to their existential commit­ ments (Buchbinder, 2007). Rather than falling into despair and apathy, many people organize out

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of a sense of responsibility, hopefulness, and possibility. As environmental activist David Orr said, “Hope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up” (Gordon & Orr, 2009). This call to organizing and the meaning people make of it are connected to an organizer’s identity which has personal, collective, and spiritual dimensions. In a study I conducted of com­ munity organizers and advocates after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, I asked these commit­ ted practitioners what significance organizing had for them in their lives. They offered a variety of responses that touched on themes related to their individual personalities, quests for social justice, and their own journeys toward self-actualization. Here are some responses that highlight the personal dimension of organizing: ■



“I’m the type of person that I would do for others before I do for myself. I always prided myself in [embracing the idea that] as opportunities and doors open for myself, the reason why they open for me is to open them for someone else. What one of the main reasons why planning and helping the devastated neighborhoods revitalize themselves is that … one of my callings is to help people.” “My personality I think fits in. I like to do things that are going to benefit somebody. With my…background, with my personality, my comfort in meeting people and explaining—and I guess you would say selling ideas, even—and with media, it fits well for me.”

The following quotation reflects the sense of collective identity centered on social justice and free­ dom and fostered by participation in an organization: It means freedom, it means justice, it means home, and it means community to me. In everything we do, we engage the community. It means community to me, and that’s what the community means to me. Being a part of [my organization] means action.You can be a community organizer with anybody, but, in this organization, the movement has to occur and it does occur. I’m very appreciative of the fact that it occurs and that it occurs frequently.There’s a lot of movement…. It means political freedom. It means that you are no longer bound by what you don’t feel can hap­ pen.You’re not tied up in “It will never happen.” Maybe it will take a lot. “I wonder who’s going to do it, who’s going to do what.”That’s a cage.That’s imprisonment. “I wonder what’s going to happen.” Just kind of squatting on the sidelines, “I wonder what’s going to happen.”You’re free from that cage of “I don’t know, and I can’t affect anything and I’m stuck in this box.”That’s tre­ mendous freedom.You’re free from the whole stereotypical image of a low-to-moderate-income person.You’re free from that, and that’s a big freedom.You’re free from apathy and free from all of those things. Like I said, that’s a little box. If you have to sit and wait for something to happen or wonder what’s going to happen or wonder who’s going to take action on something, you’re imprisoned because you’re stuck right in that spot.You can’t do anything. Finally, these quotations highlight an existential or spiritual perspective: ■ ■

“We’re really transforming the world by engaging in this endeavor…. Abraham Maslow talked about self-actualization. I think the class struggle is where you achieve self-actualization.” “I’m a very spiritual guy. I’m not a very religious man, but I believe in, you do things on this earth that you’re supposed to do, help one another…. And my understanding of Native Ameri­ can culture is that’s the way they are. Everything is spirituality. And I think it’s pretty fascinat­ ing, and that’s how I feel about it. I felt a calling. This is what I had to do.”

When people think of community organizing, they sometimes have a romantic view that can eas­ ily become distorted. Images of extraordinary figures, such as Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther

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King, Jr. come to mind. Because these were such charismatic and inspiring people, one may believe it is impossible to measure up to such standards and, thus, may see community organizing as a path for a different type of person. For this reason, I think it is necessary that one has a more realistic picture of who community organizers are and what it is exactly that they do. We live in a society that practices the worship of heroes, one in which performers, athletes, and political figures are held in high esteem. When we, looking outside of ourselves for strength, view those heroes as better or more powerful than we are, we are essentially giving away our personal power. The other problem with such hero worship is that it falsely extricates individu­ als from their social contexts; it masks the fact that individuals succeed because of a network of individuals around them. Creating the space to deconstruct these narratives of individualism that limit, paralyze, and oppress us is part of the work of organizing. This is an extremely important point in organizing; effective community organizing campaigns and other social-change efforts only exist in the context of a community of committed individuals who support one another, vet ideas, share joys and sorrows, and work together to develop and implement plans of action. Newcomers who first enter the field of community change work are often puzzled and disap­ pointed when they find themselves doing what appear to be mundane tasks—coordinating meet­ ings and events, making phone calls, sending e-mails, creating flyers, and collecting surveys. This work is not nearly as romantic as being in a historic demonstration or speaking truth to power, which is often the only impression that people have of community organizing. Consider, instead, that the beauty, meaning, and, ultimately, the success of organizing exist in the seemingly mun­ dane details of everyday organizing practice. Organizing is an embodied pursuit. When someone’s consciousness is first heightened about oppression and the possibilities of libera­ tion, it is a significant moment. Many people find that they immediately are compelled to connect this political awareness to their personal lives. They must act a certain way, live a certain lifestyle, spend time with particular people, dress in special clothes, ad infinitum. This can be a kind of shadow side to identity development in social movements. Trying to fit one’s life into an ideological frame­ work is not only impossible but may not necessarily even be desirable; humans and their social lives are much too contradictory and messy for that. But, nonetheless, certainly awareness and a desire for personal change are inevitably and appropriately sparked. Activist Samuel Kass had this experience: I have found living my life in a way that is consistent with my values to be the most challenging aspect of activism. Our everyday life.Time. Money. Energy. Classes. Groups we participate in. What we read. Clothes we wear. Food we eat. All will not be perfect, and we are often forced to make tradeoffs, but we must be aware of and consider every aspect of our life. (Kass, 2005, p. 188) For some organizers, the relationship between “the personal” and “the political” can never be separate. For a cisgender lesbian woman, who lives in a heteronormative world in a same-sex relationship, her personal reality is always in political dissonance to the mainstream culture. Other organizers proactively seek ways in which they can make their personal lives commensurate with their political leanings. From a transformative organizing perspective, actualizing one’s ideals in everyday life is a necessary condi­ tion for social change. This framework can be expressed through a variety of lifestyle choices, such as housing, food, clothing, and transportation. It can also be reflected in the way one chooses to interact with people, emphasizing nonexploitative, horizontal, and compassionate relations whenever possible. By choosing to live in a developing country or in an inner city with limited resources, an activist may consciously create a lifestyle that is in solidarity with people who are suffering the most from

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damaging economic and social policies and practices. Indeed, historically, living in solidarity with people on the margins of society has been a social-change tactic engaged in by the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Jane Addams, and many others. The Settlement House movement was an attempt to invoke this kind of solidarity as a social-change strategy. However, it is important that one not fool oneself into thinking that they can completely understand the suffering of a homeless person if one has not personally been homeless. Most organizers have a warm bed to go home to at night. This is, of course, a good thing because being able to have one’s basic needs met is pretty important in terms of being effective in social-change work. TRANSFORMATIVE ORGANIZING Too many communities, families, and individuals are living in dire straits and struggling to sur­ vive, make ends meet, and stay safe. To remedy this immoral and unjust situation, they need public policies and social resources that can provide the conditions for them to flourish and achieve their full functioning capabilities and to realize their dreams in community with one another. However, even if there was a magic snap of the fingers and comprehensive social welfare supports were suddenly in place, policies that perpetuate mass incarceration disappeared, and corporations were no longer legally deemed to have personhood, there would still be an enormous challenge to be faced. Poor People’s Campaign leader, Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II (cited in Barber, Lowery & Theoharis, 2018) has said that what underlies these policies and practices is a moral problem. We would still need to transform the moral injury caused by these old policies, the sto­ ries and beliefs that undergird them, and the ways of relating to one another in communities and institutions that have perpetuated them. Attending to both the external/material changes AND the interior transformations is fundamental to what it means to do transformative change work. Several thinkers have noted the different strategies that constitute transformative approaches to change (see Table 2.1). Environmental activist Joanna Macy has described three types of change work. Holding actions are the actions that are needed to alleviate the deleterious impacts of the current system. Creating new structures is the work of creating new systems inside the shell of the old one that is falling apart. Changing consciousness is the educational and self-inquiry work needed to undo the ways that systemic oppression manifests in our thinking, feeling, and being. Similarly, the group Momentum has identified parallel categories—Dominant Institutional Change, Alternative Institutions, and Personal Transformation. TABLE 2.1

Transformative approaches to change

Macy

Momentum

Examples

(Three Types of Transformative Work)

(Three Parts of movement ecology)

Holding actions

Dominant institutional Change

Direct action, Protest, organizing, advocacy, social services

Creating new structures

alternative institutions

solidarity economy, Cooperatives, Time Banks, Community Land Trusts

Change in Consciousness

Personal Transformation

Group Processing, Healing Justice, Body-mind Work

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According to Mann (2011), transformative organizing “works to transform the system, trans­ form the consciousness of the people being organized, and in the process, transform the con­ sciousness of the organizer” (p. x). Transformative organizing is a practice of changing and healing the historical, intergenerational, and intersectional traumas and injuries caused by oppres­ sive social systems through direct action, participatory processes, and healing justice. While the current system causes harm to everyone, people who stand at the intersections of multiple forms of oppression by virtue of their positionality are the most vulnerable and, thus, their voices must be centered. Thus, transformative organizing views understanding intersectionality and trauma as vital to social change work as changing policies and expanding resources. A good example of a framework for transformative justice comes from the Young Women’s Empowerment Project (YWEP) (cited in Brown, 2017), wherein the group: “1) Acknowledges the reality of state harm; 2) Looks for alternative ways to address/interrupt harm, which do not rely on the state; 3) Relies on organic, creative strategies that are community created and sustained; and 4) Transforms the root causes of violence, not only the individual experience” (p. 135). The Jemez principles (cited in Brown, 2017) for democratic organizing are a set of ethi­ cal principles that can guide transformative organizers in their work. The first principle is Be Inclusive. This means that organizers hold central diversity in theory and practice and that they pay attention to people’s lived realities at the intersections of multiple oppressions. The second principle is Emphasis on Bottom-Up Organizing. This resonates with the bedrock of community organizing principles from the previous chapter which embrace participation, base building, and cultivating leadership amongst people who are most impacted by social problems. The third principle is Let People Speak for Themselves. This means that people who are affected by issues get to speak and that people with more power learn to listen. It also implies that when people cannot speak for themselves, the organizations and individuals think about representation in terms of how they are framing the population they are speaking about. The fourth principle is Work Together in Solidarity and Mutuality. At the basic level, this is about collaboration, resource sharing, and networking. It gets at the heart of intersectionality and multi-issue organizing and invites groups not only to collaborate across issues and values but to include the issues, analy­ ses, and values in their own work. The fifth principle is Build Just Relationships Amongst Ourselves. This is based on the idea of human dignity and that attending to the ways that we interact in organizations and communities is the only way forward. Because many of us doing this work carry historical, intergenerational, and individual experiences of trauma and oppression, organ­ izing must include healing through just relationship building. The sixth principle is Commitment to Self-Transformation, which means we attend to the ways that internalized “imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy” (hooks, 2016) hurts us as we come to embody the values of peace, freedom, and equality. Commitment to self-transformation and building relationships are some of the underlying principles of a sister concept to transformative justice, namely healing justice. Healing jus­ tice is a framework and set of practices for attending to the wounds of systemic oppression through personal, interpersonal, and organizational healing (Pyles, 2018). For workers who give their bodies-minds-hearts-spirits to their avocations, nonprofit and grassroots organizations can become hostile environments. Neoliberal organizational models fixate on efficiency and serve to discipline and “function to cultivate particular habits of mind” in clients and in workers themselves (Soss, Fording, & Schram, 2011, p. 208; Foucault [1975] 1997), what has been referred to as “the cop in the head and heart” (Rojas, 2007). Furthermore, the recycling of trauma in such organi­ zations can result in a relentless sense of crisis mode, identification with dominant hierarchies,

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disconnection, and unconscious communication patterns (Zimmerman, Pathikinda, Salgado, & James, 2010). Activist Angela Davis has noted how social movements of the past focused only on the external, but that movements of today are making an internal turn toward healing as essential to liberation. Thinking Like a Transformative Organizer One of the purposes of this text is to help readers develop a critical consciousness about social injustice and to think systemically and structurally so as to create real change in their own and other people’s lives. Later in the book, readers will learn how to very strategically and specifi­ cally co-create a power analysis in the context of a specific campaign, identifying who has power, how power is used, how power maintains the current conditions, and how people power can be leveraged for change. More broadly, this means cultivating an analysis of how patriarchal, white supremacist, and capitalist forces operate in various social arenas and institutions, including our own lives. The process should take readers on a journey that helps them confront racism, xeno­ phobia, gender oppression, classism, homophobia, ableism, and other forms of oppression and how these manifest in social policies and practices that have an impact on people’s lived realities in communities. The process should also help readers come to terms with how racism, for exam­ ple, manifests in and has an impact on people personally, whether they are White or a person of color. Research has shown that systemic oppression, such as racism, economic marginalization, or gender normativity has a negative impact on emotions, bodies, health, families, and communi­ ties (Williams & Mohammed, 2013; Gee, Walsemann, & Brondolo, 2012; Mansouri, Jenkins, Morgan, & Taouk, 2009). By doing the transformative work of understanding ourselves and each other more deeply, within and outside the formal systems that we function, it becomes clear that the personal is political. The thinking which one employs about individuals, families, communities, and institutions— and the interactions among them—is directly related to the ways in which one is inclined to inter­ vene in social problems. If one understands domestic violence to be caused by low self-esteem or learned helplessness in women, then concomitant interventions would focus on building the self-esteem of women. On the other hand, if one understands domestic violence to be a result of a patriarchal society that privileges cisgender men and devalues women, a series of institutional pol­ icies (e.g. criminal justice policies), and cultural practices (e.g. specific messages about women) that reinforce it, then interventions would likely focus on changing the social structure—changing norms, educating young boys, and holding perpetrators accountable. Similarly, if one compre­ hends the problem of poverty to be caused by laziness, then policies will require people on welfare to work at any job or even to do volunteer work. Or, if poverty is understood as a function of a capitalist system of inequality that creates low wages and minimal or no supports for people, then other strategies might be pursued, such as investments in education, living-wage policy, universal health care, or other forms of structural change. Thus, how one thinks about and frames social problems is clearly tied to how one attempts to intervene. Such thinking is intertwined with one’s own standpoint, or positionality, in society, as well as influences from the media, educational systems, professional norms, and the economic system. Further, critical systems thinking helps organizers see a bigger picture, pointing to the complex causes of problems, how quick fixes can perpetuate the problem, and how our own behaviors can unwittingly contribute to problems (Stroh, 2015).

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The philosophical and literary movements of postmodernism/poststructuralism/postcolo­ nialism, particularly that of social constructionism, are supportive in terms of breaking down oppressive narratives and revealing the slippery nature of rhetoric and language. These intellectual movements offer tools for reframing issues that attend to the realities of people who are marginal­ ized that can be empowering. Gergen (2015), Berger and Luckmann (1967), Bonvillain (2007), and other social constructionists have posited that individuals do not create language and mean­ ing in isolation; rather, meanings are a function of relationships and agreements among people in society. Reality is, in essence, socially constructed. The good news is that the stories we tell about people in society, especially the stories that are disempowering to people, such as “such and such group of people are worthless/a threat/disposable,” can be deconstructed. And the even better news is that these stories, these social constructions, can subsequently be reconstructed in ways that are empowering and liberating. The realities of neoliberal economic globalization, a major contextual factor in contem­ porary organizing, make clear the need for developing critical thinking skills. Many stories of economic development in a globalizing world assert that expanding markets will not only enhance everyone’s economic well-being but will enhance social development as well; these markets, we are told, offer a way to finally develop the developing world (Haslam, Schafer, & Beaudet, 2016). However, this idea of “development” historically has been a way for coloniz­ ing countries to bring countries that had been colonized into the modern world; it is based on the belief that third-world or global South countries, also known as developing nations, are primitive and need to be modernized (Haslam et al., 2016; Kaufman, 2003). The argument contends that corporate investment in these countries will make the standard of living for the poorest peoples increase. And yet theses narratives of the global economy are often constructed by the people who are the major beneficiaries of the new arrangements—corporate leaders, their allies in government, and actors in centralized global trade bureaucracies, such as the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund (Mander, 2001). The concept of freedom that undergirds the idea of free trade masks the negative effects of a deregulated economy. When one looks a little more closely at the actual living conditions of people residing in “free-trade zones,” one has to question if the workers and their families are indeed “free.” Whereas a globalized economy that increases communication and respectful sharing of cultures is something most people could agree on, a globalized economy that displaces people from their homes, removes health care benefits, pays people low wages, and damages their environment does not seem like such a good idea to many people. This practice of deconstructing narratives and inquiring further into the empirical circum­ stances of people’s lives, ultimately a kind of critical thinking, is indeed, as Pharr (1996) says, “the most important skill” for social change. This approach, which invites inquiry into the winners and losers of social arrangements, is guided by the critical theory tradition. Critical theory, which is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 3, is grounded in Marxist and neo-Marxist analyses that seek to clarify and interpret structural inequities that exist in society (Kincheloe & McLaren, 2011; Bohman, 2016). Whereas Marx was primarily concerned with class power, critical theorists have expanded his perspective and come to be concerned with racial, gender, and other forms of power that prohibit people from full inclusion and flourishing in society. It is an approach enhanced by intersectional perspectives, wherein oppressions, such as racism, sexism, and classism, are under­ stood to be interlocking (Crenshaw, 2018; Collins, 2009; Kaufman, 2003). Thus, an underlying assumption of this text is that progressive organizers working toward social change must necessar­ ily unravel all aspects of oppression based on an understanding of intersectionality.

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Later in the book, I talk about the framing perspective, a phenomenon identified by sociolo­ gists that emphasizes how reframing of issues is an essential step that community organizers must engage in before determining what action to take. The Occupy movement can be credited with creating the frame “We are the 99%.” This frame deconstructs the narrative that values corporate power and autonomy and a belief that the poor and middle class are powerless. By reframing this story into a message that affirms the power of nonmillionaires, Occupiers recentered people power and developed strategies to dismantle an environment (policies, institutions, etc.) that enables such corporate greed. Such critical and structural thinking is key to effective progressive community organizing. It is clear that one’s analysis gives rise to one’s methods. If one has no critical thinking skills to observe and analyze phenomena, then one can completely miss the boat and blindly intervene without understanding the roots of issues or the deep-seated strengths of a community. While act­ ing from a place of empathy and desire to help is a good thing, it is sometimes our own discomfort, a kind of empathic distress that guides our actions. Moreover, this is all a good reminder that we need each other to do this work. Effective critical and strategic thinking for social change can only happen within a supportive community of people who can help us with our blind spots and who share progressive values and a willingness to act. Because the way one frames or analyzes issues is related to the interventions employed, it follows that critical thinking skills and the ability to ana­ lyze systems are the foundations of organizing. Engaging in such power analysis is indispensable to community organizing practice (Sinclair & Russ, 2006). Thus, this critical approach is a principal orientation of this text. That being said, it is important that the cognitive dimension of the organ­ izer should not be overemphasized either as transformative change work is also always embodied with somatic, emotional, and spiritual dimensions, and so the next sections of this chapter and later chapters will attend to the whole self of organizers as well. PERILS OF ORGANIZING Organizer and theorist Grace Lee Boggs (2012) said that “activism can be the journey rather than the arrival.” She sees it as an evolutionary process of changing our values, “transforming ourselves from materialists, militarists, and individualists into a people who can be proud of how we are advancing humankind to a new stage of consciousness, creativity, and social and political respon­ sibility” (p. xvi). Community organizing has cognitive, moral, and emotional dimensions, and, thus, transformative community organizers need to seek clarity about their inner emotional and moral life. This element of organizing practice, although often ignored, is some of the most rich and productive work in which an organizer engages. In this section, I identify several potential emotional and moral situations that organizers may at one time or another encounter—anger, fear, despair, failure, burnout, and co-optation. At the end of the chapter, I offer some analysis and healing justice supports for working with them. Anger Anger has always been an emotion that has fueled social movements throughout history. It is a normal feeling that stems from the moral injury that comes from witnessing suffering. When witnessing or experiencing suffering, many people might find themselves not just experiencing

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the emotion of sadness or grief but also feeling outrage at a situation that could be otherwise. This is an important point because emotions are complex and many people could stand to develop their skills in identifying their emotions; indeed, it is worth noting that sometimes we may be experiencing anger or hostility on the surface, but if we were able to look more deeply, we may find that we are also experiencing grief or fear about the situation. Anger and the possibility of confrontation can be scary prospects for many people; indeed, the avoidance of anger seems to be a significant reason why some people eschew social-change work. People’s comfort levels with scenarios where tension, hostility, and conflict are present will likely depend on how anger was expressed in one’s family as well as cultural stories about anger. For example, African Americans expressing anger may quickly get labeled as “angry Black men” or “angry Black women.” Anger also has a gendered component in the sense that society seems to allow (white) men to experience this emotion (though not necessarily in healthy ways), whereas, for women, soci­ ety tends to discourage the expression of anger in any way. Thus, it only makes sense that these and other various aspects of anger would play themselves out in community organizing practice. Saul Alinsky (1971) and other organizers have believed that discord, tension, and confrontation are necessary conditions for social change. Such confrontation may or may not be accompanied by anger. When organizer Ernesto Cortes went through training with the IAF (Industrial Areas Foundation), he gained tremendous insight into himself. He said, “I had a tendency to jump down people’s throats, which could intimidate people…. I learned not to allow my anger to get so vociferous, to get more focused…. I learned the value of listening” (as quoted in Boyte, 1984, p. 131). Ultimately, the fire of anger is not sustainable. It will eventually burn itself out and so other deeper sources of inspiration and motives for our work are necessary. Clearly, working with anger in a self-aware manner presents a tremendous opportunity for transformative community organizers. Later in the text, I discuss models and tactics of organizing that take decidedly nonconfrontational approaches and that employ consensus approaches and nonviolent communication (Sherts, 2014; Eichler, 2007; Rosenberg, 2015) Avoiding anger, pretending it does not exist, or being afraid of it will not help create a differ­ ent world, nor will it help organizers themselves. If one avoids anger, then injustices themselves are denied. If one indulges in anger, one will not be an effective organizer; indeed, you will not be able to build community and people will avoid you. According to Gottlieb (1999), “It is the inability to be in the presence of our anger, not anger itself, which so often provokes uncontrolled violence, bitter revenge, or the loss of peace of mind” (p. 175). It is tempting to stew in righteous anger. Although anger is justified and useful because it stems from an acknowledgment of injustice and propels people to organize, it can also be a hindrance to completely being present and under­ standing a person, a policy, or a situation. Experiencing one’s own anger, while sometimes scary, can be very useful. In some situations, it might be better to consider delivering messages in creative ways, rather than directly from the anger. Sometimes, people can hear a message more clearly when it is not presented in a hostile manner; sometimes, people only hear the anger and cannot hear the message itself because of their own past experiences with angry people and situations. Because many people do not know how to be with anger and be okay with it, they may avoid the content of a message and only be engaged in the negative energy. A sophisticated organizer has the opportunity to work with these emotions in powerful and transformative ways; to be sure, it can be strategic to use anger skillfully. Saul Alinsky (1946/1989) once said, “If radicals are stormy and fighting on the outside, inside they pos­ sess an inner dignity. It is that tranquility that can come only from the consistency of conscience and conduct” (p. 18).

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Fear Fear is another emotion that can inspire and/or overwhelm organizers. Fear for the safety and well-being of oneself, one’s neighbors and one’s children can certainly inspire people to organize. But fear can be a significant barrier that prevents many people from ever engaging in organizing. Personal and social change implies a threat to that which is comfortable and familiar, even when the comfortable and familiar is unjust and downright toxic. One interfaith community organ­ izer said, We all have fears from time to time and anxiety, but you can’t be afraid to take a stance. You’ve got to be clear about your own weaknesses, but you can’t feel like anybody, no mat­ ter how powerful or smart they might be, has anything on you.You’ve got to figure them out and then you can play in that ballpark. Deal with fear in such a way that you can be clear in any situation. (Perkins, as quoted in Szakos & Szakos, 2007, p. 95) There are innumerable fears that organizers confront in the course of their work—a fear of speak­ ing in public, a fear of crowds, a fear of angry people, a fear of people in authority, a fear of not being strong enough/good enough/smart enough, and a fear of failure. Others may find them­ selves afraid of engaging in a one-on-one conversation with a constituent and asking them to join an organization or participate in an action. These organizers may be afraid of feeling like a sales­ person and, ultimately, afraid of being rejected, judged, or retaliated against. Fear may also stem from one’s social standpoint—an undocumented immigrant may be afraid of engaging in direct action tactics that could get them arrested and, subsequently, deported; a queer youth who is not out to their parents may be afraid of organizing with other LGBTQ youth for fear that they will be outed; a worker who is trying to secure better working conditions may fear retaliation from coworkers or bosses. Some of our fears and concerns are reasonable and may even protect us. Other fears may be ones that we can work through with the support of others and/or with the support of practices, such as mindfulness. Working with fear starts by paying attention to them. When fear becomes problematic or is paralyzing us, organizers can try a variety of remedies, such as journaling about their fears, talking to colleagues, engaging in rituals or spiritual practices, and, in some cases, seeking outside professional help from a coach or therapist.

Despair The far-reaching impacts of social injustice across the globe can feel overwhelming and can easily propel people into states of despair. Poverty, discrimination, violence, disease, and climate crisis can all seem like too much to bear and certainly too much to do anything about. Feeling and think­ ing about these issues can engender feelings of powerlessness and despair. Despair can turn into hopelessness and even cynicism. Gottlieb (1999) discusses this phenomenon with regard to the barriers faced by environmental activists: Because the engines of environmental destruction are strong, entrenched, and often mighty rich, and because … we carry conflicting obligations, time pressures, and simple fatigue, it

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often seems easier or safer not to resist. Thus, if we are to act, we will need to overcome the temptations of fear or laziness, of complacency and habit. These temptations, as I know very well from my own life, are continual. (p. 166) Community organizing can be overwhelming and confusing. Krill (1978) discusses how he felt in the 1960s when organizing was heightened across issues including war, poverty, and race. He writes that: Those years were not only exciting but also puzzling. If one found some ways to engage in radi­ cal protest, one felt some relief.Yet it never quite seemed that one was sufficiently involved, and change efforts too often seemed like some kind of predetermined scenario. Despite dramatic efforts, little seemed to change. When there was a change, it appeared that new problems, equally bad, replaced the old ones. One seemed deluged with “shoulds” and “oughts” concern­ ing one’s professional mission.Yet one remained bewildered as to what to do, where to start, and how far to extend oneself. (p. 175) Despair is not an emotion to be avoided, though. In fact, it can be a fertile place out of which clarity and action can ultimately arise. A challenge with despair is that it can lead to deeper and deeper despair potentially to the point of nihilism, where nothing matters. Why clean up a com­ munity park when it is just going to get dirty again? Why fight for banking regulations when the banks are just going to find a way around the regulations? Why protest in the streets when state violence will just crush any momentum? Indeed, our culture arguably even facilitates this kind of negative thinking making us feel as though we are not powerful enough to make change through media messages that tell us that we are incomplete people and that we need x, y, and z products to complete us. Thus, our personal and collective power becomes thwarted by our pursuit of com­ modities. It might be the case that our own internalized oppression (societal messages about our race, class, gender, body image, and so on that have negative impacts on our individual thinking and behaviors) and the stories we have come to tell ourselves contribute to this despair. For exam­ ple, if a person was raised in public housing and received regular messages from media, schools and others that public housing is a place that perpetuates a culture of poverty and is full of lazy and violent people, then one might internalize these stories, contributing to a person’s sense of despair about their ability to change such conditions. Deconstructing such stories is a key practice that is discussed throughout this text. Successful organizers have structures and tried-and-true practices for overcoming these barri­ ers and achieving success. In addition, transformative organizers create spaces to attend to these complex emotions and concerns. Despair, like many of the emotional perils confronted by organ­ izers, is not something that is necessarily addressed at one point in time and then never to be seen again; it is an ongoing process essential to social-change work. Environmental organizer Joanna Macy (Macy & Brown, 1998) conducts workshops for activists wanting formal practices that can help them work with this sense of despair. Similar to any of the emotional perils confronted by organizers, including fear and anger, despair is an emotional and arguably an existential/spiritual state that is best attended to rather than ignored or pushed away. Developing a more nuanced understanding of one’s own mind with the support of fellow organizers can improve organizers’ capabilities; such understanding can enhance empathy and the ability to move people from inac­ tion to action.

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Failure From one perspective, community organizers probably experience about as much failure as suc­ cess. And yet, it is important to interrogate the social construction of “failure” and “success,” something I do more thoroughly in later chapters. Organizers may engage in a campaign to pass a particular bill in a state legislature only to have the bill not pass. Is this failure? A poor turnout for a meeting or an event can be disappointing and may leave organizers feeling as though they failed. But there may be other unintended outcomes or learning opportunities that may not be immedi­ ately apparent. Advocating for the passage of a bill could have generated more knowledge in the community about the issue or created new leaders or capacities within an organization. Although only three people may have turned out for an important meeting, maybe one of those three was a new person who had an opportunity for more connected interaction and who has the potential for making important contributions or becoming a movement leader. More is not always better. The human mind has limits, and we cannot always see the outcome of our practices right away. Unfor­ tunately, in an era when neoliberal social services have resulted in the fetishization of outcomes, practitioners often find themselves in a position of having to prove that everything they are doing is a “success.” According to environmental activist Paul Hawken (2007), “the beauty of small acts is that they cannot be stopped. There is no inconsequential action, only consequential inaction. Real transformation originates from the bottom and moves outward” (p. 175). On the other hand, sometimes we do make mistakes. It may be an individual mistake, such as poor communication with a fellow organizer, or we may see our campaign’s message getting lost because we failed to provide important information in a press conference. Organizations also make mistakes, such as using the wrong tactics, failing to promote an event in an effective way, or causing moral harm to a person or other organization. One way to help with this inevitability is to create and nurture reflective practice environments, a form of healing justice, in which organizers can share feelings, critique actions, and improve their approaches. I talk about strategies for this later in the book.

Burnout One of Alice Walker’s (1976) early novels, Meridian tells the story of activists in Mississippi dur­ ing the civil rights movement. Walker recounts personal narratives of organizing work touching on themes, such as the racism and sexism within the movement, the physical and psychological toll of organizing, and romantic love between activists. She writes about the emotional effects that organizing has on people’s lives: Later that summer, after another demonstration, she saw him going down a street that did not lead back to the black part of town. His eyes were swollen and red, his body trembling, and he did not recognize her or even see her. She knew his blankness was battle fatigue.They all had it. She was as weary as anyone so that she spent a good part of her time in tears … whatever she was doing—canvassing, talking at rallies, tying her sneakers, laughing. (p. 82) Organizing can bring up a variety of emotions, ones that may appear in other realms of peo­ ple’s lives and ones that can only emerge from the daily grind of organizing. The “battle fatigue” is experienced by many practitioners and can manifest negatively on people’s physical, mental,

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emotional, and spiritual well-being. Burnout can affect an organizer’s intimate relationships with partners, children, family, and friends. It can be helpful to reflect on some of the differences in key terms that are relevant here, such as moral injury, compassion fatigue, and burnout (Figley, 2002; Norman & Maguen, 2019). Moral injury is a transgression (often systemic) through commission or omission that violates one’s beliefs and sensibilities that can result in feelings of disgust, anger, and shame, and can have negative impacts on people’s well-being. Certainly, many frontline workers who are responders to the COVID-19 epidemic who have lacked the support, resources, and leadership to adequately respond have experienced a moral injury. Compassion fatigue is a condition resulting from con­ tinuous contact with people who are suffering (Ray, Wong, White, & Heaslip, 2013). Burnout happens to practitioners often as a result of environmental, particularly workplace, conditions that are antithetical to their well-being (Maslach, 2003). In contrast to compassion fatigue (which happens as a result of bearing witness to suffering), burnout happens to individuals working in organizations and movements that do not attend to an organizer’s personal, emotional, and spiritual needs and realities. Thus, not only are personal self care habits important for mediat­ ing burnout, organizational mechanisms may be even more important. Organizational mecha­ nisms are value-oriented policies and practices, particularly those that provide organizers with the opportunity to have a say in their working conditions. Self care and collective care can mediate moral injury and burnout. Indeed, this kind of care is a political act. As Audre Lorde (2017) once famously said, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” I have seen too many organizers, including myself, become swallowed by a narrative about martyrdom, eschewing rest, healthy eating, and exercise for their cause. It is easy to become consumed with such stories. But, if we cannot stay healthy and centered, then we will inevitably make poor decisions. Unfortunately, I have my own personal experiences with this situation as my work in the battered women’s move­ ment, coupled with other factors, led me to weight gain, lack of sleep, addiction, and generally poor health. Although I certainly made my own choices during that time, the environment I was in, with long hours and constant crisis mode, did not proactively support healthy lifestyles. It would take me many years to undo this damage and begin to realize that my own health and well­ being come first, the basic tenet of healing justice. Co-Optation Organizers are often at great risk for being co-opted by the power of the social structures that they seek to change. When this happens, organizers inadvertently may assimilate into an estab­ lished group or institution whose interests and values may be at odds with those for which the organizers were originally struggling. It is not uncommon for this to happen, and there are a variety of situations that can trigger co-optation. It is easy to see why organizers could succumb to or align with people or policies that support the status quo. Association with the status quo can result in money, prestige, security, and other opportunities for an organization or for organizers themselves. Co-optation is a term used to explain how organizers lose their path and drift from their missions when tempted by the rewards of aligning with the values, policies, and practices of oppressive systems or people. Of course, this perspective on co-optation assumes that the interests of corporations, social systems, and public institutions are separate from those of communities. Based on a Marxist

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historical analysis, for example, these interests certainly are quite distinct. On the other hand, such conflicts between “the oppressed” and “the oppressors” are also social constructions that could be otherwise. From the perspective of a consensus-oriented approach to organizing, there is always common ground or shared values. But, how does one balance the risk of co-optation and the opportunities to negotiate or reach consensus with the people who hold power? This can be balanced through values clarification at the personal and organizational levels. HEALING POWER IN ORGANIZING: AN ORGANIZER’S PATH TO MEANING AND SUCCESS Dawn Belkin Martinez (cited in Axel-Lute and Martinez, 2017), scholar and clinician, studied Latinx immigrant community organizers who were involved in a democratic, participatory organ­ ization that was addressing housing. She identified how organizing bolsters their resilience and offers an alternative pathway for healing as compared to traditional therapeutic or psychophar­ macological interventions. In this organization, the people most affected by housing issues were setting the agenda in terms of what issues to take on and how to go about addressing them. People reported that this kind of organizing work helped them build their skills, feel a sense of solidarity with others, and enhance their well-being. One participant with a serious medical illness said that organizing was her medicine. Martinez’s inquiries eventually led to the development of a model of doing therapy called Liberation Health, which attends to the individual in the context of culture and institutions. This is a good reminder that the lines between organizing and social services as well as between “helper” and “helped” are appropriately blurred from the perspective of transformative organizing. Community organizing and social-change work are activities that have the potential to create tremendous healing and meaning for organizers in addition to the obvious benefits to society. In this final section, I offer some perspectives on the qualities and experiences that can nurture an organizer’s social-change journey. When nurtured, they can enhance not only one’s personal power and well-being, but they also can contribute positively to organizational climates and, ulti­ mately, can prevent burnout and facilitate a community organizing practice that is sustainable over time. Although there are many qualities that are important for organizing, I propose these most essential to pay attention to—persistence, clarity, solidarity, joy, and creativity. Persistence If one analyzes major social reform and social-change victories in history and across the globe, most organizers would say the secret to their success was persistence. In the face of anger, fear, and despair, the key is not to give up. It is important to recognize that real results always entail a significant commitment of time, energy, and resources, and then some. It requires sacrifice in a world where we are often seeking comfort and taking the path of least resistance. While organizers experience small victories, including moments of consciousness-raising, leadership development, and empowerment (and these are never to be underestimated or devalued), social change and other reform-oriented victories that result in real changes in the material environ­ ment can be elusive. For some organizers, their ultimate goals may never be achieved in their own lifetime.

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A Zen Buddhist koan (a teaching question or paradox) asks, “How do you go straight up a mountain with ninety-nine curves?” (Glassman, 1998). The answer is that one has to take every curve as it comes—every systemic flaw, every victim-blaming legislator, every racist planning commission. Taking every curve includes being present and gentle with one’s self, one’s colleagues and even one’s “enemies” in times of confusion, hopelessness, and apathy. In a culture that prides itself on life hacks and countless efficiencies, this kind of patience is counter-cultural. Persistent community organizing practice requires self-awareness and attention to the rugged terrain of emotional perils. An organizer could employ specific techniques, such as mindfulnessbased meditation, journaling, or engagement in authentic and/or therapeutic conversations with friends, colleagues, or helping professionals. In addition to self-awareness practice, an organizer can help co-construct a supportive organizational environment, something that is key for sustain­ able practice. This requires organizational policies that support the most marginalized people in the organization with economic rewards and a voice in decision-making processes. Finally, creat­ ing and enacting nurturing self care plans can enable practitioners to persist through difficulties. Such self care plans can attend to the spiritual, physical, emotional, and social dimensions of an organizer, engaging the whole self. Going to religious services or cultural events could engage one’s spiritual and social dimensions, whereas gardening could engage the spiritual and physical aspects. Getting a massage, going to the gym, and going for walks in the park engage our physical selves. None of these kinds of sustaining self care practices is possible though without changing the culture and structure of the organizational environment such that the challenges of burnout do not become more rhetoric for bootstrap individualism. Ultimately, collective care is necessary to sustain organizations and organizers. Clarity In order to stay sharp in organizing, it is necessary to pay attention to evidence that is constantly shifting—about ourselves and the environments we function in. This clarity is achieved through our human powers of observation using somatic, emotional, and other ways of knowing. Clarity is also gained through critical reflection grounded in a power analysis that questions the social constructions and hegemonies of economic policies, social welfare programs, and institutions. It is necessary to seek this clarity every day, as we are constantly inundated with new stories and information 24/7. When one gets up in the morning and feels stiff even though one might have done some stretches the day before, one has to begin anew and get the kinks worked out. Just as one might strive for a kind of clarity with one’s body every day, so too a community organizing practice requires daily and even moment-to-moment maintenance. Everyone has blind spots or knots to be clarified and undone. Making the most of supportive resources can facilitate this clar­ ity. These resources include personal resources and resources within communities and organiza­ tions, especially amongst our allies. The Quaker tradition has developed a process known as the Clearness Committee to enhance clarity in important decision making. The method is based on the idea that everyone has an innate wisdom and that this wisdom can be illuminated through the help of a group of people who offer compassionate, undivided attention. This group poses questions to the seeker rather than offering advice. Integrating similar practices can be efficacious for organizations and can facilitate clarity about confusing situations that require action.

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Being clear about what issues are most important and what steps to take can be developed through collective processes. Very often when one person in a group has an opinion or idea about something and someone else has a different one, a confrontational response can result, whether that be through a debate and a subsequent battle of ideas or through one person backing down and withdrawing his or her idea altogether. Thus, as an antidote to such an approach, has been what movement actors call Collective Thinking into its structure and practice. According to the Asia Pacific Greens Federation (n.d.): The aim of Collective Thinking, on the other hand, is to construct. That is to say, two people with differing ideas work together to build something new. The onus is, therefore, not on my idea or yours; rather it is the notion that two ideas together will produce something new, some­ thing that neither of us had envisaged beforehand. This focus requires of us that we actively listen, rather than merely be preoccupied with preparing our response. (“Open Reflection,” para 3) The authors go on to explain how to conduct a general assembly and how to operate by consen­ sus. This is just one example of how organizers can cultivate clarity in their practice. At the end of the day though, sometimes things are not clear, sometimes there is confusion. Given all of the variables and complexity in the world we live in, it is important to remember that sometimes we cannot “figure it out,” we may need to sleep on it, let things gestate, and/or take no action.

Solidarity Related to the idea of collective thinking is the importance of embracing solidarity and the com­ munity building that can result from that. Western culture, particularly U.S. culture, tends to emphasize rugged individualism and de-emphasize collectivity. Other cultures tend to engage in more activities as a group, with immediate and extended family, friends, and other community members. White U.S. culture tends to emphasize doing things either individually or within the nuclear family. However, most decision making and activities in community organizing practice are done collectively. This may be a difficult pill to swallow for organizers who may have prefer­ ences for working alone. Many people have critiqued U.S. culture as consumerist or tending toward commodification, full of superficial values, norms, and cultural icons, and oriented toward efficiency and homogene­ ity, as articulated in the idea of the McDonaldization of society (Ritzer, 2018). As an antidote to this, as we work to create solidarity and build community, we can create new symbols and stories that are meaningful to us. Some actions can create symbolism and meaning that are drawn from nondominant cultures or that create new cultures as in the following examples. Garden activists struggling for the Esperanza garden on the Lower East Side embraced a Puerto Rican tree frog, the coqui, as a symbol for the campaign. In a clever use of street theater, Reclaim the Streets (RTS) of New York staged a wrestling match between SuperBarrio Man (a Mexican pop culture hero), who embodied and symbolized the strength of working people, and various corrupt politicians and businesspersons (Shepard, 2011). Solidarity is a lived sense of unity experienced through sentiment and/or action among indi­ viduals within a group and/or across differences. Solidarity requires that people overcome fear; fear of one another, fear of disrupting the status quo, and so on. It also requires direct forms of

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communication amongst organizers, whether it is a one-on-one conversation to engage people in organizing work, the planning and processing that organizational actors engage in, or the “mass self-communication” (Castells, 2015) that national and global movements utilize through digital technology. Castells (2015) writes about the power of mass social communication in the digital age: In our time, multimodal, digital networks of horizontal communication are the fastest and most autonomous, interactive, programmable and self-expanding means of communication in history.The characteristics of communication processes between individuals engaged in the social movement determine the organizational characteristics of the movement itself: the more inter­ active and self-configurable communication is, the less hierarchical is the organization and the more participatory the movement.This is why the networked social movements of the digital age represent a new species of a social movement. (p. 15) As powerful as digital communication is (and potentially as damaging, as it can also lead to more antipathy and apathy), it can never replace face-to-face conversations and the visceral and felt sense of solidarity in real time. We must remember that it is a tool and not an end in itself.

Joy and Creativity Attending to pain and suffering in marginalized communities can seem like pretty grim work; certainly, some organizers may appear to be very serious people. However, engaging in liber­ ating practices, though sometimes painful, need not be joyless. Although no one is quite sure whether she actually said it or not, the 20th-century activist Emma Goldman is thought to have proclaimed, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.” Indeed, Goldman was interested in social-change work that was in itself creative and joyous and that fashioned a world in which creativity was valued. She said, “I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody’s right to beautiful, radiant things” (Goldman, 2011, p. 35). Sometimes social-change work can appear to be quite linear—identifying issues, developing strategy and tactics, engaging in actions, evaluating actions, and then on to the next issue. This approach can, unfortunately, block out creative and innovative ideas that can influence organizing. Thus, making space for art and creativity in social-change work is very important. Shepard (2005) has highlighted the “interrelations of joy, justice, pleasure and use of culture as an organizing tool” (p. 435). Adrienne Maree Brown (2019), author of Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good, said, “Pleasure is the point. Feeling good is not frivolous, it is freedom… There is no way to repress pleasure and expect liberation, satisfaction, or joy.” This creativity and joy was a hallmark of organizing in post-Katrina New Orleans. The strength of the culture fueled community redevelopment, including celebrations, such as Mardi Gras and secondline parades, neighborhood festivals, and various forms of art, such as dance, painting, and street theater. In other venues, the practice of clowning has been used in direct actions. The Reverend Billy, an activist with the “Church of Stop Shopping,” discussed the practice of clowning: “Once we under­ stand we are controlled by clowns, you can be a clown yourself. Once it’s clowns versus clowns, then maybe the best idea might win. And the best idea is compassion” (Shepard, 2011, p. 246). Related to joy is the idea of creativity and play, such as the utilization of clever or ironic slo­ gans in framing messages or the use of street performance as an organizing tactic. Shepard (2011)

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has noted that such acts in and of themselves are a subversion of the Protestant work ethic that dominates our culture in which the lines between work and play are very clearly demarcated. Furthermore, the politics of rage and the shrill sounds that it evokes has its limits; play and joy, on the other hand, and the beautiful sounds of celebration can foster resiliency and a healthy move­ ment culture (Shepard, 2011). “Play serves as a device for group solidarity, as well as a tool used to both disrupt what is wrong with the world and generate images of what a better one might look like.” (Shepard, 2011, p. 9). According to Don Lubov (n.d.): “Creativity is a fundamental human expression. It puts the civil in civilization. It is, ultimately, why we are here…It is our destiny as a species to listen to our inner voices.We are obliged to receive what is offered in the loving spirit in which it is offered.We are grateful to be a channel for our inner force and to allow it to flow through us to others. Inspiration, creator, audience. Sometimes, we are one, sometimes another, but we’re all part of the creative equation. Creativ­ ity is the breath of life.We couldn’t live without it.” The group, Beautiful Trouble, is a support organization offering training to organizers and social movements on creative activism, supporting groups, such as Los Angeles fast-food workers and SEIU Local 721 in the “Fight for 15” Campaign (Boyd, 2013). Overall, the value of play is com­ mensurate with a capabilities framework that embraces human flourishing. Indeed, Nussbaum (2011) articulated “play” as one of the 10 central human-functioning capabilities.

Inquiry Tools for Change To facilitate awareness of the various human states and qualities presented in this chapter—the ones that appear as hindrances in our community organizing practice, such as fear and failure, and the ones that provide inspiration and meaning, such as clarity and joy and creativity, it is necessary to have a practice oriented toward nurturing this awareness. The practice of inquiry can serve as a tool for practitioners to become more aware of themselves and others, thereby enhancing their abilities to be present and ultimately successful in their personal and socialchange work. Self-inquiry, as I present it here, is a practice with origins in multiple religious and spiritual traditions. Inquiry is fundamentally concerned with the question, “Who am I?” As bio-psycho-social­ spiritual-ecological beings, answering the question of who we are is complicated, and seemingly elusive. Our physical bodies (bodily sensations, cells, organs, etc.) are always changing and our psychological selves (impermanent thoughts and feelings) can sometimes make a person feel like a caged monkey. Who we are is also a function of our familial and cultural beliefs and practices. Furthermore, our identity is influenced by the messages we received in school and other institu­ tions as well as the larger political and social stories that inevitably partially define us. Not only are we social creatures, but we are also ecological ones as we are a part of the natural world (we need oxygen, sunshine, and rain to survive) and, thus, exploring our ecological selves is part of this inquiry. The practice of inquiry encourages us to be present for this parade of sensations, stories, and images that constitute ourselves. If we do not know who we are, we will have a difficult time being authentic with people in the community, and we will be challenged to make good decisions. In fact, without nurturing a practice that allows us to know ourselves more deeply, we may be

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doomed to replicate oppressive narratives and practices, recycle trauma, and commit aggressions against ourselves and others. In any given moment, we have the opportunity to ask ourselves, “Who am I being right now?” and engage in somatic inquiry around this. In a one-on-one meeting with a constituent, I may sense that I am being overly aggressive. As I become aware of that feeling, I might notice that my fists are ever so slightly clenched and my breath is constricted in my upper body. I may find that I am resistant to truly experiencing this because I may hold a belief that “aggressive people are bad,” and thus, I push it away. I can continue to explore the experience: “Why am I being aggressive at this moment? Am I afraid of failing in this relationship with this person? Am I afraid that my organization will lose them as a member and then I will be perceived as a failure as an organizer?” These and other questions aid us in undoing the structured and habitual behaviors that bind us in our practice, and our lives. The question—“Who am I?”—is always available to us and can create spaciousness for practitioners during stressful times and educate them about the nature of indi­ vidual reactions and habits. The three key steps to engage in this practice are to 1) ask the question, “Who am I right now?” or “how are things right now?”; 2) check in with the body, the breath, the thoughts/emotions, and the environment; and 3) probe deeper by asking, “What is this experience about?” The last question can be answered by considering one’s own personal and social background, the context that one is in, and other individuals who may be connected to the experience at the moment. This practice can be conducted at any time throughout the day in one’s organizing life and in one’s personal life, alone through self-reflection or journaling or with a supportive person or colleague. One may feel aversion to a practice where one is charged with knowing oneself and others more deeply for fear of what one may discover. But, everyone possesses an ego that is full of false beliefs and confusion, a product of our upbringing, our culture, and our personal psychology, so there is nothing to be ashamed of. Developing curiosity about our experiences and who we are can facilitate our practice. In addition, this practice requires a person to disengage from what has been called “The Voice” (Roth, 2011), the superego, or the cop in the head and heart, the habitual internal critic that tells us that we will never change or that we are an unworthy person for having certain thoughts and feelings. Consider that inscribed into the entrance of the temple of Apollo at Delphi were the Greek words for “Know Thyself.” Transformative community organizers must know themselves in order to understand and act in relation to other people’s needs and desires. Some scholars have articulated a similar approach, arguing that social welfare practices oper­ ate in a borderlands space that transcends dichotomies, such as art and science (Jackson, 2000; Walter, 2003). Walter (2003) argues that it is like improvisational acting “characterized by cre­ ative and spontaneous reflexivity, as well as moment-to-moment decision making in continuous relation to the social context” (p. 320). Writers on the topic have advocated that successful practitioners, like good improvisational actors, attend to the moment, accept ideas and sug­ gestions, and advance the action by adding something to it. It is what Brown (2017) has called emergent strategy. Burghardt (1982) has argued for what he calls “tactical self-awareness” in community organizing, which emphasizes that, when one is choosing and engaging in particu­ lar organizing tactics, it is helpful to be aware of personal as well as organizing limitations in particular contexts. Rather than succumbing to the lure of a grand theory of organizing, the tactically self-aware person accepts the realities of organizing, including one’s own limitations, fears, and concerns.

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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION 1. What are your personal motivations for engaging in and learning about social change and community organizing? 2. Talk to someone who is doing community organizing as a full-time job. What does their typical day look like? What do they love most about the job? What is most challenging about the job? 3. Discuss how you have dealt with anger in your life. What are some useful techniques that can help you work with anger when doing social-change work? 4. Why might some people be more vulnerable than other people to moral injury or burnout in community organizing? What do you think are strategies to prevent burnout? 5. Discuss some ways in which you might be able to incorporate the practice of inquiry into both your personal and community organizing life. What do you think the benefits would be? What barriers or negative aspects of the practice would you anticipate? 6. What is self-care to you? Do you think there is a stigma associated with self-care in our soci­ ety? What are some of those stigmas and how can one overcome them?

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER INQUIRY Books Boggs, G. L., & Kurashige, S. (2012). The next American revolution: Sustainable activism for the twentyfirst century. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Booth, M. (2012). Memoirs of a community organizer from Hawai’i. Corona del Mar, CA: New Patriot Publishing. Boyd, A., & Mitchell, D. O. (2016). Beautiful trouble: A toolbox for revolution (Reprint edition). New York, NY: OR Books. Brown, A. M. (2019). Pleasure activism: The politics of feeling good. Chico, CA: AK Press. Sen, R. (2003). Stir it up: Lessons in community organizing and advocacy. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Zinn, H., & Arnove, H. (2004). Voices of a people’s history. New York, NY: Seven Stories.

Web Idealist.org. http://www.idealist.org National Organizers Alliance. http://www.noacentral.org The To Do Institute. http://www.todoinstitute.org/naikan.html Racial Equity Tools. https://www.racialequitytools.org/home Shelter Force. https://shelterforce.org/ Wiser Earth. https://www.wiser.org/ Yes Magazine. https://www.yesmagazine.org/

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REFERENCES alinsky, s. (1989). reveille for radicals. new York, nY: vintage Books. (original work published 1946). alinsky, s. D. (1971). rules for radicals: a practical primer for realistic radicals. new York, nY: random House. asia Pacific Greens federation. (n.d.). Quick guide on group dynamics in people’s assemblies. retrieved from asia Pacific Greens website: https://www.asiapacificgreens.org/es/node/2371 axel-Lute, m., & martinez, D. B. (interviewee). (2017). How organizing for justice helps your mental health [interview transcript]. retrieved from shelterforce website https://shelterforce.org/2017/11/22/how-organizing­ for-justice-helps-your-mental-health/?fbclid=iwar3xdowkfKmdnYkLBfPx5ct27Tp3CPnTvvybxkym-Z_ 4co-u3tfZrqPfnoa Barber, W. J. ii., Lowery, r., & Theoharis, L. (2018). revive us again: vision and action in moral organizing. Boston, ma: Beacon Press. Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1967). The social construction of reality: a treatise in the sociology of knowledge. new York, nY: anchor. Boggs, G. L., & Kurashige, s. (2012). The next american revolution: sustainable activism for the twenty-first cen­ tury. Berkeley, Ca: University of California Press. Bohman, J. (2016). Critical theory. in e. n. Zalta (ed.), The stanford encyclopedia of Philosophy. retrieved June 16, 2019, from https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2016/entries/critical-theory/ Bonvillain, n. (2007). Language, culture, and communication: The meaning of messages (5 ed.). Upper saddle river, nJ: Prentice Hall. Bosi, L., Giugni, m., & Uba, K. (2016). The consequences of social movements. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Uni­ versity Press. Boyd, a. (2013). food fight! retrieved from https://beautifultrouble.org/2013/09/15/food-fight/ Boyte, H. C. (1984). Community is possible: repairing america’s roots. new York, nY: Harper & row. Brown, a. m. (2019). Pleasure activism: The politics of feeling good. Chico, Ca: aK Press. Brown, a. m. (2017). emergent strategy: shaping change, changing worlds. Chico, Ca: aK Press. Buchbinder, e. (2007). Being a social worker as existential commitment: from vulnerability to meaningful purpose. The Humanistic Psychologist, 35(2), 161–174. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/08873260701273894. Burghardt, s. (1982). The other side of organizing – personal dilemmas and politics demands. Cambridge, ma: schenkman Publishing Co. Castells, m. (2015). networks of outrage and hope: social movements in the internet age (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK; malden, ma: Polity Press. Collins, P. H. (2009). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. new York, nY: routledge Classics, routledge. Crenshaw, K. (2018). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: a black feminist critique of antidiscrimina­ tion doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. in. in K. T. Bartlett, & r. Kennedy (eds.), feminist legal theory: readings in law and gender (pp. 57–80). new York, nY: routledge. (original work published 1991) eichler, m. (2007). Consensus organizing: Building communities of mutual self-interest. Thousand oaks, Ca: sage Publications, inc.

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FOUNDATIONS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING figley, C. r. (2002). Treating compassion fatigue. new York, nY: routledge. foucault, m. (1997). Discipline & punish: The birth of the prison (2nd ed.; a. sheridan, Trans.). new York, nY: vintage Books, random House inc. (original work published 1975) Gee, G. C., Walsemann, K. m., & Brondolo, e. (2012). a life course perspective on how racism may be related to health inequities. american Journal of Public Health, 102(5), 967–974. doi: https://doi.org/10.2105/ aJPH.2012.300666. Gelder, s. v., & Davis, a. (interviewee). (2016). The radical work of healing: fania and angela Davis on a new kind of civil rights activism. retrieved from Yes magazine website: https://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/life-after-oil/ the-radical-work-of-healing-fania-and-angela-davis-on-a-new-kind-of-civil-rights-activism-20160218 Gergen, K. J. (2015). an invitation to social construction (3rd ed.). London, UK: sage Publications Ltd. Glassman, B. (1998). Bearing witness: a zen master’s lessons in making peace. new York, nY: Bell Tower. Goldman, e. (2011). Living my life. United states: Create space independent Publishing Platform. Gordon, P., & orr, D. (interviewee). (2009). Hope is a verb [interview transcript]. retrieved from The Paula Gor­ don show website: http://www.paulagordon.com/shows2/orr2/index.html Gottlieb, r. s. (1999). a spirituality of resistance: finding a peaceful heart and protecting the earth. Lanham, mD: rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Haslam, P., schafer, J., & Beaudet, P. (2016). introduction to international development: approaches, actors, and issues (3rd ed.). Don mills, ontario, Canada: oxford University Press. Hawken, P. (2007). Blessed unrest: How the largest social movement in the world came into being and why nobody saw it coming. new York, nY: Penguin Books. hooks, b. (2016, march 16). feminist democratic process [Blog post]. retrieved from http://www.bellhooksinstitute. com/blog/2016/3/17/feminist-democratic-process Jackson, s. P. (2000). Lines of activity: Performance, historiography, and domesticity in Hull House. ann arbor, mi: The University of michigan Press. Kass, s. (2005). Letters to the youth of tomorrow. in D. Berger, C. Boudin, & K. farrow (eds.), Letters from young activists: Today’s rebels speak out (pp. 185–188). new York, nY: nation Books. Kaufman, C. (2003). ideas for action: relevant theory for radical change. Cambridge, ma: south end Press. Kincheloe, J. L., & mcLaren, P. (2011). rethinking critical theory and qualitative research. in K. Hayes, s. r. steinberg, & K. Tobin (eds.), Key works in critical pedagogy (pp. 285–326)). rotterdam, The netherlands; Boston, ma: sense Publishers. Krill, D. (1978). existential social work. new York, nY: The free Press. Lorde, a. (2017). a burst of light: and other essays. mineola, nY: ixia Press. (original work published 1988) Lubov, s. (n.d.). inspirational story Creativity. retrieved from Passiton.com website: https://www.passiton.com/ your-inspirational-stories/1723-Creativity macy, J., & Brown, m. Y. (1998). Coming back to life: Practices to reconnect our lives, our world. Gabriola island, British Columbia, Canada: new society Publishers. mander, J. (2001). facing the rising tide. in J. mander, & e. Goldsmith (eds.), The case against the global economy and a turn toward the local (pp. 1–16). abingdon, oxfordshire, england: earthscan.

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conditions, and burnout among frontline mental health care professionals. Traumatology, 19(4), 255–267. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1534765612471144. ritzer, G. (2018). The mcDonaldization of society: into the digital age (9th ed.). Thousand oaks, Ca: saGe Publications, inc. rojas, P. X. (2007). are the cops in our heads and hearts? in inCiTe (ed.), The revolution will not be funded: Beyond the non-profit industrial complex (pp. 197–214). Cambridge, ma: south end Press. rosenberg, m. B. (2015). nonviolent communication: a language of life (3rd ed.). encinitas, Ca: PuddleDancer Press. roth, G. (2011). Women, food and god: an unexpected path to almost everything. new York, nY: scribner. shepard, B. (2005). The use of joyfulness as a community organizing strategy. Peace & Change, 30(4), 435–468. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0130.2005.00328.x. shepard, B. (2011). Play, creativity and social movements: if i can’t dance, it’s not my revolution. new York, nY: routledge. sherts, m. (2014). Conscious communication: How to establish healthy relationships and resolve conflict peacefully while maintaining independence. United states of america: sky meadow Press. sinclair, Z., & russ, L. (2006). organization development for social change: an integrated approach to com­ munity transformation. movement strategy Centre. retrieved from https://movementstrategy.org/directory/ organization-development-for-social-change/ soss, J., fording, r. C., & schram, s. f. (2011). Disciplining the poor: neoliberal paternalism and the persistent power of race. Chicago, iL; London, UK: University of Chicago Press. staggenborg, s. (2005). social movement theory. in G. ritzer (ed.), encyclopedia of social theory (vol. ii, pp. 753–759). Thousand oaks, Ca: sage. stroh, D. P. (2015). systems thinking for social change: a practical guide to solving complex problems, avoiding unintended consequences, and achieving lasting results. White river Junction, vT: Chelsea Green Publishing. szakos, K. L., & szakos, J. (2007). We make change: Community organizers talk about what they do—and why. nashville, Tn: vanderbilt University Press. vivian, P., & Hormann, s. (2013). organizational trauma and healing. north Charleston, sC: Create space inde­ pendent Publishing Platform. Walker, a. (1976). meridian. san Diego, Ca: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

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FOUNDATIONS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING Walter, U. m. (2003). Toward a third space: improvisation and professionalism in social work practice. families in society: The Journal of Contemporary social services, 84(3), 317–322. doi: https://doi. org/10.1606/1044-3894.128. Williams, D. r., & mohammed, s. a. (2013). racism and health i: Pathways and scientific evidence. american Behavioral scientist, 57(8), 1152–1173. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764213487340. Yang, G. (2000). The liminal effects of social movements: red guards and the transformation of identity. sociologi­ cal forum, 15(3), 379–406. Zimmerman, K., Pathikonda, n., salgado, B., & James, T. (2010). out of the spiritual closet: organizers transform­ ing the practice of social justice. oakland, Ca: movement strategy Center.

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Chapter 3

Theories and Praxis Some of the most effective social change actors in history have been highly influenced by the work of philosophers, political theorists, and public intellectuals. Early civil rights organizers were moved by the work of W. E. B. Du Bois, feminist activists by the work of Patricia Hill Collins, and contemporary global justice activists by Noam Chomsky. An idea can impart inspira­ tion for change; however, as the philosopher and organizer Karl Marx noted, it is not the change itself. The relationship between organizers and ideas is often a synergistic one—academicians and intellectuals are influenced by the ideas of organizers and grassroots movements and vice versa. In some cases, such as that of activist and historian Howard Zinn, or activist and intellectual Angela Davis, being an organizer and intellectual are not separate roles. The Italian social theorist Antonio Gramsci argued that social theory should always be con­ nected to social movements and oppressed people, believing in what he called “organic intellec­ tuals.”1 In other words, social theory, he would say, should not be separate from social action. Overall, Gramsci emphasized the need for a “battle of ideas” in society before major alterations could occur (Blackburn, 2008). Although I do not think it is compulsory that engagement with ideas be a “battle,” as Gramsci (Morton, 2007) observed, transformative organizers, concerned with understanding oppression, envisioning a healthy and productive neighborhood, reframing social narratives, and creatively engaging with strategy and tactics, spend significant time occupied with ideas. Because ideas form the foundation of economic and social welfare policies, it is within the context of these ideas that modifications to policies and practices can happen. Someone advocating for economic justice issues ought to understand something about capitalist theories and practices and about how a living-wage ordinance might threaten such theories and practices. Organizers are always engaged in critical, structural thinking about various social constructions of ideas, stories, and narratives, and the policies and practices that follow from them. The purpose of this chapter is to present and explore some of the social change ideas and theories that historically have influenced activists, community organizers, and other social change actors. I offer summaries and analyses of some of the philosophical perspectives that are relevant to doing transformative social change work in communities. Such a project could actually fill volumes of philosophy, political science, social work, cultural studies, gender studies, and sociology books. Indeed, within many of these per­ spectives, there exist infinite nuances and debates. However, my goal here is to pique your inter­ est in some of these thinkers with the hope that as you travel on your own social change journey, you will continue to explore these traditions. By choosing to engage with some of these ideas, organizers have the opportunity to grapple with new perspectives, push the horizons of thinking, and clarify their values. I believe that there are five major schools of thought that are relevant to progressive and transformative social change work—Marxist traditions, feminist theories, civil society perspec­ tives, anarchism, and postmodern/postcolonial perspectives. These five intellectual movements

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certainly do not capture every relevant analytic standpoint or theory, nor can they be covered completely in this limited space. Nonetheless, their broad character encapsulates a significant por­ tion of the important theoretical trends relevant to progressive community organizers. Introducing these ideas will also serve as the foundation for further discussions in this book that articulate and clarify a transformative approach to progressive community organizing practice. I conclude this chapter by offering some ideas about how to apply this intellectual history to organizing practice. MARXISM AND THE MARXIST TRADITION Sociologists generally identify three major approaches to understanding the complex realities of historical social change. These approaches can be understood as linear, cyclical, and dialectical (Harper & Leicht, 2016). Linear models of change are grounded in the assumption that change is developmental over time; as time progresses, positive change happens. A cyclical model of change can best be understood through the phrase “The more things change, the more things stay the same.” Social arrangements do not necessarily ever change, but they do go through cycles. Dialectical change theories emerge from the notion that change happens because of con­ tradictions in society. The Marxist tradition has been the primary exemplification of dialectical change theory and has been highly influential to social movements. Indeed, any discussion of community organizing owes a certain degree of intellectual and political homage to Karl Marx and his legacy. Karl Marx (1818–1883) was a 19th-century Prussian radical social theorist and organizer of the working class. He observed that a worker’s existence in the factory was unfulfilling because their daily life was reduced to meaningless activity and rendered them a mere arm of capitalist machinery. Marx identified what he called, alienation of labor, which means that workers (the proletariat) do not experience the products of their labor as their own because the products belong to the capitalist owner (the bourgeoisie). Marx’s labor theory of value explained that the specific form of labor characteristic of bourgeois society, wage labor, corresponds to the most profound form of alienation. Because wage workers sell their labor power to earn a living, and the capitalist owns the labor process, the product of the workers’ labor is alien to the worker. It is not the worker’s product, but the product of the capitalist owner (Wood, 2005). Marx was deeply grounded in moral philosophy and he was concerned with the ways in which work in a capitalistic framework can suppress the human spirit; he had a particular interest in freedom and human ful­ fillment (Kaufman, 2003). Marx was a student of the German dialectical idealist philosopher G. W. F. Hegel. Hegel’s dialectical understanding of history offered a view of the world, whereby one moment in history appears and eventually ends by contradicting itself. When the contradiction comes (the moment when the logic of the dialectic is fulfilled), history goes on and a new reality will develop that overcomes the previous contradiction. The oppressor/oppressed dialectic is one such historical dialectic. Thus, a dialectical analysis assumes that society is full of internal conflicts, which are by their nature unstable (Kaufman, 2003). Attending to the contradictions and understanding them can help people see the possibilities for change. For example, employees of a private company that provides health care services may identify that they are not able to afford or do not have access to proper health care themselves. These employees then seek to resolve this contradiction by organ­ izing for greater health care benefits. Revealing such contradictions as they play out in daily life is crucial to a dialectical, or power, analysis.

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Marx (1845) espoused a philosophical position known as dialectical materialism, a theory of change that perceives the social world in terms of categories of class as defined by relationships to economic and productive processes. He ultimately believed in the development of society beyond the capitalist phase toward a revolution of the proletariat, culminating in socialism and com­ munism (Marx & Engels, 2004). Marx’s theory repudiates the exploitation endemic to private control of productive processes. For example, many people would argue that health care is an example of a public good that should be provided by the government, whereas others would say (many in the U.S.) that it should be left to market forces and the private sector to take care of. Ultimately, a Marxist position maintains a commitment to exploited and marginalized people and to the change that can radically alter their situation. It may be difficult for anyone to understand this situation precisely, including people who are marginalized. Marx refers to this inability to see things, especially social relations and relations of exploitation as they really are, as false consciousness. The state of false consciousness may be the inevitable result of living in a kind of servitude where one cannot clearly perceive one’s own situation, including what might be in one’s best interests. Malcolm X shared this view as he believed in helping people not only to understand their oppression, but also to understand their self-worth, agency, and power (Malcom X & Haley, 1965/2015). It is not uncommon for working-class individuals to mistakenly view their interests as the same as those of corporate CEOs, thus voting for politicians and policies that make it easier for CEOs to generate more profit, as the false story that such profits will trickle down is perpetuated. As an organizer of the working class, Marx distributed his pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto, as a way to break through this false consciousness. The Occupy movement pursued this path by underscoring the distinc­ tion between the 99% and the 1%, or, as Marx would explain, between the working class and ownership class. Marx predicted that, in the future, social relations would become increasingly commodified. He believed that “as money expands, … the social character of the relationship has diminished” (Nash, 2005, p. 19). Influential thinkers, such as Adam Smith and Thomas Jefferson agreed with this idea and argued that if corporations amass too much power, it will be a detriment to demo­ cratic capitalism (Kaufman, 2003). Thus, today, humanistic values are threatened as the power of global capitalist actors expands through corporate rights to grow their profits and the commodo­ fication of social relations (Benson & Kirsch, 2010; Nash, 2005). Marx discussed “the general law of capitalist accumulation” or the concentration of capital and wealth, a growing concern with today’s multinational corporations. Through competition, the elimination of trade barriers, and the exploitation of laborers, this quest for wealth, according to Marx, leads to inhuman consequences. In September 2011, an analysis of more than 40,000 multinational corporations revealed a relatively small amount of companies, mainly banks, with disproportionate power over the global economy. Of those companies, there was a core of 1,318 companies with interlocking ownership. The 1,318 companies represent around 60% of global revenues and an even tighter 147 (about 1%) of these were described as “super entities” that controlled 40% of the total wealth in the network (MacKenzie & Coghlan, 2011). This situation is exactly what global justice organizers are pointing to as well. An economic recession followed by a bank bailout, massive unemployment, and home foreclosures catalyzed Occupiers in Sep­ tember 2011. In more recent years, for-profit companies, such as GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America are profiting from private prisons that are incarcerating not only peo­ ple who have been convicted of crimes but immigrants in detention centers (“Detention by the numbers,” 2019; Joy, 2018). Today, the phenomenon of “coronavirus capitalism” reveals how

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some global corporations, such as Amazon, Zoom, and others have grown their profits through disaster capitalism. As Marx predicted, current policies and practices afford corporations more expansive rights than individuals. Under the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, corporations have the right to “national treatment,” which means a corporation operating in El Salvador can demand to be treated like an El Salvadoran firm; of course, an El Salvadoran person cannot come to the United States and demand national treatment (Chomsky, 2015). In the late 1990s, Guatemala attempted to reduce infant mortality rates by regulating the marketing of infant formula by multinational corporations. The governmental proposal was in line with the World Health Organization guide­ lines; however, the Gerber Corporation claimed expropriation, that is, the action of a govern­ ment taking away a private business from its owners. The possibility of a WTO complaint by Gerber was enough for Guatemala to withdraw the regulations out of fear of retaliatory sanctions by the WTO (Chomsky, 2015). Critical Theory Writing in the Marxist and Hegelian traditions and emerging from what was referred to as the Frankfurt School, critical theorists work dialectically and seek to uncover the contradictions in society. Similar to the Marxist tradition, critical theory is a social theory oriented toward critiquing and changing society as a whole, in contrast to a traditional theory oriented only to understand­ ing or explaining it. Critical theory attends to sociohistorical context, “structural inequality, and power.” (Webb, 2019; Kincheloe & McLaren, 2011). According to Kincheloe and McLaren, “To seek critical enlightenment is to uncover the winners and losers in particular social arrangements and the processes by which such powerplays operate” (2011, p. 288). The theorists aligned with the Frankfurt School in the 1930s were concerned with cultural production and mass communica­ tion, arguing that the “culture industry” provided ideological legitimation of capitalist practices and sought to integrate individuals into the capitalist way of life (Kellner, 2005, p. 291). As vic­ tims of European fascism, the theorists of the Frankfurt School were highly sensitized to the ways that instruments of mass culture could be used to produce submission to a particular way of life. Critical theorists have engaged in philosophical domains beyond political and social theory, focusing on epistemological questions concerning science, objectivity, and reason. Philosopher Jürgen Habermas questioned the claim that knowledge is value-free and understood that theories are products of social processes. Critical theorists have argued that science embodies values, such as the desirability of the technological domination of nature (Inwood, 2005). This critical per­ spective endows organizers with analytical tools for understanding and critiquing social policies grounded in “scientific evidence.” For example, advocates can further investigate the research that guides public policy by learning who commissioned the research and what the social standpoints and agendas of the think tank or funding entity are. An additional contribution of critical theorists is contestation of the notion of the “consent of the powerless.” Instead, they highlight resistance to oppression in their hermeneutics emphasizing human agency. While there are significant structural limitations to our abilities to act and be effec­ tive, agency is the innate ability of people to make choices and to act on their own and others’ behalves. This aspect of critical theory can be empowering and validating for community activists whose voices may be silenced by the larger society. Recent developments in neo-Marxist critical theory have drawn from postmodernist discourses (discussed in more detail later in this chapter).

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These developments emphasize understanding the social construction of race, gender, and class as a valuable hermeneutic device in critical, social analysis (Kincheloe & McLaren, 2011). An influential subcategory of critical theory is known as Critical Race Theory (CRT). Based on a critique of the U.S. system of legal and public policy-making, CRT affirms that racism is endemic to contemporary society. Just as classism is built into the capitalist system, racism, indeed white supremacy, is intrinsic to our cultural, economic, and political systems. Thus, institutional rac­ ism is not dependent on any individual acts of interpersonal racism; it is rather inherent in the structure, that is, the institutions of society. As a result, White people, by virtue of living in such a society, receive the benefits of White privilege, whereas people of color experience a cascade of harmful effects of this racism, including internalized oppression. As a method of transformation, CRT affirms the import and liberatory power of storytelling, vocalizing, and writing about the experience of racism in one’s own terms. Articulating the experiences of what has been called “the subaltern,” i.e. a marginalized person or people, serves as a disruption of the racist social order. In Chapter 11, I elaborate further on these issues in a more thorough discussion of intersectionality and the politics of identity. Analysis of the Marxist Tradition Marx questioned the fundamental assumptions of the capitalist economic system, a system held in tremendous value by many people throughout the world. It should not be surprising, therefore, that the tradition has been criticized and attacked profusely for these radical ideas. For example, Marx has been accused of economic reductionism, that is, reducing his explanation of the nature of the world and history itself to economics. Although Marx himself may have been guilty of this, later thinkers have maintained the basic Marxist premise of dialectics and, drawing more heavily on the concept of power generally, have infused categories, such as race and gender to extend his theory. This makes Marxism more holistic and applicable to many contemporary social issues. Because race has played out in the Americas in significant ways, U.S. critical race theorists and other neo-Marxist theorists have developed a dialectical analysis that incorporates race along with class (Kaufman, 2003). Multisystem theorists concerned with intersectionality go even further and look at the interrelationships of different types of oppression (e.g. racism, sexism, heterosex­ ism, etc.; Collins, 2009; Crenshaw, 2018). Other evaluations of the Marxist tradition tend to focus on the point that it would seem that Marx is arguing that the progression of history has a certain amount of inevitability to it, a kind of determinism. Marx, however, actually held the belief that “history has no power,” meaning people have agency and the potential to be in control of their destiny. Although people clearly do remain objects of historical forces, by understanding that every day they participate in the social construction of the world, culture, and history, it is then possible to claim their agency and to participate in a reconstruction of the world, culture, and history, and their own lives. It is not necessary to be a revolutionary, a communist, or a socialist to appreciate the ideas and contributions of Marx. His critique of capitalism and the recognition that it only functions on the backs of working-class people is a relevant contribution to the world of progressive social ideas. In an era of neoliberal capitalism and growing disparity between rich and poor, it is more important than ever to understand these intellectual contributions. These ideas have been pertinent to union organizers and economic justice activists throughout the world for almost 175 years and likely will continue to be relevant in the future.

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FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES Though feminist thought encompasses an extensive range of philosophical positions, all feminist thinkers surely agree to disagree with the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle’s claim that “the female is a female by virtue of a certain lack of qualities; we should regard the female nature as afflicted with a natural defectiveness” (cited in Kreps, 2003, p. 45). Gaining a greater under­ standing of such obviously sexist viewpoints and the impact they have on Western civilization is as important now as it was to first-wave feminists of more than 100 years ago. It is all too clear that gender oppression is a vital issue as sexual assault, domestic violence, and sexual harassment, as well as reproductive justice, parity in pay, family leave, maternal mortality, and glass ceilings continue to plague women, queer people, and girls today. With a revival of feminist campaigns, such as #MeToo and the 2017 Women’s March, and the inevitable backlash to them, it is essential to develop a more nuanced understanding of feminist thought. Because feminist thinkers offer such a variety of explanations and solutions, scholars, as they are inclined to do, have consistently divided feminism into various historical waves as well as philosophical camps. Although nuances can be lost and some perspectives silenced, it can be help­ ful to categorize feminism as a heuristic practice in order to make meaning of a vast amount of rich material. Feminism has often been divided into liberal, radical, and socialist approaches, where liberal feminism focuses on promoting the equality of women in political and economic spheres (Kaufman, 2003). Liberal feminist thinkers seek to uncover the institutional barriers that have blocked women’s access to power and prevented women from fully participating in society. Radical feminist thinkers critique the underlying assumptions of patriarchal culture itself. The patriarchal paradigm, they argue, which has an enormous sphere of influence, overemphasizes the traditionally “masculine” values of reason, hierarchy, and competition; and undervalues the tradi­ tionally “feminine” virtues of emotion, cooperation, and compassion. Rather than focusing solely on gaining entry into patriarchal society as liberal feminists do, radical feminists seek to critique this society and highlight the strengths of traditionally “feminine” virtues. Socialist feminism is closely aligned with radical feminism in that it contests the structure of society but focuses on how it is also necessary to eliminate the sources of women’s economic oppression. Socialist feminism tends to critique radical feminism for making a virtue out of the feminine roles assigned by a sexist society. Kaufman differentiates the three approaches by analyzing the common claim that “men are more rational and women are more emotional”: Where a liberal feminist might be compelled to argue that women can be just as logical as men, radical feminists are more likely to challenge a value structure that puts reason above emotion. They would revalue the terms and argue for the importance of the feminine side. Socialist feminists pay more attention to the social structures that force women and men to play their assigned roles. They would support liberal feminists’ argument that women can be as rational as men, as well as radical feminists’ claim that emotion is something important that needs to be valued. Going beyond these, socialist feminists also look at what we mean by rationality and how it has come to mean something cold and calculating. Socialist feminists are interested in the political history that creates these roles and differences. (2003, p. 170) Historical approaches to feminism have emphasized first-wave, second-wave, and third-wave periods of feminist thought and practice. First-wave feminism tends to be associated with the early

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work of women suffragists, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, and political thinkers, such as Mary Wollstonecraft. Wollstonecraft’s seminal work, A Vindication on the Rights of Women (2009), originally published in 1792, expressed hope for social arrangements in which all individuals are free from the fallacies of tradition that hold them back. Wollstonecraft argued that “women, deprived of education, taught to defer to men, and appraised according to the double standard of morality, have been prevented from exercising genuine judgment or attaining genuine virtue” (Hornsby, 2005, p. 965). The theoretical path of second-wave feminism was laid by the publication of Simone de Beau­ voir’s The Second Sex in 1949 and Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique in 1963 (Rogers, 2005). Simone de Beauvoir was an early feminist philosopher whose book The Second Sex maintained that women have historically functioned as the culturally constructed “other” of men. Friedan’s groundbreaking work argued that women’s limited roles as housewives and mothers are caused by a false belief system that affects women’s loss of their identities. Women’s movement activi­ ties during this time included the founding of the National Organization for Women (NOW), the attempt to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and the Paris student revolution of 1968. In addition, European philosophers, such as Julia Kristeva and Luce Irigaray argued against the Western patriarchal tradition of rational, disembodied consciousness and articulated a feminist consciousness based on the maternal bond. Carol Gilligan argued against male-centered notions of moral development, which value individualism, objectivity, and the equation of fairness with noninterference, arguing for ethics grounded in care (Meyers, 1997). Such ethics of care is based on the observation that people are fundamentally connected, and they see attachment to other people as valuable. Third-wave feminism began in the 1980s with the publication of This Bridge Called My Back, an edited collection of essays and poems highlighting the voices and identities of women of color and giving early voice to a concept that would later come to be called intersectionality (Crenshaw, 2018; Moraga & Anzaldua, 2015). Feminist critics argued that feminism and women had been essentialized to imply only White women by previous thinkers, leaving out the diverse experi­ ences, realities, and locations of women of color and poor women (Zack, 2007). These critiques resulted in a focus on intersectionality, emphasizing the ways that patriarchy perpetuates racism, classism, and sexism in women’s lives. The works of Patricia Hill Collins and other African Amer­ ican feminist authors, such as Audre Lorde, bell hooks, and Angela Davis have been central devel­ opments in Black feminist thought, whereas the works of Gloria Anzaldua and others have focused on Latinx feminist identity issues. The philosophy known as womanism, first articulated by Afri­ can American author Alice Walker, represents the perspectives of black women and women of color who have felt silenced by White feminist narratives (Phillips, 2006). Asian feminism has taken new shape recently by a group called the Asian American Feminist Collective (“About,” 2018), who “engage in intersectional feminist politics grounded within our communities, includ­ ing those whose backgrounds encompass East, Southeast, and South Asian, Pacific Islander, mul­ tiethnic and diasporic Asian identities.” Queer Theory I present queer theory as a subset of feminist theory. It is a salient theoretical contribution to the field of community organizing, particularly in terms of its relevance to LGBTQ organizing, femi­ nist organizing, and global justice organizing. Queer theory is concerned with gender identity,

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especially the experiences of trans, nonbinary, and gender-fluid people, as well as sexual orien­ tation, such as those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or pansexual (Callis, 2014). Queer theory offers intellectual framing that supports people’s capabilities to define their own values and identities outside of the patriarchal social order. It has been particularly attentive to the impor­ tance of breaking down traditional binaries of male or female and gay or straight. The notion of “queerness” focuses on the slippages between sex, gender, and desire (Jagose, 1996). Queer theory emerges as a critique of identity-based activism, an activism that has often forced people to elevate their sexuality and subordinate and silence racial and class differences (But­ ler, 1997; Serano, 2013). According to this perspective, gender is performative, not an essence that defines an individual, but rather the result of the repeated performance of certain cultural signs and conventions (Corber & Valocchi, 2003). Whereas essentialists view identity as fixed and innate, social constructionists and queer theorists view identity as fluid, the result of social con­ ditioning and available cultural models for understanding oneself (Jagose, 1996). Gender identity is, thus, a set of practices, a form of knowledge and power, that structures economic and social life. This culture values heteronormativity, or a set of norms and values that make heterosexual­ ity seem essential, that is, natural and fixed, and, thus, homosexuality is viewed as its opposite (Corber & Valocchi, 2003). In an age of globalization and the homogenization of consumer culture, the notion of queerness provides a way to push the idea of difference further. Queerness is, thus, disruption of homog­ enized social spaces where everything is the same. As we explore LGBTQ organizing in the next chapter as well as global justice organizing in the final chapter of the book, this idea of difference and affirmation of “the subaltern” in the face of mainstream structural forces will become clearer. It is also worth noting that queer theory is commensurate with a capabilities approach to policy and community development, wherein freedom to do and to be is central.

Analysis of Feminist Perspectives Antiviolence organizer Andrea Smith (2006) has been critical of attempts to categorize feminism: The problems with this approach become clear when acknowledging that the histories of femi­ nism extend beyond these narrow waves. For example, if one were to develop a feminist his­ tory centering Native women, feminist history in the country would start in 1492 with the resistance to patriarchal colonization.The insistence on a first, second, and third wave approach to understanding feminism, therefore, keeps white feminism at the center of our analysis and organizing practice. (p. 66) The problem identified by Smith is important because it reminds us of the ethnocentric past of much of feminism and the way that women of color and poor women have been silenced by femi­ nist analyses, mistakenly assuming that middle-class White women’s experiences are equivalent to all women’s experiences. As more intersectional voices are stepping forward, there are opportu­ nities for White women to learn more cultural humility and for women of color to set organizing agendas (Garza, 2014; Taylor, 2017). Backlash has always coexisted with feminism and feminist organizing. For example, some critics have argued that feminism has been the cause of various social problems, including the

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breakdown of the nuclear family, pointing out that increasing women’s access to the public sphere of work has diverted women from raising children properly. Liberal divorce laws have also been identified as harming children (Kaufman, 2003). In the wake of #MeToo, some critics have called it a “frenzied” “moral panic” and men report being scared to be alone with women or to say any­ thing at all (Berlinski, 2017). Feminist thought has influenced organizers working on explicitly “women’s issues,” such as domestic violence, rape, gender parity in pay, sexual harassment, and reproductive health care. Certainly, feminist ideas propelled organizers to achieve monumental victories, including the right of women to vote in the United States, grounded in arguments about the equality of women. The passage of rape and sexual assault laws occurred because advocates argued against the traditional belief that women are not the property of men. Campaigns to rescind the Global Gag Rule were based on a framework focusing on women’s health and the belief in the democratic principle of full access to information. The Global Gag Rule is a policy first passed by President Reagan in 1984, rescinded by President Clinton in 1993, reinstated by President Bush in 2001, and rescinded again by President Obama in 2009, and reinstated by President Trump in 2017. The policy asserts that no U.S. family planning assistance can be provided to foreign NGOs to provide counseling and referral for abortion, nor can the NGOs lobby to make abortion legal or more available in other countries. This rule has been shown to be a threat to women’s health (Rucks, 2019). While feminism has clearly been a guiding framework for addressing women’s issues, the influ­ ence of feminist traditions extend beyond such clearly “women’s domains.” Feminist theories and ideas have been influential in terms of social change issues and organizing as a practice, including racial justice, mass incarceration, and environmental justice, as well as issue framing, organiz­ ing impacted people, and organizational practice. For example, the feminist philosophy that the “personal is political” and the associated practice of political consciousness-raising about personal issues through group processing represent important contributions to popular education tech­ niques, a set of social change pedagogies that will be discussed later in the text. CIVIL SOCIETY PERSPECTIVES Civil society can be defined as a sector distinct from government and business that includes aggregates of citizens acting on their own interests. What I am referring to generally as “civil soci­ ety perspectives” have differing political and philosophical orientations and include social capital theories, communitarianism, local participatory democracy movements, and others. These ideas have potential implications for the resurgence of community organizing, other forms of civic engagement, and the revitalization of democracy itself. In the past few decades, a proliferation of ideas has emerged in response to the growing perception that life in developed nations has become increasingly focused on the individual, is more isolating, and is less focused on community and public life. Some observers have noted that political and community citizen participation in the United States and other nations has waned (Putnam, 2000). Many people argue that democracy itself is in peril. For example, Hudson (2017) has noted eight challenges that democracy in the U.S. is facing: 1) Separation of powers; 2) Imperial judiciary; 3) Radical individualism; 4) Citizen participation; 5) Elections without the people’s voice; 6) “Privileged” position of business; 7) Economic inequality; and 8) National security state. Aristotle wrote that humans are by nature “political animals” (Rowe & Schofield, 2000). In other words, people live in a political milieu, in the context of a state. During Aristotle’s time

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in ancient Greece, the nascent political system of democracy required most citizens to participate in the functioning of democracy. All citizens (defined in this case as older, male nonslaves) were obliged to serve as representatives, and, thus, it was important for everyone to understand the political issues of the day, as well as to develop the skills of critical analysis and rhetoric, or ora­ tion. Over time, these democratic customs have changed dramatically. For a variety of complex reasons, it seems that citizens’ ethical and practical commitments to democratic participation have declined. When the French count Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States in 1831, he was par­ ticularly impressed with the way that Americans took part in community-based associations and believed that such activity overcame individualism and buttressed democracy. Tocqueville referred to this as “self-interest properly understood” (Fried, 2002, p. 26). Harvard scholar Rob­ ert Putnam (2000) and others have noted that civic participation rates of Americans so valued by Tocqueville have declined dramatically since the end of World War II. Putnam (2000) has noted that civic virtue is most influential when it is embedded in a net­ work of reciprocal social relations. He invokes the term social capital which is defined as the connections that exist among individuals and the trust and reciprocity that arise from these con­ nections. These social networks, like other forms of capital, have value in society. Social capital is beneficial to the individuals who are a part of these networks as well as to larger society as a whole. Putnam and others have researched a variety of aspects of social capital, including political participation, civic participation, religious participation, connections in the workplace, informal social connections, altruism, volunteering and philanthropy, reciprocity, honesty and trust, and social movements (Edwards, Franklin, & Holland, 2006; Jensen, 2009). According to the social capital perspective, high amounts of social capital tend to result in better outcomes in education and children’s welfare, safe and productive neighborhoods, economic prosperity, health and hap­ piness, participatory democracy, and tolerance. Putnam believes that the erosion of social capital is causally related to the decline of democracy in the United States generally. He articulated sev­ eral reasons for the erosion of this essential resource, including geographic shifts (moving to the suburbs), generational changes (the aging out of the civically active World War II generation), and an increase in television watching. There are three types of social capital proposed by Putnam (2000)—bonding, bridging, and linking. Bonding social capital relationships are homogenous whereby similar individuals come together and act collectively. These ties are particularly strong because of commonalities, such as kinship, ethnicity, location, or some other common interest, making the relations more intensive (Lin, 2001/2003). Bridging social capital refers to resourceful linkages among actors with het­ erogeneous qualities but of common interest, which is crucial for information and resources to spread and grow within and between groups (Putnam, 2000). Linking social capital refers to the reciprocal relationship shared by entities of different status in power or wealth, a kind of bridg­ ing social capital in vertical ties across social class hierarchy. This kind of interaction facilitates resource exchange and status mobilizing. Linking social capital plays an important role in poverty relief and economic development (Putnam et al., 2004). For example, if a low-income immigrant neighborhood group wants to upgrade a community park or obtain loans for small business devel­ opment, then linking with a community-wide loan or grant funder could facilitate their social development goals. Thus, developing relationships with such groups with more resources will enhance the group’s social capital. Similar concepts, such as collective efficacy and community resilience are also useful for social change thinking. Collective efficacy is the shared belief that a group of people can change their

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situations and be effective in organized community action (Foster–Fishman, Cantillon, Pierce, & Egeren, 2007). Like other civil society perspectives, it emphasizes the power of a group acting together over the power of an individual acting alone. A term that has emerged in the context of climate change and increased disasters, including environmental and economic ones, community resilience refers to the ability of a community to bounce back from economic or environmental setbacks (Saul, 2014; Ride & Bretherton, 2011). Factors associated with this include economic development, social capital, information and communication, and community competence (cited in Doğulu, Ikizer, & Karanci, 2016). Others have noted the importance of strong governance in facilitating community resilience (Doğulu et al., 2016). As neighborhoods face the crises of disinvestment in infrastructure, gentrification and displacement, environmental crises, such as air pollution, fires, and flooding, the levels of community resilience will, at least in part, determine whether these neighborhoods can survive. Though, social capital, collective efficacy, and com­ munity resilience are likely not enough without real investments and shifts in power structures. Closely linked to Putnam’s (2000) social capital theory is the communitarian perspective, which emphasizes the significance of community over the individual or the state. Whereas lib­ eral political philosophies in the tradition of John Rawls have tended to focus on an abstract and disembodied individual, communitarians emphasize the embedded and embodied status of the individual person, particularly focusing on the social nature of life, identity, relationships, and institutions (Frazer, 2005). The communitarian approach offers a prescription for public life, that is, that collective and public values guide and construct our lives. According to Frazer, A society which understands itself to be constituted by atomistic and autonomous discrete individuals, and which makes that kind of autonomy its highest value, will not work. Similarly, a top-down imposition of values (as in Stalinism) or the attempt completely to subordinate the individual to the state (as in modern fascism) will fail. (2005, p. 151) Communitarians encompass a wide range of adherents, including those more conservative who emphasize upholding tradition and reject welfare-state programs (Selznick, 2002). Liberal com­ munitarians critique such a conservative perspective and emphasize community values, such as reciprocity, rejecting a view of society that emphasizes individualism. Critics of communitarian ideas are concerned that individual rights, which have formed the basis of modern Western politi­ cal theories, have been abandoned in favor of communal rights. At any rate, all communitarians agree on the importance of a strong social fabric (i.e. high rates of social capital) to make democ­ racy work. Communitarians have argued for better work and leave policies so that people can strengthen the social fabric by participating more actively in civic life. Building community, including the global community, and enhancing social networks are fun­ damental to civil society perspectives (Castells, 2015). Manuel Castells (1999) has argued that the organization of contemporary society is based on networks. This form of organization emerged from the need of transnational corporations to perform transactions at high speeds. Multinational corporations function as decentralized networks in relation to information and communication technologies. According to Castells, networks have always existed in human organization. But only now have they become the most powerful form for organizing instrumentality, rather than expressiveness. The reason is fundamentally technological. The strength of networks is their flexibility, their decentralizing

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capacity, their variable geometry….Their fundamental weakness throughout history has been the difficulty of coordination toward a common objective, toward a focused purpose, that requires concentration of resources in space and time within large organizations, like armies, bureaucracies, large factories, and vertically organized corporations.With new information and communication technology, the network is, at the same time, centralized and decentralized. It can be coordinated without a center. (p. 6) Castells goes on further to argue that societies that are unable to adapt to technology and networks are abandoned and are bypassed by global flows, and the effect is cumulative. Humans who are outside the network experience exclusion and become devalued; they cannot adapt and this leads to social underdevelopment and poverty. In today’s society, these networks are changing relentlessly, moving along, forming and reforming in endless variations. For people who are included in the network, they experience opportunities whereas those who are excluded or outside, experience misery leading to what Castells calls the fourth world. This has created a situation of polarization and extreme disparity. However, scholars have noted more recently how “mass self-communication” and other forms of global networking might be enhancing capabilities for global empathy and global social movement building (Castells, 2015; Rifkin, 2009).

Participatory Democracy If democracy is indeed in peril, then communities equipped with community resilience, social capital, and collective efficacy have an opportunity to leverage these resources to actually create real change. Access to socioeconomic resources and the conditions the state creates have enor­ mous implications for the most marginalized individuals in society, including people in developing countries. “The existence of civil society groups ‘from below’ is not sufficient for democracy to work. In fact, civil society can be ‘undemocratic’ if it is isolated” (Beausang, 2002, p. 5). A strong civil society needs a healthy, functioning state to accomplish goals and provide a stable political context (Beausang, 2002). Efforts to promote participatory democracy (rather than just a representative democracy) have the potential to engender an active civil society, a socially just economy, and a democracy that serves to channel the interests of the people. Participatory democracy is a democratic model wherein citizens make decisions about policy including appropriations of funding and politicians are responsible for implementing the decisions (Menser, 2018). While it is considered a newer model of democracy, it actually has its roots in indigenous polities including the Iroquois Con­ federacy (Kolokotronis, 2018). In 1989, the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, was one of the first cities to forge this important path in the participatory democracy movement by implementing a participatory budgeting process for its citizens; cities in Europe and North America also have been developing such processes. In the state of New York alone, there are 30 council districts using participatory budgeting (Wong, 2017). A participatory budgeting process shows promise in more equitable distribution of taxpayer funds, greater governmental transparency, and increased citizen involvement. Through delibera­ tive decision making about priorities, ordinary citizens decide how to allocate city or municipal funds affecting social policy. This approach to budgeting is based on “civil, not state, govern­ ance” (Menegat, 2002, p. 8). Utilizing community forums and a weeklong voting process, citizens

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including youth have been engaging in these processes in order to fund vital community pro­ jects. A recent participatory budgeting process in Oakland, California, resulted in job training for youth, projects related to homelessness, safe routes to school programs, lighting and safety improvements in Chinatown, and community gardens (Wong, 2017). Other thinkers and activists have proposed the idea of transborder participatory democracy (Ichiyo, 1994), a democratization process emphasizing the emancipatory transformation of eve­ ryday relationships in the family, community, workplace, and other institutions. This democra­ tization extends beyond social, cultural, and state barriers to reach, influence, and, ultimately, control the global decision-making mechanisms wherever they are located. This perspective emphasizes that people, especially oppressed people, have a right to criticize, oppose, and pre­ vent the implementation of decisions that affect their lives, arguing that the right permits people to cross borders to carry their struggles to the sources of power that seek to oppress them (Ichiyo, 1994). Participatory democracy can serve as an antidote to the sense that global capitalism is out of control as public leaders and corporate lobbyists run rampant. A transformative approach to organizing affirms that processes, such as participatory budgeting, can help community members develop skills in collective empowerment and exercise their sense of agency that has been silenced through systemic violence. Analysis of Civil Society Perspectives Calls to reclaim democracy are coming from every direction and across political lines. The foster­ ing of social capital and the revitalization of civil society are clearly necessary conditions for social justice and social change. Nonetheless, strengthening social capital does not by itself alleviate social problems or enhance equity. Critics have pointed out Putnam’s omission of the realities of the political economy into his concept of social capital (McLean, Schultz, & Steger, 2002; Poder, 2011). The potential risk when thinking about social capital approaches is the belief that increasing social capital is a panacea for community problems. Without confronting power structures, the practices of building community and strengthening assets may fall short of remedying inequities (Pyles & Cross, 2008). The discourse of “social capital” may be silencing other discourses related to power and oppression. Some have questioned why Putnam does not discuss historic, systemic inequalities as well as policy trends, such as neoliberal economic policies, when theorizing the decline of democratic participation (McLean, et al., 2002). Other thinkers have argued that the decline of trust in the government has been one of the most significant factors in the decline of democracy, arguing that this dimension has also been silenced in Putnam’s work (Boggs, 2002). This decline may be due to factors related to globalized corporatization, particularly the rise of corporate power in the guise of “special-interest groups.” Indeed, the recognition that the gov­ ernment may exhibit a corporate agenda over a people-centered agenda quite likely has eroded interest in community participation. The question of the role that technology and social media plays in either facilitating or impeding community engagement is a most salient one and is explored further in the text. Understanding the way our network society functions can enhance and deepen community organizing practice. Organizers today are able to communicate through ICTs (Information and Communications Tech­ nology), making communication much more rapid, inexpensive, and efficient than in previous generations. On the other hand, lack of access to technology creates significant gaps for many would-be organizers and community leaders. Access to technology and distribution of technology

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is just one dimension to consider in this equation. Issues such as surveillance, censorship, and hacking come into play as organizers negotiate their agendas, communications, and actions. At any rate, by understanding how to strengthen networks and analyze oppression, organizers are better positioned to be successful in their campaigns.

ANARCHIST THOUGHT One of the most misunderstood philosophical perspectives relevant to community organizing is that of anarchism. The word often conjures images of chaos and violence, a Hobbesian world of all against all. It does not take much time when inquiring into theories of social anarchism to realize that this is not at all what it is about; in fact, anarchists consider anarchy to be an ordered way of life. Indeed, the familiar anarchist symbol consisting of the “A” in a circle is derived from Pierre– Joseph Proudhon’s slogan “anarchy is order; government is civil war” (Kinna, 2009). Anarchism essentially emerged from struggles to liberate working-class individuals. Two key foundations of anarchism are: 1) a critique of the state; and 2) an emphasis on the strengths and capacities of individuals and communities for social care. Like enlightenment thinkers, such as Locke, they believed that people have the capacity for reason and the “dignity to self-govern,” though they went much further with the idea of self-governance (Schneider, 2017). From an anar­ chist perspective, the very nature of the state tends to be one of manipulation and deception of its people and it is prone to facilitate the ascension of people vying for their own power. However, anarchism is not necessarily opposed to social organization or rules, or even to certain forms of gov­ erning, as long as they are not coercive or oppressive. “Anarchism maintains that all those who hold authority should exercise it for the benefit of those below them, and if they hold offices of author­ ity, they are accountable to those below them and recallable by them” (DeGeorge, 2005, p. 32). Another major feature of anarchist thought is its emphasis on mutual aid, or reciprocal exchange of resources (Kropotkin, 1902/2017). Creating new alternative structures is a cornerstone of such anarchist approaches. In the weeks following Hurricane Katrina, action medics began a health clinic on the West Bank of New Orleans in Algiers (Benham, 2007). The clinic was started by a network of individual practitioners who had been working for many years to meet the unmet health care needs of people in their communities as well as to provide medical support for direct actions. One of the founders of what came to be called the Common Ground Health Clinic, Roger Benham, discusses some of the problems and limitations of such mutual aid activism: No matter how hard we worked or how many donations we received, our efforts could never match the lack of effort on the part of the government. It was sometimes easy to become intoxicated with how much was accomplished with so little, but we should be realistic. We cannot perform helicopter rescues, evacuate large numbers of people, or deal with thousands of hospital patients and nursing home residents, as the official response did in the first days of September, however belatedly or badly. We cannot build levees that can withstand storm surges, or restore wetlands that have been lost, which would have provided additional protec­ tion.These are all larger social functions that require the mobilization of large-scale resources. (2007, p. 79) In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, mutual aid has been one of the most prominent community responses and has indeed been a lifeline for vulnerable individuals and families. For

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example, in Birmingham in the UK, community members and co-operatives came together to create a solidarity kitchen. Members cook and deliver meals to people who are in self-isolation and need food. Emma Goldman, one of the most famous anarchists in history, was a labor activist who immigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 16; she lived in New York City and became involved in anarchist causes (Kensinger, 2009). She founded a radical monthly periodi­ cal called Mother Earth, which was censored by the U.S. government in 1917. She organized around labor issues, birth control, and women’s rights. In 1919, she was deported to the Soviet Union during the postwar “Red scare.” One of her important intellectual contributions was the idea that social transformation should entail living the kind of life one is working toward to whatever extent possible (Kaufman, 2003). This idea would later form the foundation of the progressive social movements of the 1960s, that is, to create organizational structures that express the compassionate and cooperative world that organizers envisioned. Goldman was committed to the development of individual human potential, which she viewed as thwarted by the constraints of social systems; she was particularly concerned with laws that repressed the expression of one’s sexuality. Perhaps more than most theoretical perspectives, anarchism consists of a wide range of differ­ ing and contradictory views. It may be useful to consider three different groups of contemporary anarchists (Kinna, 2009). The first group considers anarchism to be a political movement working toward the liberation of the working class. This group also appeals to women and people of color by connecting sexism and racism to economic oppression. The International Workers’ Associa­ tion (IWA), an international federation of labor unions, is one example of such groups. The sec­ ond group views anarchism as an umbrella movement radicalized by feminists, environmentalists, and LGBTQ people. This group tends to downplay the working-class struggle, viewing anarchism as a commitment to a countercultural lifestyle marked by beliefs in interdependence and mutual support. The third group also de-emphasizes the working-class struggle, and instead embraces the aesthetic dimension of organizing and liberation. This group attempts to overcome the alienation and ennui of consumerism and everyday life by “challenging the system through cultural subver­ sion, creating confusion to highlight the oppressiveness of accepted norms and values” (Kinna, 2009, p. 5). These latter two groups have recently focused more on the individual pursuit of freedom, and are sometimes referred to as “lifestyle anarchists” (Bookchin, 1999). Bookchin (1999) has noted the seemingly contradictory aspects of anarchist views particularly as it relates to their divergent takes on liberty and freedom. Thus, anarchism can include a broad spectrum of ideological perspectives ranging from socialist anarchism embracing the freedom to create a humanistic society together on the left to individualistic-oriented anarchism on the right embracing freedom from being controlled which emphasizes autonomy. Anarchist thought may be considered philosophically aligned with the term coined by Bey (2003), “temporary autonomous zone,” the idea that collectives of people can create nonhier­ archical communities that function more or less outside of mainstream social institutions. Some have argued that the encampments of the Occupy movement constituted temporary autonomous zones and that indeed the movement is grounded in such ideas. The occupiers created their own world that included accommodations for basic needs including sleeping, eating, and bathing, as well as space for organizing, reflection and other forms of inquiry and self-care. Occupiers col­ lectively created small villages that were infused with a co-created order. Of particular impor­ tance was the carnivalesque atmosphere that included music, dance, and other forms of artistic expression. Such spaces are a deliberate rejection of the hierarchical, patriarchal, and capitalistic

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status quo. Instead, as Bey (2003) noted, there was a focus on the immediate moment where the spontaneity of action occurred. Analysis of Anarchist Thought Like thinkers in the Marxist tradition, anarchist thinkers are concerned with excessive accumu­ lations of power in society. Anarchists disagree with Marxists, however, when it comes to the parameters of social institutions (Kaufman, 2003). In other words, many Marxists are content with a situation in which state institutions administer social needs, as long as they are administered fairly and in the interest of society.Anarchists oppose the creation of an “administered society” and argue for active participation in the creation and recreation of social forms. For them, democracy is one of the most important values. (Kaufman, 2003, p. 242) Anarchist perspectives also have some similarities with perspectives on participatory democracy. Both perspectives find common ground in the belief that regular people should be empowered to identify what is of utmost importance to their communities and to set the agenda for their lives. Critiques of anarchism abound, particularly critiques of the so-called lifestyle anarchists whom many perceive to be isolationists. Adherents to anarchist philosophy may tend to ignore electoral politics and the possibilities that policy reform can offer to people’s lives. According to scholar and social critic Noam Chomsky (2013), anarchist projects have met with some success, including the Israeli kibbutzim experiments and during the Spanish Revolution of 1936, when the economy was put under worker control. For organizers, campaigns, organizational structures, recruitment strategies, and tactics can all reflect the change that they are trying to effect. Consider a neighborhood association that is making a decision about how to hold a city accountable for implementing a sidewalk project that it promised but is threatening to renege on because a new mayor has deemed it unnecessary. The association is faced with finding consensus among a diverse representation of neighbors; this can help the association avoid the trap that the most enfranchised, privileged neighbors make the decisions in lieu of those who may have less access to the meetings of the neighborhood. Lowerincome individuals, women, people with disabilities, trans people, and people of color may have less access due to work hours, caretaking for vulnerable family members, or just not feeling safe or supported within the environment of the association. Facilitating the enfranchisement of the most marginalized in a neighborhood into the structures of the neighborhood association can cre­ ate an environment that does not replicate some of the negative, exclusionary practices of the city against which it is organizing. Overall, becoming more knowledgeable about anarchist philosophy and movements, as well as other movements such as antifa (anti-fascism) that are often stereotyped, can be helpful not only in terms of the broader goals of transformative organizing, but also in terms of the avoidance of spreading misinformation. According to Schneider (2017): Despite the caricatures of black-bloc-style chaos, the bulk of anarchist tradition has sought for people to be better organized in their everyday lives—while they work, where they live, how they manage disagreements.This type of power emanates from below, and it is shared.

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To be sure, learning to share power, mutually solve a problem in a community, and organize against oppression have always been central to the project of progressive community organizing.

POSTMODERN PERSPECTIVES Postmodernism is an intellectual movement that casts doubt on modernist metaphysical and epis­ temological assumptions about reality. Emerging after World War II, thinkers came to question the assumptions of modernity and the fact that it had resulted in the Holocaust, environmental destruction, and a variety of oppressions including racism, sexism, and homophobia. This move­ ment has manifested in the disciplines of philosophy, art, architecture, literature, and others; it is also philosophically linked with poststructuralism in psychology and linguistics and postcoloni­ alism in literary theory. Modernism and other traditional views based on objective, positivistic scientific approaches to knowledge are deconstructed as false impositions on what are actually multiple realities that are constantly in flux (Blackburn, 2008). Postmodernists question the entire politics of knowing, and objectivity is viewed as a mask for various types of power and authority. Postmodern philosopher Jacques Derrida introduced the idea of the deconstruction of liter­ ary and philosophical texts, arguing against essentialism and holding that textual meanings are multifold and slippery at best. The fluidity within texts and ideas generally is an argument against traditional modernist metaphysics based on stable opposites. Ideas, such as good and evil, black and white, man and woman, and nature and civilization are just some examples of opposites that are imposed in a brutal way on society. Queer theory, which emerged from the influences of both third-wave feminism and postmodernism, represents a philosophical movement that has critiqued the idea of fixed sexual identities. Even ideas, such as racism or patriarchy or capitalism, which according to many social change actors should be overthrown, have been misunderstood as essentialist ideas, when, in fact, they are also slippery notions. It may be more useful for understanding such ideas as a set of practices. “If we analyze capitalism as a system that must be overthrown all at once or not at all, then it isn’t clear how it is possible to struggle against it in the present period” (Kaufman, 2003, p. 114). Femi­ nists who pursue reform agendas, such as increasing pay for women or prosecuting perpetrators of sexual assault, are challenging patriarchal practices. Rather than becoming stuck in essentialist ways of thinking and reifying ideas, such as institutionalized neoliberalism, breaking them down into moments or components of practices is a useful way of working with them. The significant project of poststructural theorists has been to articulate the rich and complex identities of persons who have been living under colonialist conditions that are oppressive and silencing. Cultural theorist Gayatri Spivak (1988) has brought attention to the “subaltern,” people who “cannot speak,” that is, cannot be heard by “the privileged” (Landry & MacLean, 1996). She has advocated for “unlearning,” which is to work critically through one’s prejudices, history, and instinctual responses. Landry and MacLean explicate Spivak’s view of unlearning one’s privilege as one’s loss: Our privileges, whatever they may be in terms of race, class, nationality, gender, and the like, may have prevented us from gaining a certain kind of Other knowledge: not simply informa­ tion that we have not yet received, but the knowledge that we are not equipped to understand by reason of our social positions.To unlearn our privileges means, on the one hand, to do our homework, to work hard at gaining some knowledge of the others who occupy those spaces

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most closed to our privileged view. On the other hand, it means attempting to speak to those others in such a way that they might take us seriously and, most important of all, be able to answer back. (1996, pp. 4–5) Transformative organizing, like postmodernism, is concerned with this kind of unraveling of the knots of imperialist-white supremacist-capitalist-patriarchy in order to access our own humanity, culture, and wisdom to effect change.

Social Constructionism One flavor of postmodern thought that has predominated in the social sciences is known as social constructionism (also called, social constructivism), which is concerned with how social phenom­ ena come into being through shared meaning-making (Berger & Luckmann, 1967). The theory also aids in understanding the nature of the concept of “self.” Gergen (2015) argues that the self is fluid: “who one is depends on the moment-to-moment movements in conversation” (p. 80). Thus, the self is an expression of relationship. Postmodern philosopher Michel Foucault’s ideas about the self are compatible with a social constructionist perspective, arguing that it is historicized and that everyone is captive to what he calls “regimes of truth” or the prevailing norms of a particular society at a particular historical time (Chambon, Irving, & Epstein, 1999; Foucault, 1980). Black feminist thinker bell hooks (2014) writes of how power structures shape individual selves, having historically defined both what it is to be black and what it is to be a woman. Many constructionist views of the self stem from a critique of the modernist view of the self, which is grounded in the philosopher Rene Descartes’ conclusion—“I think, therefore, I am.” The modernist position maintains that what it is to be human and to know something rests on the capacity for inner rational thought. In contrast, through his analysis of language, Gergen (2015) holds a relational view of the self and asserts that it is not reason, but it is “relationships [that] stand prior to all that is intelligible” (p. 48). Literary theorist Bakhtin (cited in Irving & Young, 2002) holds a similar position, criticizing modernist monological thinking and positing an unfinalizable nature of the self. The self is unfinalizable because it is constantly participating in an open-ended dialogue (Irving & Young, 2002, p. 23). These ideas stand in opposition to neoliberal narratives which responsibilize individuals for what are actually collective problems. Further, these ideas should resonate with the practice of inquiry that was introduced in the previous chapter, wherein who we are changes from moment to moment and is a function of our social engagements, as we explore our feelings and relationships in order to enhance our capacity to engage in social change work. Like postmodernists, the social constructionist agenda is keen to explore epistemology, or how we know what we know. While modernist epistemological views are established in the belief that the mind is a mirror to nature, social constructionists tend to hold the position that there are mul­ tiple ways of knowing reality. Gergen (2015) offers the example of looking out of a window—a botanist gives one description, a landscape designer another, an artist another, and a real estate agent still another. In his words, the individual mind (thought, experience) does not originate meaning, create language, or dis­ cover the nature of the world. Meanings are born of coordination among persons—agreements,

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negotiations, affirmation…. Nothing exists for us—as an intelligible world of objects and persons—until there are relationships. (p. 48) He states that “what we take to be knowledge of the world grows from relationship,” (Gergen, 2015, p. 122) and is embedded not within individual minds but within interpretive or commu­ nal traditions. So, for Gergen, not only does the self emerge from relationships, but knowledge emerges from relationships as well. Bakhtin holds a similar view and believes that understanding comes from dialogue. He writes that “understanding and response are merged and mutually con­ dition each other” (cited in Irving & Young, 2002, p. 24). Generally speaking, postmodernist and social constructionist thinkers are inclined to believe that democracy is one of the great gifts of otherwise oppressive narratives of modernity. Accord­ ing to Gergen (2015), “To it [modernity], we must largely credit our institutions of democracy, public education, and justice” (p. 102). He states that “the very idea of democracy—each indi­ vidual endowed with the right to vote—derives from Enlightenment presumptions” (p. 7). As one reconstructs and transforms oneself and unearths subjugated ways of knowing, one can also reconstruct the manner in which democracy proceeds, enfranchising people to become part of the process, people who were often marginalized and oppressed. This enfranchisement can happen, according to Gergen, through the potentials of dialogue. Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin believed that dialogue and relationship offer a new way of constructing reality. He offered the notion of carnival, a metaphor for the freedom from repres­ sive monological structures that are characteristic of modernist thought affirming that “carnival is the place for working out a new mode of interrelationship between individuals counterposed to the all-powerful sociohierarchical relationships of noncarnival life” (cited in Irving & Young, 2002, p. 26). Bakhtin’s concept of carnival has opened the way for organizers to consider protest as a form of play that disrupts the rational order (Irving & Young, 2002; Shepard, 2005). Writer bell hooks (1984) echoes this sentiment, calling for change that is transformative: To restore the revolutionary life force … women and men must begin to rethink and reshape its direction … we must be willing to criticize, reexamine, and begin … anew, a challenging task because we lack historical precedents…. Our emphasis must be on cultural transformation: destroying dualism, eradicating systems of domination. (p. 163) Transformative organizing must necessarily be a creative process, one that invites community members into spaces that compost the old into something new—new stories, new structures, and new practices.

Analysis of Postmodern Perspectives One common critique of postmodernist viewpoints concerns the philosophical consequences of postmodernism, particularly relativism. If there is no objectivity, then how can one say with any certainty that anything exists at all or that anything is true, including that poverty exists or that a particular social policy is detrimental? Does this not lead to the idea that everything is true (or that everything is false)? These kinds of philosophical debates are not new and existed in ancient

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Greek and Indian philosophy. Postmodernists respond to this dilemma by reiterating that the technique of deconstructing practices is a path toward transformative political possibilities (Ger­ gen, 2015; Witkin & Saleebey, 2007). Paulo Freire (2014) called this pedagogy of hope. Cer­ tainly, all “truths” are with a lower case “t,” not a capital “T” and yet there does seem to be some core ethical principles that ring “true” for most people. Even the 10 human functioning capabilities or basic human rights are contested and yet it is possible to use them as an ethical placeholder that can guide social action pending possible revision. Postmodernism and social constructionism can be helpful philosophical perspectives for think­ ing about community organizing for a variety of reasons. First, they are useful in breaking down the negative metanarratives of the dominant culture. The dominant culture manifests itself in social welfare institutions (both public and private) and in the policies and programs created by the institutions. In order to evaluate a policy or program and its effects on communities, families, and individuals, it is necessary to understand the stories about reality that lie behind a policy. Foucault (1973) engaged in this practice by writing about the social construction of the mental institution beginning with mid-17th-century internment houses, responding to the ways that modern poli­ cies have silenced, stigmatized, and marginalized mental illness. In the current context, we can ask ourselves, for example, what stories lie behind the creation and implementation of immigrant detention centers on the border of the U.S. and Mexico? Second, because organizing and activist communities obviously have their own narratives that can help or hinder, it is necessary to have the tools to deconstruct these narratives as well. For example, a common discourse among organizers is what might be called “us–them” discourse. This is the idea that there exists in reality a group of people who “get it” or who are “right,” that is, “us,” and that there is another group who does not get it and, thus, who are “wrong,” that is, “them.” Organizers might want to be cautious when creating or perpetuating such sweeping dichotomies, such as the global justice movement arguably has done in terms of sweeping gener­ alization about the global North and the global South, or what contemporary antiracist movement has done with the idea of being either “woke” or a racist. Everything is much more complicated and nuanced as we find ourselves internalizing endless narratives of racism wherein becoming “woke” is a process. Overall, postmodernism is relevant to transformative community organizing practice at a variety of levels, including consciousness-raising and popular education; organizing constituen­ cies, including working in coalition; and grappling with intersectionality and identity politics. For example, indigenous Mexican organizers, the Zapatistas, engage in the practice of encuentro, a dialogical encounter, and feminists have engaged in the practice of consciousness-raising about oppression. Postmodernism and social constructionism remind us that such democratic discus­ sions of ideas form the nucleus of social change work. PRAXIS, REFLEXIVITY, AND SOCIAL CHANGE IDEAS The social change ideas discussed here represent a complex amalgamation of critical perspectives on status quo interpretations of social life. These ideas are not always compatible with each other; indeed, some even contradict each other. The world is a complex place in which any one person or group of people has a limited view; any theory that purports to explain a social phenomenon fully or that reduces reality to a basic concept should be approached with caution. How, then, can community organizers draw from these complex perspectives in their practice in a way that is

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ultimately beneficial for them and the communities they work in? One must keep in mind that it is not the ideas themselves that are most important, but that what is important is what the ideas can do for people. Philosopher-change makers Marx and Freire employed the notion of praxis (practi­ cal application of theory) to emphasize the value of not just interpreting the world, but of actually transforming it through action (Ledwith, 2016). Praxis is a habit of reflection, action, and theory building that emerges out of cycles of engagement in community and collective deliberation. In this process, it is important to maintain a somewhat loose grip on ideas; otherwise, we will find ourselves blindly engaged in unreflective practices that are driven solely by ideology and not by other important factors, like evidence, context, and intuition. According to Shepard (2011), “Theory is when you have ideas. Ideology is when ideas have you” (p. 38). These theories can be valuable for understanding and critiquing the presumptions of social welfare policies and practices, including questioning underlying stories, dichotomies, and frame­ works. Practitioners can engage in critical analysis of, for example, a restrictive immigration policy, exposing the contradiction that the histories of many countries, particularly those of the United States, have included immigrants and that many people are descendants of immigrants. A new vision for a progressive immigration policy would incorporate this history and emphasize the strengths of a diverse, multicultural environment. Like praxis, reflexivity is an iterative process of learning by doing and reflecting (Miehls & Mof­ fatt, 2000; Ledwith, 2016). Taking a reflexive approach means that one also incorporates “use of self” when reflecting on practice. Reflexivity is the practice of making the unconscious conscious by getting curious about the ways that engaging in social change work impacts thinking, feeling, and being, and vice versa. This embodied work is done at both the group and individual levels, uti­ lizing a variety of techniques including journaling, popular education, meditation, restorative cir­ cles, dialogue circles, study circles, storytelling/storywriting, and the practice of council. These practices share an interest in healing, deep listening, integration of experiences, and connecting the personal and political. When done intentionally, reflexivity becomes an integral dimension of healing justice and transformative change work. Ultimately, social change ideas can stimulate visions for what liberation can look like and how groups can organize themselves. It is critical, though, that the most marginalized voices are not just at the table but are leading these processes. Otherwise, we are doomed to envision more of the same. Although this text draws heavily from social theory to inform an understanding of commu­ nity organizing, theory (especially when manifested as ideology) can actually hinder social change work. My identity as a “feminist” has actually blinded me from seeing other perspectives or pieces of information that may be relevant. I tell this story by way of illustration of this point. I was work­ ing as an advocate for battered women, doing policy work at the statewide level, and participating in a working group that was focusing on welfare reform and child support enforcement regula­ tions. One person referred to fathers who owed child support as “deadbeat dads.” This was not an uncommon way to refer to men who battered their partners and did not pay their child support. In fact, we often referred to them in even worse terms. It hit me, however, at that moment that not only was name-calling not particularly helpful but that most of these “deadbeat dads” were also struggling economically themselves. They, too, were victims of systemic violence, specifi­ cally an economy that favors the rich over the working class and of a government that had recently retrenched many social welfare provisions. Many of these men were dealing with the realities of low-paying jobs and unemployment (not that this was a causal factor or justified anybody com­ mitting violence). It became clear that manifesting as a social change activist meant making con­ nections about the multiple ways that power affects regular people. It means speaking out about

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victim-blaming and that one oppression (violence against women) does not necessarily trump another (economic injustice). At this moment, I began to really understand what solidarity meant. Although I was not ready to speak up at that moment, the next time that this scenario arose, and it inevitably did, I was able to carefully articulate my concern. Transformative community organizers understand that oppressions are interconnected and interlocking and they are called to maintain a balance between their ideals and the constantly changing evidence, engaging in a kind of improvisational, dialectical dance of social-change work.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION 1. Explain your personal understanding of Marxist thought and/or critical theory and how it is relevant to social issues today. 2. In what ways can queer theory be relevant in organizing with LGBTQ communities? What about with non-LGBTQ communities? 3. Describe the role social capital building can play in effecting social change. What other fac­ tors are at play and need to be addressed? 4. What theories or sets of theories presented in this chapter resonate with you personally the most? Why? What are the drawbacks of the theories? How can you apply them to your com­ munity work?

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER INQUIRY Books Chomsky, N. (2015). Rogue states: The rule of force in world affairs (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: Haymar­ ket Books. hooks, bell. (2014). Feminist Theory: From margin to center (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. Kaufman, C. (2003). Ideas for action: Relevant theory for radical change. Cambridge, MA: South End Press. Klein, H. (2015). Compañeras: Zapatista women’s stories. Seven Stories Press. Spivak, G. (1988). Can the Subaltern Speak? In C. Nelson and L. Grossberg (Eds.) Marxism and the interpretation of culture (pp. 271–313). Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press

Web Bitch Media. https://www.bitchmedia.org/ Center for Popular Economics. http://www.populareconomics.org The Feminist Wire. https://thefeministwire.com/ The New Rules Project. http://www.newrules.org The Noam Chomsky Website. http://www.chomsky.info

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NOTE 1. The relationship between theorists and practitioners is not always equal in terms of power and money, however. Academics who are paid by universities and intellectuals who make money from writing books receive significant amounts of societal prestige, whereas community prac­ titioners and grassroots activists do not necessarily reap the social and economic rewards.

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Theories and Praxis hornsby, J. (2005). Mary Wollstonecraft. in T. honderich (ed.), The oxford companion to philosophy (2nd ed., pp. 964–965). new York, nY: oxford University Press. hudson, W. e. (2017). american democracy in peril: eight challenges to america′s future (8th ed.). Thousand oaks, Ca: CQ Press. ichiyo, M. (1994). alliance of hope and challenges of global democracy. The ecumenical review, 46(1), 28–37. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6623.1994.tb02906.x. inwood, M. J. (2005). Frankfurt school. in T. honderich (ed.), The oxford companion to philosophy (2nd ed., pp. 311–312)). oxford; new York, nY: oxford University Press. irving, a., & Young, T. (2002). Paradigm for pluralism: Mikhail Bakhtin and social work practice. social Work, 47(1), 19–29. doi: 10.1093/sw/47.1.19. Jagose, a. (1996). Queer theory: an introduction. new York, nY: new York University Press. Jensen, L. P. (2009). subversive spirituality: Transforming mission through the collapse of space and time. eugene, or: Wipf and stock Publishers. Joy, T. (2018, February 2). The problem with private prisons. The Wesleyan argus. retrieved from http://wesleyanargus. com/2018/02/02/the-problem-with-private-prisons/?utm_content=buffer83bd7&utm_medium=social&utm_ source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer Kaufman, C. (2003). ideas for action: relevant theory for radical change. Cambridge, Ma: south end Press. Kellner, d. (2005). Frankfurt school. in G. ritzer (ed.), encyclopedia of social theory (Vol. i, pp. 290–293). Thou­ sand oaks, Ca: sage. Kensinger, L. (2009). radical lessons: Thoughts on emma Goldman, chaos, grief, and political violence post– 9/11/01. Feminist Teacher, 20(1), 50–70. doi: https://doi.org/10.5406/femteacher.20.1.0050. Kincheloe, J. L., & McLaren, P. (2011). rethinking critical theory and qualitative research. in K. hayes, s. r. steinberg, & K. Tobin (eds.), Key works in critical pedagogy (pp. 285–326). rotterdam, The netherlands; Boston, Ma: sense Publishers. Kinna, r. (2009). anarchism: a beginner’s guide (2nd ed.). oxford, england: oneworld Publications. Kolokotronis, a. (2018, July 31). Participatory democracy: a tool for social change. Truthout. retrieved from Truthout website: https://truthout.org/articles/participatory-democracy-a-tool-for-social-change/ Kreps, B. (2003). radical feminism. in C. r. McCann, & s. K. Kim (eds.), Feminist theory reader: Local and global perspectives (pp. 45–49). new York, nY: routledge. Kropotkin, P. (2017). Mutual aid: a factor of cooperation. scotts Valley, Ca: Createspace independent Publishing Platform. (original work published 1902) Landry, d., & MacLean, G. (eds.) (1996). The spivak reader. new York, nY: routledge. Ledwith, M. (2016). Community development in action: Putting Freire into practice. Bristol, UK: Policy Press. Lin, n. (2003). social capital: a theory of social structure and action. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (original work published 2001) MacKenzie, d., & Coghlan, a. (2011). revealed—the capitalist network that runs the world. new scientist. retrieved from http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228354.500-revealed-the-capitalist-network-that­ runs-the-world.html Marx, K. (1845). Theses on Feuerbach. retrieved from https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/theses/ theses.pdf

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FOUNDATIONS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING Marx, K., & engels, F. (2004). The communist manifesto (L. Findley, ed. & Trans.). Peterborough, ontario, Canada: Broadview Press. (original work published in 1848) McLean, s. L., schultz, d. a., & steger, M. B. (eds.) (2002). social capital: Critical perspectives on community and bowling alone. new York, nY: new York University Press. Menegat, r. (2002). Participatory democracy in Porto alegre. Brasil. Participatory Learning and action, 44, 8–11. Menser, M. (2018). We decide! Theories and cases in participatory democracy. Philadelphia, Pa: Temple University Press. Meyers, d. T. (1997). Feminist social thought: a reader. abingdon, england; new York, nY: routledge. Miehls, d., & Moffatt, K. (2000). Constructing social work identity based on the reflexive self. The British Journal of social Work, 30(3), 339–348. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/30.3.339. Moraga, C., & anzaldua, G. (eds.). (2015). This bridge called my back: Writings by radical women of color (4th ed.). albany, nY: state University of new York Press. Morton, a. d. (2007). Unravelling gramsci: hegemony and passive revolution in the global economy. London, UK; ann arbor, Mi: Pluto Press. nash, J. (2005). introduction: social movements and global processes. in J. nash (ed.), social movements: an anthropological reader (pp. 1–26). Malden, Ma: Blackwell Publishing. Phillips, L. (2006). The womanist reader. new York, nY: routledge. Poder, T. G. (2011). What is really social capital? a critical review. The american sociologist, 42(4), 341–367. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12108-011-9136-z. Putnam, r. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of american community. new York, nY: simon & schuster. Putnam, r., Light, i., Briggs, x., rohe, W. M., Vidal, a., hutchinson, J. … Woolcock, M. (2004). Using social capital to help integrate planning theory, research, and practice: Preface. Journal of the american Planning association, 70(2), 142–192. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/01944360408976369. Pyles, L., & Cross, T. (2008). Community revitalization in post-katrina new orleans: a critical analysis of social capital variables in an african american neighborhood. Journal of Community Practice, 16(4), 383–401. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10705420802475050. ride, a., & Bretherton, d. (2011). Community resilience in natural disasters. new York, nY: Palgrave Macmillan. rifkin, J. (2009). The empathic civilization: The race to global consciousness in a world in crisis. new York, nY: Penguin Group. rogers, M. F. (2005). Feminism. in G. ritzer (ed.), encyclopedia of social theory (Vol. i, pp. 268–269). Thousand oaks, Ca: sage. rowe, C., & schofield, M. (eds.) (2000). The Cambridge history of Greek and roman political thought. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. rucks, J. (2019, June 24). holding the U.s. accountable on global reproductive health and rights. Pai. retrieved from https://pai.org/blog/holding-the-u-s-accountable-on-global-reproductive-health-and-rights/ saul, J. (2014). Collective trauma, collective healing: Promoting community resilience in the aftermath of disaster. hove, UK; new York, nY: routledge. schneider, n. (2017, January 22). Why we should listen to anarchists in the age of Trump. america: The Jesuit review. retrieved from https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2017/01/22/why-we-should-listen­ anarchists-age-trump

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Theories and Praxis selznick, P. (2002). The communitarian persuasion. Washington, d.C: Woodrow Wilson Center Press. serano, J. (2013). excluded: Making feminist and queer movements more inclusive. Berkeley, California: seal Press. shepard, B. (2005). The use of joyfulness as a community organizing strategy. Peace & Change, 30(4), 435–468. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0130.2005.00328.x. shepard, B. (2011). Play, creativity and social movements: if i can’t dance, it’s not my revolution. new York, nY: routledge. smith, a. (2006, June 1). Without Bureaucracy, beyond inclusion: re-centering feminism. Left Turn. retrieved from http://www.leftturn.org/without-bureaucracy-beyond-inclusion-re-centering-feminism spivak, G. (1988). Can the subaltern speak? in C. nelson, & L. Grossberg (eds.), Marxism and the interpretation of culture (pp. 271–313)). Chicago, iL: University of illinois Press. Taylor, K.-Y. (2017). how we get free: Black feminism and the Combahee river Collective. Chicago, iL: haymarket Books. Webb, s. a. (ed.) (2019). The routledge handbook of critical social work. London, UK: routledge. Witkin, s. L., & saleebey, d. (2007). social work dialogues: Transforming the canon in inquiry, practice and educa­ tion. alexandria, Va: Council on social Work education Press. Wollstonecraft, M. (2009 [1792]). a Vindication on the rights of Women. new York, nY: W. W. norton and Company. Wong, K. (2017, March 20). Participatory budgeting is gaining momentum in the Us. how does it work? shareable. retrieved from https://www.shareable.net/participatory-budgeting-is-gaining-momentum-in-the-us-how-does-it­ work/ Wood, a. (2005). Marx, Karl heinrich. in T. honderich (ed.), The oxford companion to philosophy (2nd ed., pp. 557–559). oxford; new York nY: oxford University Press. Zack, n. (2007). Can third wave feminism be inclusive? intersectionality, its problems and new directions. in L. M. alcoff, & e. F. Kittay (eds.), The Blackwell guide to feminist philosophy (pp. 193–207). Malden, Ma: Blackwell Publishing.

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Chapter 4

Learning From Social Movements The vision, strategies, and tactics used by revolutionaries who longed for a more democratic way of life have been an inspiration for many activists and community organizers. When established political systems do not respond to the needs of people, organizing has historically been a way for citizens to ensure their grievances are heard (Zinn, 2003/2015). Organizers across the globe have drawn from human rights frameworks, as well as indigenous or localized legacies of resistance, to inspire them to work for change. Modern scholars consider a revolution to be “violent, abrupt, or radical change,” a kind of rup­ ture or innovation within a linear or evolutionary conception of time (Beilharz, 2005, p. 642). However, from the time of the Greeks to the Renaissance, the revolution had a more cyclical or cir­ cular sense of meaning, indicating a complete or full cycle of seasons, a kind of restoration based on a cyclical sense of time (Beilharz, 2005). One can argue that organizing, particularly social move­ ment organizing, happens with regularity as a normal part of the human social and political cycle, performing the function of the restoration or creation of more liberatory and democratic practices. The second half of the 19th century in Europe and the United States was marked by techno­ logical innovations in the production of goods. Iron, steel, steam engines, the telephone, and the typewriter—these inventions greatly increased the world of production. And with these inno­ vations also came increased risks to workers. Achieving the ends of faster production required “clever organizers and administrators of the new corporations, a country rich with land and minerals, and a huge supply of human beings to do the backbreaking, unhealthful, and dangerous work” (Zinn, 2003/2015, p. 254). In the 19th and early 20th centuries, immigrants from Europe and China were exposed to harsh conditions, including long workdays, dangerous machinery, the heat, and the cold. Consider that in 1889, the Interstate Commerce Commission showed that 22,000 railroad workers were killed or injured in the course of a single year. Although these workers had much in common in terms of their political and economic situ­ ations, their ethnic differences were often emphasized, and thus, they were easily pitted against each other, a mechanism that would have the effect of impeding their potential solidarity as work­ ers. During this time, ethnic communities also were subjected to explicit violence due to eth­ nic hatred—Jewish people beaten in New York City and Chinese people killed in San Francisco (Zinn, 2003/2015). These divisions continue to be a recurring theme in social movements and community organizing. And yet, these workers found ways to overcome the divides, and organ­ izers continue to strive to do so today. The movement for the eight-hour workday was growing in 1886 (even though it was techni­ cally federal law, it was not being enforced), and in the Spring, a strike occurred that included 350,000 workers in 11,562 establishments throughout the country: In Detroit, 11,000 workers marched in an eight-hour parade. In New York, 25,000 formed a torchlight procession along Broadway, headed by 3,400 members of the Bakers’ Union. In

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Chicago, 40,000 struck, and 45,000 were granted a shorter working day to prevent them from striking. Every railroad in Chicago stopped running, and most of the industries in Chicago were paralyzed.The stockyards were closed down. (Zinn, 2003/2015, p. 270) Using the slogan, “eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will,” the struggle for the eight-hour day continued. Another key moment was the Haymarket struggle in Chicago that same year, which began as a peaceful rally and resulted in the conviction of eight labor activists who many believe were wrongly convicted and were seen as martyrs for the labor movement (Adelman, n.d.). Eventually, workers would achieve victory across ethnic differences on this important labor issue, one that is often taken for granted today. Even at the time of these labor struggles in the late 19th century, organizing was already a global struggle. The key constituents of the struggle in the U.S. were immigrants from dis­ tant parts of the globe having moved across international borders to escape injustice or to find economic opportunity. In addition, labor organizers in Europe were already collaborating with U.S.-based organizers during this time. The global nature of social movements, both historically and contemporarily, cannot be overstated. We have seen examples of the global nature of social movements in the last decade as the #NODAPL movement brought indigenous people from around the world together in North Dakota near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation to protest the environmental and cultural impact of the Dakota Access Pipeline, and with the Extinction Rebellion which started in the UK and spread to other parts of the globe to demand action on climate change. Scholars argue that the nature of organizing and movements has changed in this new era of globalization, and indeed, it is changing (Castells, 2015; McNutt, 2018). Yet, one should keep in mind that the global aspect of social movements has existed for some time. Consider, as well, the critical years of 1848 and 1968, which were heightened times of revolution and social change across the globe. The European revolutions of 1848 occurred in the same year that Karl Marx published The Communist Manifesto. The Paris student movement of 1968 was happening at the same time the civil rights and antiwar movements were reaching their heights in the United States. Sociologist C. Wright Mills described these movements as the New Left, defined as progressive social movement actors of the 1960s who moved beyond the singularity of labor issues that were the focus of the Old Left and focused on countercultural movement activi­ ties. New Left groups, such as Students for a Democratic Society, emphasized antiwar and civil rights organizing. Such significant global social change activity speaks to the importance of communication and alliance building across national and ethnic boundaries. Today, contemporary global justice move­ ment activists work together in real time from diverse corners of the globe on a range of issues, including health, child welfare, the environment, and other social justice issues. The Occupy movement was inspired by the Arab Spring, which were a series of protests and demonstrations in the Arab world beginning in 2010 that protested lack of democratic rule, economic decline, and human rights violations. Social movements and revolutions are not the only contexts in which community organizing happens. Indeed, a considerable amount of organizing takes place somewhat in isolation and is not identified within the context of larger social movements. Nonetheless, an understanding of the history and dynamics of social movements can provide rich insights for organizing work. In this

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chapter, I define and discuss various dimensions of social movements as articulated by social sci­ entists. This is followed by an introduction to some historical social movements, including those focused on civil rights, women’s rights, labor issues, LGBTQ rights, and disability rights. I con­ clude with a discussion of some of the organizing lessons to be learned from social movement theory and history. UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL MOVEMENTS The term social movement is a broad one that often encompasses a wide range of definitions. Some may employ a broad description of the term, citing the increased use of digital technol­ ogy across the globe, for example, as a social movement. However, a social movement, as defined here, has a fairly narrow definition. According to Jasper (2007), social movements are “conscious, concerted, and relatively sustained efforts by organized groups of ordinary people to change some aspect of their society by using extrainstitutional means” (p. 5). Two necessary conditions of social movements, as articulated by Jasper, may be helpful to reflect on—first, a change in consciousness and, second, a change in behavior. A change in consciousness occurs when people come to believe that social systems are unjust and are losing legitimacy. Many global-justice and environmental activists, for example, have ceased to believe in the promises of free-trade agreements, believing that such agreements have brought tremendous harm to indigenous communities and to the environment, resulting in the displacement of peoples across the Americas and egregious threats to vulnerable people due to climate change. In the context of heavily militarized police and publically visible incidences of police brutality, coupled with a racist system of mass incarceration, many people have lost faith in the crimi­ nal justice system. A change in consciousness means that the system appears to no longer be inevitable, and people begin to assert their rights. There is a sense of one’s ability to change the situation. A change in behavior is a kind of defiance that may involve violating traditions, laws, and authorities to which people would normally defer (Jasper, 2007). In the context of a social move­ ment, this change in behavior necessarily is acted out collectively, as a group, not as individuals. In the case of global-justice activists working for immigrant rights, for example, some organizers have sought to provide sanctuary to immigrants who are at risk of being deported, a clear defiance of federal, state, and/or local laws. Other important facets of social movements have been captured by Tarrow (1994), who defines social movements as “collective challenges by people with common purposes and solidar­ ity in sustained interaction with elites and authorities” (p. 4), and by Castells (1999), who states that they are a “purposive collective action whose outcome, in victory as in defeat, transforms the values and institutions of society” (p. 3). Moreover, the idea that this interaction is sustained (not fleeting) is an indicator of a social movement rather than of an isolated rebellion or even of a onetime organizing campaign. Finally, Castells’ point about the transformation of values and institutions is fundamental. Through social analysis, consciousness-raising and popular education, social movement groups cre­ ate innovative frames, tell new stories, and envision and work for the kinds of communities in which they want to live. For example, U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez (D-NY) (AOC), along with organizers, advocates, and other policymakers have been articulating and advocating for a

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Green New Deal, a visionary framework and resolution for addressing climate change. Created by the Intercept, an online news publication, a clever video brings a message from the future as AOC tells the story of how scientists and policymakers knew about climate change back in the 1970s. She imagines a future where the U.S. has slashed emissions and she muses about riding a bullet train between New York City and Washington D.C. The goal of the future legislation would be to slash carbon emissions by half and to invest in renewable energy and technology that would create jobs and boost the economy (H. R. 109, 2019). New York State signed into law its own Green New Deal known as the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act which will mandate for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and 100% electricity generation from renewable energy by 2040. DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS Social movements and social movement organizations (SMOs) can be appreciated through a dis­ cussion of their various types and dimensions. Harper and Leichit (2016) identified the distinc­ tions between two key types: 1) revolutionary/radical movement organizations; and 2) reform/ moderate organizations. Revolutionary movements are movements that seek to transform the system itself. These movements tend to focus on fundamental social, political, and economic change. An example of such a movement is antiwar movements, which, though they may have an immediate goal of ending a particular war, also uphold longer-term goals of peace by organizing to abolish the mechanisms in society that perpetuate wars and violence (in a famous speech in 1961, President Dwight Eisenhower referred to this as ‘the military-industrial complex’ posing a major threat to democracy). Reform movements, on the other hand, attempt to make incremen­ tal changes within the existing system. The welfare rights movement that emerged in the 1960s attempted to work within the existing system by advocating for better access to state-administered social welfare benefits. Rather than seeking to abolish capitalist mechanisms or engage in some other kind of radical change, this movement worked for better-trained caseworkers, simplified application processes, and higher benefit levels for public welfare recipients. Both revolutionary and reform movements are relevant to the work of progressive community organizing. Changing policies, improving programs, and enhancing economic access for disenfranchised communities represent reform work and indeed are an important part of progressive social change. The revo­ lutionary work of transforming political and social structures is equally as important. It is prob­ ably most useful to think about these dimensions on a spectrum, with many organizing campaigns and organizations containing elements of both dimensions. Transformative organizing tends to be more aligned with revolutionary/radical social movements, and includes the added dimension of attending to internal and interpersonal healing and change. Another distinction between movements is that of progressive and conservative (Harper & Leicht, 2016). Progressive movements, or left-leaning movements, and the subject of this book, are described as forward-thinking and often seek to improve the lives of marginalized people. The disability rights movement has sought to change the traditional negative stereotypes and institu­ tionalized barriers that people with disabilities face. Conservative or right-wing movements may seek to prevent change or resuscitate the past. Examples of such movements in the U.S. are the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, the Tea Party, and the family values movements. These movements share similar visions in terms of restoring the “American Dream” and embrac­ ing traditional “family values.”

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EMERGENCE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS Scholars have been concerned with questions, such as why social movements come into being, why people join or do not join them, and what ultimately makes them effective (Tarrow, 2011; Staggenborg, 2015; Goodwin & Jasper, 2015; Klandermans, 2001). At face value, social move­ ments come into being because people are aggrieved by an injustice, reinterpret the injustice according to the group’s values, and articulate a way forward together. Collective action frames offer strategic interpretations of issues with the goal of organizing people to act, identify­ ing an aggrieved group (“we”), placing blame (“them”), and encouraging the “we” to effect change. According to Klandermans (2001), “the transformation of social and cultural cleavages into col­ lective action frames does not occur by itself. It is a process in which social and political actors, media, and citizens jointly interpret, define and redefine states of affairs” (p. 272). He proposes three processes through which this happens. First, it happens by means of public discourse, that is, the interface of media discourse and interpersonal interaction; second, through persuasive communication during mobilization campaigns by movement organizations, their opponents, and countermovement organizations; and, third, through consciousness-raising during episodes of collective action. This is the demand side of social movements. A major and public injustice can often spur a social movement into action. One such epi­ sode was the murder of Emmett Till, a Black youth from Chicago who was visiting family in Mississippi in the 1950s. This young man was brutally murdered by local White people for sup­ posedly ogling a White woman. The injustice of the murder and the lack of criminal account­ ability for the perpetrators spawned outrage among the civil rights community. In 2006, the case of the Jena 6 in Louisiana mobilized African American communities to protest an unfair criminal justice system, which served to revitalize civil rights organizing in a new generation of African Americans. In 2013, the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the death of African American teen Trayvon Martin triggered the movement known as #BlackLivesMatter. This movement became even more nationally known for direct action protests after the deaths in 2014 of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. In 2020, the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers triggered a resurgence of #BlackLivesMatter and other racial justice movements across the country, with tensions aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic context and an economic crisis. Another reason why social movements come into being and why social movement organizations may be successful is because people have the resources to mobilize. This is the supply side of social movements. The resource mobilization approach is the theory that the internal resources available to an organization or movement determine its success. Resources include money, time, technical infrastructure, expertise, and so on, including the structures and organizations to mobilize and deploy these resources (McCarthy & Zald, 1973). According to McCarthy and Zald (2015), the resource mobilization approach “examines the variety of resources that must be mobilized, the linkages of social movements to other groups, the dependence of movements upon external sup­ port for success, and the tactics used by authorities to control or incorporate movements” (p. 159). Political opportunity is another facet of the emergence and effectiveness of social movements. Political opportunities are the external structural factors that impact the outcomes of social movements, including channels of access to political decision making, the availability of politi­ cal allies, the stability of political institutions, and divisions among political elites. Political sci­ entists refer to these as “policy windows” (Kingdon, 2011). Tarrow (1994) asserts that people engage in movements and that they tend to succeed when political opportunities open up. Groups with only minor grievances and significant resources may appear, whereas those with profound

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grievances and significant resources, who lack political opportunities, do not (Tarrow, 1994). “Political opportunities are elements of the political environment that affect perceptions as to the likelihood that collective action will succeed or fail” (Staggenborg, 2005, p. 754). According to McAdam (cited in Goodwin & Jasper, 2015), political opportunity includes the degree to which the institutionalized political system is open or closed, the stability or instability of elite align­ ments that tend to undergird a political system, the presence or absence of allies who hold posi­ tions of power, and the state’s inclination for repression. Social movement actors are thus charged with adapting their strategies to the current political structures; what may have worked 20 years ago or even 2 years ago may not be effective given changes in who is holding office or what the latest crisis or disaster is (McAdam & Boudet, 2012). These contextual factors are thought of as structural in that they are outside the scope of immedi­ ate change, thus revealing tensions between structure and social movement actor agency (de Moor & Wahlström, 2019). In the Trump era, there has been less opportunity to engage in proactive and effective social change in a variety of arenas, including health care, immigrant rights, and the envi­ ronment, as activists have taken a stance of reactivity and #resistance to repressive policymaking. Although many have argued that the focus on political opportunities is one of the greatest determinants of the success of social action, others have argued that such attention to political structures negates the agency of social movements and also fails to capture the role that narra­ tives play (de Moor & Wahlström, 2019). Some of the success of the changes during the 1960s’ antipoverty movement in the United States can be attributed to the fact that there were favorable political opportunity structures in place, for example, a Democratic president who was sympa­ thetic to poverty issues. Besides being influenced by political structures, one should remember that movements create opportunities for themselves (and other social movements) (Staggenborg, 2005). Indeed, women did not obtain the right to vote just because the time for it was inevitable; it happened because people organized for it (Kaufman, 2003). Beck, Dorsey, and Stutters (2003) analyzed the women’s suffrage movement through the lens of social movement theory and found several factors operated to influence the movement’s success. First, the framing processes that raised consciousness and enhanced collective identity positively influenced the outcome in an ongoing way. Second, a movement community emerged during a protest cycle that was influenced by abolitionist and temperance movements. The move­ ment community included a diverse spectrum of organizations, some of which had a radical flank effect on the outcome. Third, because movement participants consisted primarily of privileged classes of women, external resources steadily flowed into movement activities. Fourth, transna­ tional interactions with international suffrage groups, particularly in England, infused the move­ ment with new ideas that would continue to bolster the movement’s effectiveness. Fifth, strong leadership, which framed issues and analyzed the political context, contributed to the effective­ ness of the movement. In addition to a concern with why movements come into being, social movement scholars have asked why people do not participate in social movements. Olson (1965/2002) believed that the reasons for nonparticipation were as follows: 1. Incentives must persuade people to contribute to the collective good. 2. Because movement goals are collective, people will achieve the benefits of the goal even if they do not participate. 3. Because the goal is uncertain, rational actors will often take a “free ride.”

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Other perspectives on social movements identify the radical flank effect, arguing that the exist­ ence of a “radical flank” can have a range of impacts on the outcome of movements. The radical flank effect (RFE) is the positive and/or negative impact that more radical actors can have on more moderate actors (Ellefsen, 2018). This radical flank may be perceived to be threatening to authorities as compared to more moderate participants in a social movement (Goodwin & Jasper, 2015). Authorities can decide to repress the entire movement because of the beliefs or actions of the more radical end of the spectrum. For example, during the 1999 Seattle protests against the World Trade Organization (WTO), which were almost entirely peaceful on the part of partici­ pants, police responded with brute force against peaceful protesters because a few radicals had smashed some windows of businesses in Seattle. The entire group suffered the consequences of the actions of the radical flank. Public housing organizing in post-Katrina New Orleans arguably suffered a blow due to the actions of the radical flank. The groups expressing disapproval of the New Orleans City Council’s proposal to issue demolition permits of several public housing units were essentially radical ones. These groups only offered a flat-out ‘no’ to the process; no moder­ ate groups were available with which the city council could have negotiated. On the other hand, moderate participants often reap positive benefits of a radical flank effect because the less radical organizers can distance themselves from radical activists, yet they still can obtain the benefits of the actions of radical organizers. According to Goodwin and Jasper (2003), in some cases, the radical flank is threatening enough that the forces of order take the movement more seri­ ously, often making concessions.The moderate flank can present itself as a reasonable compro­ mise partner so that authorities give it power in order to undercut the radicals (although the moderates must distance themselves from the radicals to garner these benefits). (p. 347) In the case of the women’s suffrage movement, the radical work of activists like Alice Paul had a positive effect on the work of more moderate suffragists, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Although movement organizations employed a wide range of tactics, movement actors did not openly con­ demn the other groups (Beck et al., 2003). Recent social movement literature is filled with the complexities of intellectual disputes that focus on the differences between structuralist approaches, which include political opportunity per­ spectives and resource mobilization approaches, on the one hand, and constructionist approaches, which include a stronger emphasis on culture, meaning, narratives, emotions, and identity issues (de Moor & Wahlström, 2019; Goodwin & Jasper, 2004; Polletta, 2004). Stemming from some of the philosophical and literary tensions in postmodern and poststructuralist scholarly trends, these debates can be characterized as occurring between traditional, political process theorists, and new social movement theorists who emphasize the role of culture in movement building (Polletta, 2004). Jasper (2007) summarizes these cultural approaches: They have begun to write about the social construction of grievances and worldviews. They have described the social-psychological identity formation of activists, often through critiques of rationalist and mobilization approaches. They have refocused their attention on the role of ideas and ideologies in political action. And they have pushed the idea of culture beyond static cognitive grids and into modes of action. (p. 69)

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS The conditions of industrialization and urbanization in the 19th century set the stage for the early social movements in the United States. Before there were what we understand today to be social movements, groups of individuals displayed subtle, and not so subtle, acts of resistance. During the preindustrial period, which occurred roughly from the Middle Ages (5th century to the 15th century) up until around the 19th century, peasants were responding to immediate threats to their liveli­ hoods, such as grain scarcities, high bread prices, and other attempts to curtail their rights. The responses of these peasants included destroying the homes of tax collectors and confiscating ship­ ments of grain. These actions were local in nature and usually shortlived. The actions tended to target those whom the peasants perceived to have wronged them (Jasper, 2007). By the time of the French Revolution, citizens began to engage in boycotts, mass petitions, and urban rebellions. Later in the 19th century, citizenship movements emerged (Jasper, 2007). These movements were initiated by the developing industrial worker class. They were organized by and on behalf of categories of people excluded in some way from full human rights, political participation, or basic economic protections. Such movements tended to be more national and more sustained than peasant movements. Working for women’s right to vote was an important example of a citizen­ ship movement. Most recently, postcitizenship movements have surfaced and proliferated throughout the world. These new social movements are usually composed of people who are already integrated into their society’s political, economic, and educational systems. Because they need not demand basic rights for themselves, they often pursue protections or benefits for others. These move­ ments are generally interested in changing the consciousness and cultural sensibilities of society. Whereas previous views have focused on the spatial or locality component of social movements, recently, more emphasis has been placed on the common identities of people within movements (Stalder, 2006). The remainder of this chapter focuses on several key social movements during the course of the last century. Like any retelling of a story, the story will often vary depending on a person’s social standpoint and personal perspective. A discussion of the history of social movements is not any different. My representation of these historical movements is neither exhaustive nor comprehen­ sive. I choose the movements—civil rights, women’s labor, LGBTQ, and disability—because of their powerful contributions to current organizing sensibilities and the diversity of issues that they address. Also, one of the most important contemporary social movements is the global-justice movement, in the context of climate crisis, to which I devote an entire chapter at the end of this book. In each of the following sections, I briefly present an overview of the movement, including a bit of its historical context, key moments, tensions, predominant leaders, issues addressed, frames utilized, and the organizing strategies and tactics employed. I conclude by offering some overall analysis focusing on lessons learned for transformative community organizing practice. Civil Rights Movement1 In the 1950s and 1960s in the southern United States, segregation was alive and well. The South still affirmed and practiced the Jim Crow laws that required segregation between Black and White people in various public places including lunch counters, public transportation, water fountains, and schools. In addition, the right to vote that had been affirmed by the Fifteenth Amendment in

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1870 had not been fully extended to Black citizens. Lynchings were not uncommon, the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacy group, was experiencing a resurgence, and the economic and educational opportunities for Black people were stagnant. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, min­ isters, Black unions, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and others spoke out about these injustices, which resulted in some piecemeal changes. But it was in 1954 when a significant Supreme Court decision known as Brown v. the Topeka Board of Education (347 U.S. 483) was made, declaring that the law and custom of “separate but equal” were no longer acceptable when it comes to education, that things began to change in earnest. The Brown decision required the integration of schools across the country, thus calling into question the entire system of segregation. Many communities in the South resisted desegregation with delays and blatant rejections of the ruling. However, many Black students, with the help of community members, activists and lawyers, proceeded with enrolling in traditionally White schools claiming their new civil right. Autherine Lucy became the first Black student to enroll at the University of Alabama, and James Meredith became the first Black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. At Little Rock Central High School, eight students enrolled and attended classes there despite the Governor’s audacious rejection of the Brown court decision. These teenagers endured abuse in order to attend classes and each student eventually required an individual soldier to accompany them to every class. Education would continue to be a key venue in the struggle for civil rights. On December 1, 1955, activist Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for failing to give up her seat to a White person at the front of a public bus. Within one day, a core of activ­ ists affiliated with a women’s council organized a 40,000-person bus boycott, largely Black riders, who chose to walk to work rather than pay their hard-earned money for a ride at the back of a bus. A new preacher to the community named Martin Luther King, Jr. also helped organize the boycott. At first, the organizers were demanding a more humane system of segregation, but once they realized the city was not even interested in meeting that basic demand, the activists decided to stand on moral ground and ask for a fully integrated public transportation system. The boycott lasted for more than a year and ended after a Supreme Court Decision, Browder v. Gayle (142 F. Supp. 707, 1956), took effect and declared the bus segregation unlawful. Throughout the boycott, besides walking to work, participants developed an elaborate system of private cars. The boycott spurred bus boycotts in other southern cities as well. The backlash against this and other forms of desegregation and Black and ally activism in the South was strong during this time. For example, White citizens councils emerged with the expressed purpose of maintaining segregation. Also, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) marched in Montgomery on the day that the Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation was unconstitutional. On February 1, 1960, four Black college students who were trained in nonviolent civil disobe­ dience and direct action sat at a Whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. This event sparked a series of lunch counter sit-ins that continued to challenge the Jim Crow segrega­ tionist laws and climate. Meanwhile, the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) organized Free­ dom Rides, which tested Supreme Court cases that had banned segregated interstate bus travel. Despite the court rulings, bus travel across state lines was still segregated; thus, the activists rode from Washington, D.C., to New Orleans, Louisiana. They counted on racists to create an uproar about it and compel President Kennedy to enforce the law. Eventually, the National Guard was deployed to protect the Freedom Riders. Another key event in the civil rights movement was the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. The march was stopped violently by police, resulting in what became known as Bloody

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Sunday. Although shaken and angry, the coalition of the Southern Christian Leadership Confer­ ence (SCLC), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and other activists was still committed to the march and they put out a call for help and were joined by people from across the country, including 450 White clergy members who gave the group inspiration and a renewed commitment to nonviolent approaches. As Alabama governor George Wallace refused to provide support for the march, President Lyndon B. Johnson eventually federalized the Alabama National Guard to provide support. Although northerners were collaborating with southerners and activists from across different cities in the South were building alliances, there was no momentous national gathering of civil rights activists until the famous March on Washington in 1963. The purpose of the march was to mobilize the nation and to march for “jobs and freedom” bringing together activists, labor, clergy and Hollywood stars. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I have a dream speech” in which he recounted the suffering of Black people and the unfulfilled promises of the U.S. Constitution. He affirmed his dream that the country would one day live up to its credo that “all men are created equal” and end racism. The following summer activists from the North in collaboration with organizers in Mississippi tackled the issue of voting rights through a campaign that became known as Freedom Summer. Although technically possessing the right to vote, many barriers existed for poor Black citizens in the South, particularly voting guidelines that required literacy tests. During the renowned summer of 1964, activists set up Freedom Schools, community centers, and voter registration campaigns. SNCC opened freedom schools for Black children, who had poor educational oppor­ tunities, and members taught the “3 Rs” as well as Black history; at night, the schools were used for organizing. White northerners who were in Mississippi for Freedom Summer stayed in Black people’s homes, an experience that served as a form of cultural integration that had rarely hap­ pened before in the United States. The praxis that emerged from the civil rights movement continues to be relevant to com­ munity organizing practice today. Important social movement organizations with similar goals, though sometimes utilizing different tactics, collaborated on campaigns and projects. These groups included the SCLC, SNCC, CORE, and the Black Panther party. One of the key tactics employed by civil rights activists was the use of nonviolence in the face of police brutality, bombings, arson, and homicides. While violent organizing tactics can occasionally succeed, research reveals that nonviolent protest and action is much more likely to succeed (Chenoweth & Stephan, 2013). Civil rights activists engaged in civil disobedience, nonviolent direct actions that butted against estab­ lished laws or customs with the goal of creating a crisis that would result in change. Such crises included overfilling local jails or boycotting a service such as public transportation that would put a city at risk of losing significant revenue. These tactics were embraced by clergy, students, and the like, but it is important to note the religious and spiritual significance of nonviolence to the movement. Although the ideas originally emerged out of Gandhi’s Hindu India, they took shape in the churches of the South. The spiritual significance of nonviolence and equality was confirmed particularly in the Christian tradition. Chapter 12 addresses the issue of spirituality and religion and organizing in greater detail. The Nation of Islam, a religious organization founded by Elijah Muhammed, emerged from the North as a key factor in the movement. The nation emphasized Black pride, selfreliance, and the building of businesses and schools. Malcolm X, who would eventually be assassinated at the age of 39, emerged as an important leader affirming that social change should happen by “any means necessary.” In addition, the Black Panthers emerged as a revolutionary and socialist organization

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committed to Black nationalism and social change. The Federal Bureau of Investigation considered its members a threat and surveilled them heavily. The successes (and failures) of the civil rights movement are still touchstones for organizing today. The Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed discriminatory voting practices, and the Civil Rights Act of 1965, which legislated against various forms of racial segregation, are the culmination of organizers’ social change efforts. Beyond this legal legacy, however, the spirit and tactics of the movement may be its most important inheritance. Contemporary movements continue to face some of the same challenges and while there are many important innovations, the narratives and tactics of the Civil Rights movement live on. There is always a backlash against any social movement and the degree to which organizers can be effective in responding to this backlash appears to be essential to its success. In the 1960s, Republican politicians engaged in what was called “the Southern Strategy,” an attempt to gain white voters in the South by perpetuating racist narratives about African Americans. In speaking about the ways that the Southern Strategy con­ tinues today, activist Rev. Dr. William J. Barber (cited in Barber & Wilson-Hartgrove, 2016), a key leader in the revitalization of MLK’s Poor People’s Campaign, wrote: “the Southern Strategy introduced cultural memes every bit as powerful as the Confederate flag or a lynch mob’s noose. Only now, their buzzwords were ‘entitlements,’ “big government, and ‘the undeserving poor’” (p. 68). According to Dana Balicki, an Occupy movement organizer, “Dr. King, he talked about the triad of racism and injustice and capitalism…. We feel like we’re … continuing to move this forward” (Stan, 2012). Women’s Movements In 1848, the first Woman’s Rights Convention, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, was held in Seneca Falls, New York. This early groundwork of suffragists would eventually lead to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, granting women the right to vote in 1920. Once this decisive victory was achieved, however, feminism arguably lost its unifying cause of suffrage (Berkeley, 1999). Nonetheless, new organizations would emerge, such as the League of Women Voters, and new issues would be raised by this powerful bloc of voters. These issues included voting and democracy, maternal health care, and the issue of equal pay for equal work. Mean­ while, Black women were organizing in the 19th century eventually using the term “womanist” to describe their efforts to secure the rights and well-being of their communities. Sojourner Truth’s famous speech at the 1851 Women’s Convention in Ohio—“Ain’t I a Woman?”—gave voice to the marginalization of Black women in American society. The next wave of feminist organizing, which began in the late 1960s, was initiated by many women who had worked in the civil rights movement. Although inspired by the work of the New Left, these women also critiqued the ways in which civil rights organizing discriminated against them and operated on assumptions of male superiority. Whereas Black men and White men held positions of power within the civil rights movement, such as writing position papers, meeting with community leaders, and engaging in voter registration, White women often found them­ selves confined to offices, where they did secretarial work, such as typing and answering phones. In the communal homes where civil rights workers lived, “white women not only found them­ selves assigned to housekeeping tasks but also pressured to engage in sex” (Berkeley, 1999, p. 40). Although Black women did work alongside Black men within the movement, Black women still did not share power equally in the civil rights movement.

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By 1964, White women civil rights activists began writing about and organizing themselves around these issues, arguing that the assumptions of male superiority are as pervasive and every bit as crippling to women as white supremacy is to Black people (Berkeley, 1999). Feeling that their voices were still not being heard, because they were ignored and ridiculed by male civil rights activists, White women staged a walkout from a general meeting of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and organized a “Women’s Caucus” to discuss sexism within the New Left (Berkeley, 1999). Black women would not follow suit, arguably a reflection of ambiguity toward challeng­ ing the sexism of Black men and everything that was at stake for them if they were to prioritize addressing sexism over racism. This early rift between White and Black women would continue in later women’s liberation struggles, such as the struggle for reproductive justice (Fried, Gutierrez, Ross, & Silliman, 2016). It was not until the 1970s that a more nuanced understanding and inten­ tional articulation of what we now call intersectionality appeared, which would empower women of color-led social movements going forward (Taylor, 2017). The women’s movement historically has utilized a range of tactics, including broadbased com­ munity education about women’s issues, small-group consciousness-raising efforts, protest, and policy advocacy. According to Berkeley (1999), “almost from the beginning, the women who joined liberation groups could not agree on either the root cause of their oppression—capitalism or male supremacy—or on a single strategy for achieving liberation—direct action or consciousnessraising” (p. 44). Certainly, one of the defining characteristics of the women’s movement has been its ability to raise consciousness among women (Ferree & Hess, 2000). Unlike the early women’s movement in the 19th century, which never generated a feminist consciousness or addressed the collective inferior status of women, the contemporary movement fostered a “radical awakening” (Reinelt, 1994, p. 3), a “conversion” experience (Davis, 2010), a sense of “we-ness” or what Ms. Magazine called a “click” experience (Ferree & Hess, 2000, p. 28). Robin Morgan, author of the 1972 classic Sisterhood Is Powerful, tapped into a wellspring of “five­ thousand-year-buried anger” (Berkeley, 1999, p. 45). Some of her writing at the time had been described as the “shot heard round the Left” for its radical, feminist zeal (Berkeley, 1999, p. 45). Consciousness-raising groups of women who discussed their personal experiences with intimate partner violence, rape, and body-image issues elevated these seemingly isolated experiences to a level of real social significance. These groups would come to embody the message—“the personal is political.” The virtue of this process of gaining a collective identity was that, rather than begin­ ning from a theoretical construct imposed by men or others with power, women began with their lived experiences and then developed a framework for organizing that made sense to them. Issues such as equal pay for equal work and other problems related to equal access to the politi­ cal and economic system were important rallying points for women. But equally important has been the struggle for the liberation of women’s bodies, which has included organizing around sexual assault, domestic violence, sexual harassment, the portrayal of women as objects in the media, and reproductive health. In 1977, feminist and lesbian poet Adrienne Rich wrote, I know of no woman—virgin, mother, lesbian, married, celibate—whether she earns her keep as a housewife, a cocktail waitress, or a scanner of brain waves—for whom the body is not a fundamental problem: its clouded meanings, its fertility, its desire, its so-called frigidity, its bloody speech, its silences, its changes and mutilations, its rapes and ripenings.There is for the first time today a possibility of converting our physicality into both knowledge and power…. We need to imagine a world in which every woman is the presiding genius of her own body. In such a world, women will truly create life, bring forth not only children (if we choose) but

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the visions, and the thinking necessary to sustain, console, and alter human existence—a new relationship to the universe. Sexuality, politics, intelligence, power, motherhood, work, com­ munity, and intimacy will develop new meanings; thinking itself will be transformed. This is where we have to begin. (cited in Zinn & Arnove, 2009, p. 464) Women of color and poor women’s contributions to the women’s movement in the third wave have been somewhat different from that of middle-class White women. The hallmark of such activ­ ism “has not been their articulated gender or race or class analyses, but rather their activities growing out of their immediate needs” (Gluck, 1998, p. 33). Johnnie Tillmon, who would become a leader of the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO) in the 1960s, worked hard all her life but found herself going on welfare in order to take care of her youngest daughter. After overhearing negative comments about welfare mothers, she convened a meeting of other women in her pub­ lic housing project. This grassroots community-based group would be a link in a chain of a poor women’s movement that would result in the formation of NWRO. According to Gluck, the main issue for these women was survival. For many, their jobs did not pay enough to sup­ port their children. For others, like Tillmon, their children were beginning to get into trouble and needed more supervision.The women … demanded attention, respect, and the full share of benefits to which they were entitled under various federal programs. (1998, p. 38) The NWRO organizing work focused on the patriarchal social welfare policy establishment and challenged definitions of gender roles. Organizing by women of color, like that of poor women, emerged out of necessity, but with the added component of drawing from their own cultural roots (Gluck, 1998). Women of color and poor women’s organizing coincided with postcolonialist writing that facilitated the reclaiming of cultural identities for marginalized women across the world. A few examples illustrate this. First, the Asian American Political Alliance not only drew from activists, such as Robin Morgan (1970), but were inspired by writings of the women involved in the revolu­ tionary struggles in Vietnam and China. Second, a Chicana feminist discussion group, called Hijas de Cuauhtemoc, which formed in the late 1960s, discovered an underground newspaper that had been published by Mexican women during the 1910 revolution. One participant recalled, It was like I had been in a cave and someone has just lit the candle. I [suddenly] realized how important it was to read about your own kind, the women of your own culture, or your own historical heritage, doing the things that you were doing. [It] reaffirmed and validated that you’re not a strange, alien person, that what you’re doing is not only normal but a part of your history…. So, then they become our models, our heroes. (cited in Gluck, 1998, p. 39) Finally, the African American Policy Forum (2015) published the report, “#SayHerName: Resist­ ing Police Brutality Against Black Women,” as a way to bring attention to the Black women victims of police brutality who were often unseen by the media and other activist campaigns including #BlackLivesMatter. Overall, the complexities of racial and class differences across women’s movements cannot be understated. Chapter 11 offers more opportunity to engage with these issues of intersectionality, identity politics, and solidarity.

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Labor Movements The earliest labor unions were trade unions modeled after the craft guilds of the European Middle Ages, exclusive organizations of individuals composed of skilled craftspeople. When the Ameri­ can Federation of Labor (AFL) was established, following the European model, it also focused on organizing skilled workers. These workers were mostly male and White (Zinn, 2003/2015). Today, the ramifications of this legacy and its concomitant tensions reverberate within the leader­ ship and the rank and file of union organizers, as the need to organize women, people of color, and unskilled workers is pressing. During the 1870s and 1880s, Chicago was a principal hub of labor activism and radical ideas. Making a claim that an eight-hour workday was a reasonable request, industrial factory workers went on strike on May 1, 1886. Lucy and Albert Parsons and other organizers led 80,000 workers up Michigan Avenue. On May 3, companies had locked out the workers and called in replace­ ments; when a skirmish broke out, police fired shots and four workers were left dead. On May 4, a meeting was called in Haymarket Square to address the issues; the police arrived and apparently a bomb was thrown by an unknown attacker. The police responded the next day by rounding up leaders in the anarchist labor struggle, including Lucy and Albert Parsons and many of their associates. Eight anarchists including Albert Parsons were sentenced, although Lucy Parsons was released; four of them were hanged, not for the bombing but for their views on anarchism. Fol­ lowing the execution, Lucy Parsons, a woman who was born a slave and was an important labor organizer, courageously and persistently brought attention to the Haymarket events through her speaking engagements (Zinn, 2003/2015). The Haymarket events were a significant moment in an effort to establish the eight-hour workday. International appeals for clemency for the Haymar­ ket activists led to the establishment of May 1 as International Workers’ Day. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), also known as the Wobblies, was formed in 1905, a more radical organization than the AFL. They focused on organizing unskilled workers, women, and people of color. The IWW was influenced by socialist and anarchist ideals and the radical climate of the early 20th century. Their literature at the time stated that the working class and the employing class have nothing in common.There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of the working people and the few, who make up the employing class, have all the good things of life…. By organizing industrially, we are forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old. (Zinn & Arnove, 2004, p. 257) One of the founding members of the IWW was Mary Harris, also known as Mother Jones, an organizer for the United Mine Workers and eventually referred to as “the most dangerous woman in America” (AFL-CIO America’s Unions, n.d.). In 1903, in protest of weak child labor law enforcement, she, along with other activists, helped organize a children’s march from Philadelphia to Theodore Roosevelt’s home on Long Island, New York. Governmental attempts to control labor activism have waxed and waned historically, some­ times allowing concessions and other times becoming more restrictive. Mother Jones herself was heavily disturbed by the governmental repression of labor activists, particularly by the massacre of 20 striking people and their families by the Colorado National Guard in Ludlow, Colorado in 1914. One of the most significant events in the support of the rights of labor was the passage of the Wagner Act of 1935, which set up the National Labor Relations Board. This act has been viewed

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as a social contract between the U.S. government and labor, allowing for the right to engage in collective bargaining and advance workers’ rights. More recent years have been marked by more conservative approaches to labor issues. In 2018, the case of Janus versus the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) resulted in a ruling, fueled by “right to work” rhetoric, wherein the collection of fees from public sector workers was determined to be a violation of the First Amendment right to Free Speech (Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, 2018). It remains to be seen what the extent of the impact on the Janus decision will be on union membership levels which has been declining for decades. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (U.S. Department of Labor, 2018) recently reported that 10.5% of American workers were represented by labor unions, the lowest rate of membership since the BLS began collecting data in the early 1980s. It is estimated that union membership was close to 30% in the 1940s and 1950s (Kopf, 2019). None­ theless, the research is clear that, all things being equal, unionized workers make about 15–20% more than nonunionized workers (Maas, 2018). Various states in the U.S. have different laws and climates for union organizing. For example, in New York State, the Public Employee Fair Employment Act, known as the Taylor Law, gives rights to public workers to arbitrate contract disputes but restricts their right to strike (Public Employment Relations Board, 2019). From an international perspective, there is also a wide range of labor organizing climates; developing countries may sign deals with corporations that curtail workers’ protections or international trade organizations sometimes limit the ability of workers to organize legally. Whatever labor rights have been achieved has been the result of intentional organizing. Labor organizers traditionally have engaged in a variety of tactics, including direct actions, such as work slowdowns, boycotts, and strikes (economic actions); these strategies have been used more often than have political or judicial processes. Piven and Cloward (1979) noted that the electoral influ­ ence of unions has been limited, and that union strike power has been limited by political oppor­ tunity structures, such as which political party is in control at the time, who is on the Supreme Court, or the overall state of the economy. Labor organizing has given workers higher pay, shorter hours, and the right to organize themselves, as well as job security (Piven & Cloward, 1979). The United Farm Workers (UFW) was successfully using boycotts of California grapes in gro­ cery stores as an organizing strategy. Latinx and Filipino workers (drawing from their organizing work that eventually brought down Marcos in the Philippines) were central players in the farm workers’ movements. Leaders of UFW, including Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, inspired workers to action with the chant, “Si, se puede!” or “Yes, we can!” Piven and Cloward (1979) identified several barriers to union solidarity. First, the market con­ ditions themselves are a factor in union solidarity. A strike may be effective during a significant economic downturn, such as during the Great Depression. The economic instability of the Depres­ sion facilitated the uprising of industrial workers, giving them power; under more stable economic conditions, they would not have had the power that they did. Second, there are often divisions in occupational status as well as divisions among races and ethnicities. Workers sometimes tend to fail to recognize what they have in common. Third, the lack of opportunity for advancement or to acquire land is a barrier, which has been something that has helped sustain hope for those left behind. Fourth, oligarchic organizations may tend to emphasize organizing skilled labor rather than unskilled labor. Also, there is sometimes collusion with employers on the part of labor. As the welfare state began to wane in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, so did the U.S. labor movement (Scanlon, 1999). A new surge of union organizing activity appears

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to be on the rise, however, with organizing of service-sector employees and teachers at the fore­ front. An unprecedented globalized service-oriented economy has revealed new needs and has opened the door for the use of new strategies and tactics in the labor movement. Today, AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) is the largest union for workers in the public service arena with 1.6 million members nationwide, including nurses, emergency medical technicians, bus drivers, child-care providers, custodians, and librarians. The idea of “Bargaining for the Common Good” has emerged in recent years as a way to over­ come antiunionism and other organizing barriers. This strategy has been employed in the health care, education, and transportation sectors. In the case of education, this approach includes organ­ izing efforts that focus not just on demands for better salaries and conditions for workers but demands for increased funding for and higher-quality public education. In the case of transpor­ tation unions, the concern is not just with the fate of workers but with quality community ser­ vices, i.e. transportation. This strategy also creates an opportunity to link to and build solidarity with existing community organizations that have a stake in the issue. Several years ago, at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport, Hertz suspended 34 Muslim Somali workers for taking a prayer break during their workday. In response, Teamsters Local 117 organized a multifaith action across reli­ gions with a host of community and faith-based groups. This successful action resulted in greater connections between local mosques, other faith groups, community organizations, and unions. Later, the efforts of this new coalition would result in a $15 minimum wage ordinance (Labor Notes, 2018). In the case of education, teachers’ unions in California, Washington, and Minnesota have recently negotiated contracts that go well beyond workplace justice and that “include everything from reforms of disciplinary policies that disproportionately harmed minority students, daily recess time for elementary school students, extra teachers for high-need schools, and expanded preschool programming” (Gunn, 2018). To be sure, there is a synergistic relationship between educator needs and student needs. Social movement scholars remind us that people get involved in movements because of a grievance that has a real impact on their lives. In Oklahoma, the con­ ditions had deteriorated so badly that instructional funding had fallen to 30% below 2008 levels, 20% of schools were running 4-day school weeks, and teachers had not received raises in 10 years, not to mention egregious problems with textbooks and classrooms. A recent outgrowth of the labor movement has been the living-wage movement. Living-wage ordinances are municipal laws that require that new companies receiving subsidies pay workers a living wage, the minimum hourly income necessary for a worker to meet basic needs. In 2017, a living wage in the U.S. was $16.07 per hour; this should be contrasted to the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 (Nadeau & Glasmeier, 2018). Living-wage ordinances have passed in 140 cities around the United States, and there are living-wage campaigns in the United Kingdom, Can­ ada, Australia, and New Zealand (COWS, 2013). The relationship between labor organizing and living-wage organizing is somewhat complex; that is, if workers can get higher wages through leg­ islation, why would they struggle for a union (Luce, 2005)? However, there are many examples of successful efforts to link living-wage campaigns to unionization. For example, after a living-wage ordinance in Los Angeles passed, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and the livingwage coalition worked closely with unions to get food concession contracts awarded to employers at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) that agreed not to stand in the way of union organ­ izing, using antiretaliation language in the living-wage ordinance that protects workers’ rights to organize around living-wage issues. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) reported that after this effort, they moved from representing 1 in 10 workers at LAX to representing more than

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half (Luce, 2005). Luce reviewed 10 years of living-wage campaigns and has offered lessons to union organizers based on the successes achieved by living-wage campaigns: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Labor needs allies and a long-term approach. Labor needs a moral vision. Labor needs to be willing to break from mainstream parties. Labor needs to work from the inside and the outside. Labor cannot avoid conflict. Labor must do a better job of involving their rank-and-file members.

Whether it is union organizing, living wage movements, or other efforts to address workplace jus­ tice, labor movements continue to play key roles in society, including activity focused on worker safety and related issues for essential workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. LGBTQ Movements The Stonewall uprising was one of the most important moments in the struggle for LGBTQ rights. On June 27, 1969, police stormed a Greenwich Village bar in New York City called the Stonewall Inn. On the premise that the bar was serving alcohol without a license, the police tried to shut it down and arrest the patrons, who were gay, queer, and trans. However, the group of patrons fought back and helped propel a new phase of the struggle for queer liberation. The Stonewall riots were an important part of the contemporary movement for LGBTQ rights and are considered “one of the most important moments of resistance from the 1960s” (Zinn, 2003/2015, p. 456). This particular event was also marked by the range of tactics employed, which included the use of violence on the part of LGBTQ activists. They also used humor and the absurd to make their point. Historian Martin Duberman tells the story of the Stonewall riots: [The police found themselves] face to face with their worst nightmare: a chorus line of mock­ ing queens, their arms clasped around each other, kicking their heels in the air Rockettes-style and singing at the tops of their sardonic voices: “We are the Stonewall girls,We wear our hair in curls…. We wear our dungarees, Above our nelly knees.” It was a deliciously witty, con­ temptuous counterpoint to the [police]’s brute force, a tactic that transformed an otherwise traditionally macho eye-for-an-eye combat and that provided at least the glimpse of a different and revelatory kind of consciousness. (Zinn, 2003/2015, p. 460) Similar to many other social movements, a key thrust of the gay liberation movement has been on civil rights and equality, and the removal of social stigma. The Lambda Legal Defense and Edu­ cation Fund was formed in 1973 as the first public law organization to be created and operated by LGBTQ individuals (Rimmerman, 2002). Focusing on pursuing greater equity for LGBTQ people, they worked through a mainstream legal-rights strategy focusing on a diversity of issues, including marriage rights, job discrimination, child custody, and inheritance rights. By the late 1970s, the emphasis of the gay rights movement was more on the celebration of the unique differences of LGBTQ people (Young, 1990/2011). “Gay pride asserts that sexual identity is a matter of culture and politics, and not merely ‘behavior’ to be tolerated or forbidden” (Young, 1990/2011, p. 161). Other thinkers framed the problem of homophobia as a kind of sexism or

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gender bias (Pharr, 1997). Queer theorists argued that identity is much more fluid than fixed; this perspective would challenge an organizing strategy that was based so solidly on a notion of gay identity. During the 1990s, gay, lesbian, and bisexual organizers began to ally themselves with transgender individuals, identifying the common interests that they had as people with gender and sexual identities that differed from the gender and heteronormative society in which they lived. To be sure, within the LGBTQ movement, like all movements, there have been and continue to be rifts that divide it including different levels of power among diverse members, as the voices of gay white men have often been privileged over other queer voices. LGBTQ activists have used an array of strategies and tactics, including those within the electoral and legal processes as well as those outside conventional political processes. As with many other social movements, college students have participated in the movement for LGBTQ liberation, as they tend to have more freedom not to worry about negative outcomes, such as ruined careers with which older activists may be concerned. Historically, because college students were often far away from home and families, they did not have to deal with the fallout of the disclosure of their orientation (Marcus, 2002) though the omnipresence of cameras and social media today could be impacting this. During the 1980s and 1990s, AIDS activism was at the forefront of the gay rights move­ ment. These activists pursued four main strategies: 1) publicizing the message that AIDS is not a gay disease, 2) heightening the visibility of the lesbian and gay movements through cul­ tural outlets, 3) separating AIDS-specific reform from structural reform of the overall health care system, and 4) direct action (Rimmerman, 2002). This last tactic would be actualized in the founding of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), which emerged in 1987 in response to the lack of attention by the Reagan administration to the growing AIDS epidemic in the United States (Shepard, 2005). The emergence of ACT UP “represented the rebirth of one form of unconventional politics—one rooted in participatory democratic principles and dedicated to nonviolent civil disobedience” (Rimmerman, 2002, p. 96). Early marches in the late 1980s focused on a variety of targets, such as politicians and corporations. In New York, ACT UP held a march on Wall Street; this target was identified because the group came to understand that the business community had responsibilities because businesses were profiting on AIDS drugs and insurance companies were refusing to cover people (Marcus, 2002). Iden­ tifying issues to address could also be an internal struggle for some local ACT UP chapters. One organizer reported that there are those within ACT UP who don’t think it’s appropriate to do anything under the aegis of ACT UP that isn’t directly and intimately connected with AIDS, the illness. My definition of things that are AIDS-related is virtually everything, including racism, homophobia, sexism, and class issues.We are not going to solve the AIDS epidemic unless we deal with these issues, and vice versa. I think they’re all interrelated. (Marcus, 2002, p. 320) Contemporary organizing has focused more on mainstream channels including politics, courts, media, and the Internet (Marcus, 2002). The movement to protect the rights of queer, transgender, and nonbinary people represents another key development in the history of LGBTQ movement building (Nownes, 2019). Recent victories in this work have included the removal of the term “gender identity disorder” from the DSM, the criminalization of discrimi­ nation based on gender identity, and the maintenance of public health insurance in covering gender reassignment surgery.

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As with the women’s movement, the backlash against the LGBTQ movement has been sig­ nificant. The Christian Right has been incredibly successful in their organizing strategies to achieve their goals. They have focused on bans on military service, battles over school curricula, same-sex marriage issues, and attempts to “cure” gay and lesbian people with therapy. From the perspective of resource mobilization theory, the resources internal to the Christian Right have contributed to their effectiveness. These resources include leadership, organizational capacity, access to media, and wealth (Rimmerman, 2002). In addition, the seizing of political opportu­ nities on the part of the Christian Right has helped them advance their agenda over the LGBTQ movement. These opportunities include “changes in who occupies the White House, who con­ trols Congress, and the political, cultural, and social milieu” (Rimmerman, 2002, p. 124). Drawing from literal interpretations of the Bible and traditional approaches to gender relations, the Christian Right employed the framing message in their actions that “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve” should be the norm (Rimmerman, 2002, p. 150). While states such as North Carolina and Texas have remained hostile to trans people through exclusive “bathroom bill” legislation, other states and Supreme Courts have come down on the side of inclusive bathroom use based on gender. Disability Rights Movements As recently as in 1979, it was legal for some state governments to practice enforced sterilization of people with disabilities. Discrimination against people with disabilities occurred in employ­ ment, housing, and other public accommodations (The Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement, 2004). These discriminatory practices also prevented children with disabilities from full engagement in public schools. In response to these kinds of discriminations, in 1978, 45 peo­ ple in wheelchairs surrounded city buses in Denver, Colorado to protest the lack of accessible transportation in the city (Blank & Terkel, 1997/2011). This action brought the traffic at a busy intersection to a halt; 19 people occupied the buses throughout the night. These activists, known as ADAPT (originally standing for American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation), were pioneers in such organizing and have continued to be leaders in the disability rights movement. ADAPT eventually took on the American Public Transportation Authority, a lobbying group for public transit systems. The strategies and tactics of disability rights movements have been to confront targets face to face, mobilizing the people who have the most stake in the issues to engage in nonviolent direct action. Justin Dart, one of the most prominent disability rights organizers in history, was influenced by writings on nonviolent direct action (Barnartt & Scotch, 2001). In addition, the ability of disability activists to organize their own constituents, that is, people with disabilities, and nurture their leadership capacities has been an innovative and sustainable practice that has inspired organizers, both inside and outside the disability rights setting. The development of the idea of “self-advocacy” has been a defining feature of the disability rights movement. Because of the stigma and presumed lower competence of people with disabilities, self-advocacy is a radical concept that affirms the rights of people to speak on their own behalves and to make their needs known (Stroman, 2003). Similar to other movements, the promotion of group identity and consciousness has been an important strategy for the disability rights movement. The growing belief in disability culture emphasizes that disability is not just a physical aspect of a person, but a cultural aspect as well.

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“Disability culture includes the rejection of some personality characteristics (passivity, depend­ ence) in favor of others (assertiveness, control) as well as disability art and theater, which cel­ ebrate disability pride” (Barnartt & Scotch, 2001, p. 48). This idea of disability culture has served to unify people with disabilities and recruit new members into the movement (Barnartt & Scotch, 2001). The Disability Visibility Project embraces the idea of disability culture through its creation of an online community dedicated to amplifying the voices, experiences, and the diverse cultural expressions of people with disabilities. Their recent book, Resistance and Hope Anthology: Crip Wis­ dom for the People, is grounded in a liberation politics that affirms the worth of all people (O’Neal, 2019; Wong, 2018). The disability rights movement is a broad term that is inclusive of the mental health consumer movement; it began in 1970 growing out of the movements of the 1960s, such as civil rights, LGBTQ, and feminist movements. The mental health consumer movement originated as resist­ ance to such issues as involuntary hospitalization, electroshock treatment, and forced medication (Cohen, 2004). It was and has been an attempt to reject the subjugated role of the “mental patient” as per Foucault (1973). The mental health consumer movement has attended to various issues of tremendous rele­ vance to community organizing, including the political nature of the language used within the movement, consciousness-raising, accountability to constituencies, organizational functioning, and cross-collaboration with other movements (Chamberlin, 1978; Cohen, 2004). Chamberlin, a survivor of the institutionalized mental health system and author of the seminal book On Our Own which was published in 1978, identifies the multiple ways that “mental patients” come to under­ stand their common situation. She writes that consciousness raising is an ongoing process. Negative stereotypes of the “mentally ill” are every­ where and are difficult not to internalize, no matter how sensitive one becomes…. Like sexism, mentalism is built into the language—sick and crazy are widely used…. The struggle against mentalism is one of the long-range activities of mental patients’ liberation. (1978, p. 66) These constituents have recognized their rights and conceptualized alternatives to hospitalization and the oppression that they believe psychiatry perpetuates. Chamberlin (1978) continues by talk­ ing about the common problems experienced in institutions: Having experienced the dehumanizing effects of mental institutions, we saw that large facili­ ties with rigid hierarchies could never be the kind of places we had in mind. It quickly became clear that there was no way to fix up the current mental hospital system. What was needed was an entirely new model. People who had been in places with carpets on the floors told the same stories of indifference and cruelty as those who had been in dingy, barren state hospitals. (p. 67) The Mental Patients’ Liberation Front emerged in 1971 during this time of heightened conscious­ ness among mental health consumers. One of the first projects of the Mental Patients’ Liberation Front was to publish a 56-page pamphlet titled “Your Rights as a Mental Patient” (Stroman, 2003). In addition, the group filed a landmark lawsuit against Boston State Hospital that would alter significantly the rights of mental patients. The case of Rogers v. Okin (738 F.2d 1, 1984) resulted

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in a court ruling that the mental hospital could not continue its practice of secluding patients and drugging them against their will (Stroman, 2003). Today, the Freedom Center in Northampton, Massachusetts, is run by and for psychiatric survivors and “people who experience extreme emotional states.” Its vision is to “create voluntary mutual aid networks of caring support among equals, based on safety, listening to our experiences without judgment, and helping empower ourselves for change” (Freedom Center, n.d.). This group has implicated the pharmaceutical industry in its framing of the social issue, arguing that it pushes drugs on children, adolescents, and adults. In addition, the center demands that the profes­ sional mental health community: Stop imposing degrading, scientifically unsound diagnosis labels on people. Labeling people with “disorders” spreads lifelong hopelessness and removes attention from trauma, poverty, nutrition, and oppression.Allow us instead to define our experiences for ourselves in ways that work for us. (Freedom Center, n.d.) Arguing for the use of the term diverse ability rather than disability, the group operates from a strengths perspective (Saleebey, 2012). In addition, it makes connections between mentalism and other “isms,” such as racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia. With an emphasis on strengthening communities, the Freedom Center works to promote lowincome access to alternatives, such as holistic health, peer-run services, safe houses, nutrition, exercise, housing, income, the natural world, and voluntary individual and family therapy. Its demands to the existing mental health system are to oppose all force and coercion in mental health: end restraints, seclusion, forced drugging and involuntary commitment. Care must do no harm: replace force with effective alternatives, and respond to crisis without further traumatizing people. Services and housing should never be tied to treatment compliance. (Freedom Center, n.d.) The Freedom Center underscores the development of alliances across issues and works to educate the public, professionals, and family members about people coping with mental health issues. For the entire disability rights movement—which encompasses physical and mental disabilities—deinstitutionalization, civil rights, and self-determination have been central frames and rallying points (Stroman, 2003). The movement to deinstitutionalize mental health treatment reached its height in the 1960s, when there were favorable political opportunity structures in place such as the leadership of President John F. Kennedy, which resulted in the passage of the Community Mental Health Centers Act in 1963. This act deinstitutionalized mental health treatment and emphasized social integration and community-based approaches to mental health care. The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990 was a major victory for a diverse coalition of organizers, including Paralyzed Veterans of America, United Cerebral Palsy Associations, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, the ARC, and others (Barnartt & Scotch, 2001). Extending the frame of civil rights to persons with disabilities, the ADA attempts to ensure access for persons with physical and mental impairments in the areas of employment, public accommodations, and transportation by mandating nondiscrimination in those sectors.

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The idea of “independent living” extends the frame of self-determination and emerges from the context of institutionalized living, a situation wherein people are “told what to do and when, where, and with whom to do it” (Barnartt & Scotch, 2001, p. 42). The independ­ ent living movement emphasizes the empowerment of people with disabilities themselves and rejects medical model approaches to disability. Because people with disabilities are the best experts on their needs, proponents argue that they must organize themselves for political power. Independent-living advocates argue that society should help make it possible for peo­ ple with disabilities to be able to live independently in a community, in a residence, and with people of their own choosing (Barnartt & Scotch, 2001). Demands for independent living were met with the passage of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which provided funding for independ­ ent living centers. REFLECTIONS ON SOCIAL MOVEMENTS There are many lessons to be learned for community organizers when reflecting on the historical, philosophical, and practical aspects of social movements. These movements have made the term empowerment a reality through sophisticated and complex organizing campaigns of broadbased coalitions as well as acts of resistance by small and large groups of individuals and organizations. They have articulated the basic capabilities that all human beings are entitled to and ones that marginalized people have had trouble achieving due to systemic violence and institutional bar­ riers. For civil rights activists, for example, they were working for their ability to use senses, imagination, and thought and for their ability to have control over their environment, and to have the social bases of self-respect and nonhumiliation. The actors in these movements have engaged in astute analyses that inform their framing of social issues. They deconstruct narra­ tives that perpetuate oppression and further inquire into the circumstances of people’s lives, uncovering the winners and losers of specific social arrangements. The movements have not been without strife, as they have had and continue to have internal struggles about issue identification and public struggles around identity politics, tactics, and coalition building. A virtue of these movements has been their tactical diversity in a range of settings, including political, cultural, legal, and corporate. It should also be clear that these movements are not isolated from one another. Indeed, many civil rights organizers were inspired by organizers from the Progressive Era, feminist organizers surfaced from the civil rights movement, LGBTQ activists often simultaneously operated in the women’s movement, and disability rights activists had been part of the civil rights movement. This situation is not a coincidence, for it seems clear that many of these issues are interconnected. Furthermore, many social movements have always had global and transnational components to them—women’s groups grappling with their diverse ethnic identities and labor movements that attempt to build bridges across the boundaries of nations. The modern civil rights movement in the United States began in the 1950s as a response to Jim Crow laws that were the legacy of the enslavement of Africans. Although the due process guar­ antees and the voting rights protections of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments existed on paper, the apartheid system of segregation was clearly still in place in the South and in some parts of the North (Markowitz, 2004/2015). Building on the efforts and legacies of the previous 100 years of abolitionist and other civil rights struggles for African Americans, the years between 1954

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and 1970 arguably represent the greatest legacy of community organizing in the United States to this day. The civil rights movement also influenced other activists in other parts of the world, such as indigenous Maori people in New Zealand who adopted the frame “Brown Power” in the 1960s in response to the “Black Power” movement in the United States. Thus, the decade of the 1960s is often heralded as a kind of golden age of organizing. However, Katsiaficas (2004) offers some words of caution about such attributions: Glorification of decades (or of great events and individuals) diminishes the importance of con­ tinuity and everyday activism in the life of social movements.As a social construction, the myth of the sixties functions thereby to discourage people from having authentic movement experi­ ences now, in the present. (p. 9) Learning about and finding inspiration from past social movements and their heroes are vital and ongoing steps on an organizer’s journey. There is much wisdom to be gained. However, even though today’s organizers are standing on the shoulders of giants, excessively fervent attachments to the past can leave organizers confused, disappointed, and/or paralyzed. There is no one past movement, charismatic person, Presidential candidate, or new technology that is coming to save us. As Grace Lee Boggs (cited in Boggs & Kurashige, 2012) said in her book, The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century: Not only should we not depend on some large entity to bring about these changes, but we must recognize that such projects will be transformative only when grassroots members of the com­ munity are moved to act. They must discover their own meaning of change in the process of building a movement to bring it about. (p. 125) It is more realistic and efficacious for organizers to attend to their own current social, cultural, political, and organizational conditions in any given moment. Recognizing that organizing prac­ tice can be “characterized by creative and spontaneous reflexivity, as well as moment-to-moment decision making in continuous relation to the social context” (Walter, 2003, p. 320), organizers can be better prepared to act in an emergent way, in the fluid, socially constructed environments in which they operate. QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION 1. Reflect on your own experiences with social change work (or lack thereof). What inspired you to participate? What prevented you from participating? 2. Discuss the synergies and intersections of various social movements. Why is understanding such intersections important for social change? 3. Discuss some contemporary strategies for promoting workers’ rights. 4. The consumer mental health movement is often at odds with traditional, professional­ ized mental health practices. Are there ways to bridge these differences to find common ground? 5. Discuss your understanding of the legacy of the 1960s in terms of organizing. In what ways is this legacy helpful or a barrier to contemporary organizers?

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SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER INQUIRY Books Alexander, M. (2012). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New York, NY: The New Press. Chamberlin, J. (1978). On our own: Patient-controlled alternatives to the mental health system. New York, NY: Hawthorn Books. Featherstone, L., & United Students Against Sweatshops. (2002). Students against sweatshops: The making of a movement. London, UK; New York, NY: Verso. Khan-Cullors, P., & Bandele, Asha. (2018). When they call you a terrorist: A black lives matter memoir (Reprint edition). New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press. Lang, A., & Lang/Levitsky, D. (2012). Dreaming in public: Building the Occupy movement. Oxford, England: New Internationalist. Mander, J., & Tauli-Corpuz, V. (2006). Paradigm wars: Indigenous peoples’ resistance to globalization. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books. Zinn, H. (2003). A people’s history of the United States. New York, NY: HarperCollins. Web Coalition of Immokalee Workers. http://www.ciw-online.org Critical Resistance. http://www.criticalresistance.org Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement. http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/ drilm/introduction.html UNITE HERE. http://www.unitehere.org United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples. https://www.un.org/ development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html NOTE 1. I am indebted to the PBS documentary Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years (Blackside, 1987) for ideas and inspiration for this section. REFERENCES adelman, W. J. (n.d.). the Haymarket affair. retrieved from illinois Labor History Society website: http://www. illinoislaborhistory.org/the-haymarket-affair aFL-Cio america’s Unions. (n.d.). mother Jones. retrieved from the american Federation of Labor and Congress of industrial organizations (aFL-Cio) website: https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-people/mother-jones Barber, W. J., ii., & Wilson-Hartgrove, J. (2016). the third reconstruction: moral mondays, fusion politics, and the rise of a new justice movement. Boston, ma: Beacon Press.

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Learning From SoCiaL movementS Barnartt, S., & Scotch, r. (2001). Disability protests: Contentious politics 1970–1999. Washington, DC: gallaudet University Press. Beck, e. L., Dorsey, e., & Stutters, a. (2003). the women’s suffrage movement: Lessons for social action. Journal of Community Practice, 11(3), 13–33. doi: 10.1300/J125v11n03_02. Beilharz, P. (2005). revolution. in g. ritzer (ed.), encyclopedia of social theory (pp. 641–644). thousand oaks, Ca: Sage. Berkeley, K. C. (1999). the women’s liberation movement in america. Westport, Ct: greenwood Press. Blank, m., & terkel, S. n. (2011). aDaPt (americans disabled for attendant programs today). in r. S. Powers, W. B. vogele, C. Kruegler, & r.m. mcCarthy (eds.), Protest, power and change: an encyclopedia of nonviolent action from aCt-UP to women’s suffrage (pp. 11–13). new York, nY: routledge. (original work published in 1997) Boggs, g. L., & Kurashige, S. (2012). the next american revolution: Sustainable activism for the twenty-first cen­ tury. Berkeley, Ca: University of California Press. Castells, m. (1999). information technology, globalization, and social development. geneva: United nations research institute for Social Development. Castells, m. (2015). networks of outrage and hope: Social movements in the internet age (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK; malden, ma: Polity Press. Chamberlin, J. (1978). on our own: Patient-controlled alternatives to the mental health system. new York, nY: Hawthorn Books. Chenoweth, e., & Stephan, m. (2013). Why civil resistance works: the strategic logic of nonviolent conflict. new York, nY: Columbia University Press. Cohen, m. B. (2004). voices from an invisible movement: mental health consumer/survivor/ex-patient activism. reflections: narratives of Professional Helping, 10(4), 50–61. CoWS. (2013). Local living wage ordinances: experience, evidence and best practice. retrieved from https://www. cows.org/_data/documents/1556.pdf Davis, L. v. (2010). Why we still need a women’s agenda for social work. in K. Jean Peterson, & a. a. Lieberman (eds.), Building on women’s strengths: a social work agenda for the twenty-first century (2nd ed., pp. 1–22). new York, nY: routledge. de moor, J., & Wahlström, m. (2019). narrating political opportunities: explaining strategic adaptation in the climate movement. theory and Society, 48(3), 419–451. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-019-09347-3. ellefsen, r. (2018). Deepening the explanation of radical flank effects: tracing contingent outcomes of destructive capacity. Qualitative Sociology, 41(1), 111–133. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-018-9373-3 Featherstone, L. (2002). Students against sweatshops: the making of a movement. London, UK; new York, nY: verso. Ferree, m. m., & Hess, B. B.. (2000). Controversy and coalition: the new feminist movement across three decades of change (3rd ed.). new York, nY: routledge. Foucault, m. (1973). madness and civilization: a history of insanity in the age of reason. new York, nY: vintage. Freedom Center is transforming! (n.d.). retrieved august 23, 2019, from Freedom Center website: http://www. freedom-center.org/ gluck, S. B. (1998). Whose feminism, whose history? in n. a. naples (ed.), Community activism and feminist poli­ tics: organizing across race, class and gender (pp. 31–56). new York, nY: routledge.

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FOUNDATIONS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING goodwin, J., & Jasper, J. m. (2003). the social movements reader: Cases and concepts. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. goodwin, J., & Jasper, J. (eds.) (2004). rethinking social movements: Structure, meaning and emotion. Lanham, mD: rowman & Littlefield Publishers. goodwin, J., & Jasper, J. m. (eds.). (2015). the social movements reader: Cases and concepts (3rd ed.). Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. green new Deal, H. r. 109, 116th Cong. (2019). gunn, D. (2018, april 4). the recent teacher strikes are about more than just teachers. Pacific Standard. retrieved from https://psmag.com/education/the-recent-teacher-strikes-are-about-more-than-just-teachers Harper, C. L., & Leicht, K. t. (2016). exploring social change: america and the world (6th ed.). abingdon, oxon, england; new York, nY: routledge. industrial Workers of the World. (1905). Preamble to the iWW Constitution. retrieved august 20, 2019, from industrial Workers of the World website: https://www.iww.org/culture/official/preamble.shtml Janus v. american Federation of State, County, and municipal employees, 585 U.S. (7th Cir. 2018) Jasper, J. m. (2007). the art of moral protest: Culture, biography, and creativity in social movements. Chicago, iL: University of Chicago Press. (original work published in 1997) Katsiaficas, g. (2004). Seattle was not the beginning. in D. Burton-rose, e. Yuen, & g. Katsiaficas (eds.), Confront­ ing capitalism (2nd ed., pp. 3–10). new York, nY: Soft Skull Press. Kaufman, C. (2003). ideas for action: relevant theory for radical change. Cambridge, ma: South end Press. Kingdon, J. (2011). agendas, alternatives, and Public Policies. Longman. Klandermans, B. (2001). Why social movements come into being and why people join them. in J. r. Blau (ed.), the Blackwell companion to sociology (pp. 268–281). malden, ma: Blackwell Publishing. Kopf, D. (2019, February 5). Union membership in the US keeps on falling, like almost everywhere else. Quartz. retrieved from https://qz.com/1542019/union-membership-in-the-us-keeps-on-falling-like-almost-everywhere-else/ Labor notes. (2018). rebuilding power in open-shop america: a Labor notes guide. retrieved from Labor notes website: https://www.labornotes.org/openshop Luce, S. (2005). Lessons from living wage campaigns. Work and occupations, 32(4), 423–440. doi: https://doi. org/10.1177/0730888405279093. maas, S. (2018). new evidence that unions raise wages for less-skilled workers. the national Bureau of economic research. retrieved from https://www.nber.org/digest/sep18/w24587.shtml marcus, e. (2002). making gay history: the half-century fight for lesbian and gay equal rights. new York, nY: Harper Collins. markowitz, n. (2015). the civil rights movement. in i. ness (ed.), encyclopedia of american social movements (vol. 1, pp. 212–221). armonk, nY: routledge. (original work published in 2004) mcadam, D. (2015). recruits to civil rights activism. in J. goodwin & J. m. Jasper (eds.), the social movements reader: Cases and concepts (3rd ed., pp. 65–75). Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. mcadam, D., & Boudet, H. S. (2012). Putting social movements in their place: explaining opposition to energy projects in the United States, 2000-2005. new York, nY: Cambridge University Press.

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Learning From SoCiaL movementS mcCarthy, J. D., & Zald, m. n. (1973). the trend of social movements in america: Professionalization and resource mobilization. morristown, nJ: general Learning Press. mcCarthy, J. D., & Zald, m. n. (2015). Social movement organizations. in J. goodwin, & J. m. Jasper (eds.), the social movements reader: Cases and concepts (3rd ed., pp. 159–174). Chichester, West Sussex, UK: WileyBlackwell, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. mcnutt, J. g. (2018). technology, activism and social justice in the digital age. new York, nY: oxford University Press. morgan, r. (1970). Sisterhood is powerful. new York, nY: random House. nadeau, C. a., & glasmeier, a. K. (2018). Bare facts about the living wage in america 2017-2018. retrieved august 21, 2019, from Living Wage Calculator website: http://livingwage.mit.edu/ articles/31-bare-facts-about-the-living-wage-in-america-2017-2018 nownes, a. J. (2019). organizing for transgender rights: Collective action, group development, and the rise of a new social movement. albany, nY: SUnY Press. o’neal, K. n. (2019, may 23). Book review [review of the book resistance and Hope: essays by Disabled People]. retrieved from the Youth rights Blog website: http://theyouthrightsblog.blogspot.com/2019/05/book-review­ resistance-and-hope-essays.html olson, m. (2002). the logic of collective action: Public goods and the theory of groups. Cambridge, ma: Harvard University Press. (original work published in 1965) Pharr, S. (1997). Homophobia: a weapon of sexism (expanded ed.). Berkeley, Ca: Chardon Press. Piven, F. F., & Cloward, r. a. (1979). Poor people’s movements: Why they succeed, how they fail. new York, nY: vintage Books. Polletta, F. (2004). Culture is not just in your head. in J. goodwin, & J. m. Jasper (eds.), rethinking social move­ ments: Structure, meaning, and emotion (pp. 97–110). Lanham, mD: rowman & Littlefield. Public employment relations Board. (2019). the taylor Law (Public employees’ Fair employment act. retrieved august 24, 2019, from Public employment relations Board (PerB) website: https://www.perb.ny.gov/taylor-law/ reinelt, C. (1994). Fostering empowerment, building community: the challenge for state-funded feminist organiza­ tions. Human relations, 47(6), 685–705. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/001872679404700606. rich, a. (2009). of woman born. in H. Zinn & a. arnove (eds.), voices of a people’s history of the United States (2nd ed., pp 464–465). new York, nY: Seven Stories Press. rimmerman, C. a. (2002). From identity to politics: the lesbian and gay movements in the United States. Philadel­ phia, Pa: temple University Press. Saleebey, D. (2012). the strengths perspective in social work practice (6th ed.). Boston, ma: Pearson. Scanlon, e. (1999). Labor and the intellectuals: Where is social work? Social Work, 44(6), 590–593. doi: https:// doi.org/10.1093/sw/44.6.590. Shepard, B. (2005). the use of joyfulness as a Community organizing strategy. Peace & Change, 30(4), 435–468. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0130.2005.00328.x. Silliman, J., Fried, m. g., ross, L., & gutierrez, e. r.. (2016). Undivided rights: Women of color organize for reproductive justice (2nd ed.). Chicago, iL: Haymarket Books. Staggenborg, S. (2005). Social movement theory. in g. ritzer (ed.), encyclopedia of social theory (vol. ii, pp. 753–759). thousand oaks, Ca: Sage..

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FOUNDATIONS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING Staggenborg, S. (2015). Social movements (2nd ed.). new York, nY: oxford University Press. Stalder, F. (2006). manuel castells: the theory of the network society. Cambridge, england: Polity Press. Stan. (2012, July 8). Civil rights icon John Lewis offers ‘life lessons’ for today’s activists. atlanta Black Star. retrieved from https://atlantablackstar.com/2012/07/08/civil-rights-icon-john-lewis-offers-life-lessons-for-todays-activists/ Stroman, D. F. (2003). the disability rights movement: From deinstitutionalization to self-determination. Lanham, mD: University Press of america. tarrow, S. g. (1994). Power in movement: Social movements, collective action and politics. new York, nY: Cam­ bridge University Press. tarrow, S. g. (2011). Power in movement: Social movements and contentious politics (3rd ed.). new York, nY: Cambridge University Press. taylor, K. Y. (ed.). (2017). How we get free: Black feminism and the Combahee river collective. Chicago, iL: Haymarket Books. the african american Policy Forum. (2015). #SayHername: resisting Police Brutality against Black Women. retrieved from the african american Policy Forum website: http://aapf.org/sayhernamereport the Disability rights and independent Living movement. (2004). retrieved august 24, 2019, from Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley website: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/drilm/introduction.html U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2018). Union members – 2018 (USDL-19-0079). retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/union2.pdf Walter, U. m. (2003). toward a third space: improvisation and professionalism in social work. Families in Society: the Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 84(3), 317–322. doi: https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.128. Wong, a. (ed.) (2018). resistance and hope: essays by disabled people [Kindle edition]. retrieved from https:// www.amazon.com/kindle/dp/B07FvZn7Q4/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_eos_detail Young, i. m. (2011). Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton, nJ: Princeton University Press. (original work published in 1990). Zinn, H. (2015). a people’s history of the United States. new York, nY: Harper Perennial modern Classics. (origi­ nal work published in 2003) Zinn, H., & arnove, a. (eds.) (2004). voices of a people’s history of the United States. new York, nY: Seven Stories Press. Zinn, H., & arnove, a. (eds.) (2009). voices of a people’s history of the United States (2nd ed.). new York, nY: Seven Stories Press.

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Chapter 5

Community Organizing Frameworks APPROACHES TO COMMUNITY ORGANIZING Before turning to a discussion of some of the major organizing traditions that have influenced a transformative approach to organizing, it is necessary to offer further clarification to some ideas about what types of activities community organizing encompasses, a discussion that began in Chapter 1. Many scholars, particularly in the fields of social work, political science, and urban planning, have attempted to make sense of and typologize community organizing practices (Fisher, 1994; Mondros & Wilson, 1994; M. Ross, 1967; Rothman, Erlich, & Tropman, 2001). Such categorizing can be very useful for explaining the orientation, context, and activities of disparate approaches to community organizing as a social practice. The categories have been referred to in the literature as community organizing “approaches,” “modes,” “styles,” “models,” and “methods” (Mondros & Wilson, 1994; Rothman, 2008). In this section, I identify and discuss the three modes identified by Rothman (2008), the three models of Mondros and Wilson (1994), and the three approaches to neighborhood organizing articulated by Fisher (1994). Because these scholars are categorizing the same phenomena, these categories overlap with one another. Rothman’s Modes One of the most commonly cited conceptualizations of organizing types was put forward by Jack Rothman (2008) who articulated three modes of intervention that are widespread in community settings: 1) community capacity development, 2) planning and policy, and 3) social advocacy. First, community capacity development, (also referred to as locality development), has the goal of enhancing community well-being in a particular geographic area, usually a neighborhood, town, or a city. This activity places a special emphasis on empowering people to develop their own capaci­ ties as a community to address their own problems cooperatively, enhancing local leadership, and promoting social integration. An example of this would be a Puerto Rican neighborhood in Chi­ cago that has worked to revitalize the Division Street corridor, Paseo Boricua. Led by groups, such as the Division Street Business Development Corporation and the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, the neighborhood has focused on after-school cultural programs, the development of locally owned businesses, and progressive educational opportunities. Second, planning and policy is a data-driven, technical process for addressing social welfare issues through public policies and pro­ grams. This mode tends to utilize empirical social science methods to determine population needs and program efficacy. An example would be a child welfare advocacy organization (ideally, one that is parent-driven) that seeks to effect change in the child welfare policy arena, such as foster care, family preservation, or adoption. Third, social advocacy, (also referred to as social action), is concerned with the redistribution of power and gaining access to resources for marginalized

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groups. Social advocacy is concerned with securing equity and justice, which may involve conflict. An LGBTQ activist group that coordinates a campaign to pass a city human rights ordinance that would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in housing, employment, and other venues is an example of social advocacy organizing. These modes, Rothman argues, are interwoven, and some organizations or coalitions engage in more than one mode. All of Rothman’s modes of inter­ vention are relevant to the project of progressive community organizing.

Mondros and Wilson’s Models Another way of thinking about community organizing practice has been highlighted by Mondros and Wilson (1994), who identified three models of social action organizations, that is, groups that seek to accumulate and wield power in the face of larger power structures and the disem­ powerment that is often felt and experienced. These models are 1) grassroots, 2) lobbying, and 3) mobilizing. The grassroots or populist model emphasizes the differences between elites and those who are marginalized. The goal of this model is for regular citizens to work together to organize themselves into a powerful group with the intention of targeting power holders, that is, public or private fig­ ures with authority who tend to be resistant to change. The success of these groups depends on the quality of leadership and the extent of participation from the people most impacted by the issues. The group, Community Catalyst, defines grassroots organizing in the following way: A process of building power by involving a constituency in identifying both the problems they share and the solutions to those problems, identifying the targets that could make those solu­ tions possible, engaging with those targets through negotiation, confrontation and pressure, and developing the capacity to take on further problems. (Community Catalyst, 2019) They distinguish it from a few other endeavors including coalition building, “grasstops organ­ izing,” and “astroturf organizing.” Coalition building can be very effective and can be utilized by grassroots organizers; it focuses on organizing organizations rather than individuals. Grasstops organizing, while again can be an important part of an overall strategy, leverages the leadership of people with the existing power or community capital, i.e. people at the top rather than people at the grassroots, who are ones that have the most to lose. Finally, astroturf utilizes short-term tactics to influence a specific issue or policy at a particular point in time, mimicking long-term organizing efforts by infusing large amounts of cash or other resources, leaving out the relation­ ship building of grassroots organizing. Community Catalyst shares a good example of grassroots organizing that took place over several years of steady organizing, relationship building, coalition building, and training of low-income women and their allies. The Montana Women Vote eventu­ ally resulted in a successful campaign to close the Medicaid coverage gap helping secure coverage for 70,000 people in the state. The lobbying model is based on a pluralist pressure change orientation. The government and the legal system are the mechanisms for change; political actors are seen as open to change. These groups tend to have more staff and focus on instrumental objectives over empowerment and have less participation of the poor and the marginalized. This group would be considered similar to Rothman’s planning and policy mode. An example of this model would be the work of Center

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for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), which seeks to improve the lives of low-income people. The group describes their vision as “Through high-quality analysis grounded in data and on-the-ground experience, effective advocacy, a strong public voice, and hands-on technical assistance, CLASP develops and promotes new ideas, mobilizes others, and provides guidance to government leaders and advocates to help them implement strategies that deliver meaningful results to people across America.” (CLASP, 2020). The mobilizing model is also referred to as the movement approach, an approach that was emphasized in the previous chapter on social movements. Here, the government is viewed as resistant to change, and participants tend to be political activists. Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven’s work at Mobilization for Youth on New York City’s Lower East Side in the 1960s utilized the tactic of disruptive protests, such as rent strikes and “flooding the rolls” for wel­ fare transformation. They argued that low-income groups can win victories, not when they form organizations but when they use disruptive protest. They disagreed with Alinsky’s approach that victories come from building powerful organizations; they emphasized the power of disruptive tactics. These tactics included “incendiarism, riots, and strikes waves, sit-ins and other forms of civil disobedience, great surges in claims for relief benefits, rent strikes, sabotaging the workplace, such as disabling mining machinery or assembly lines” (Piven & Cloward, 2000, p. 171). As with Rothman’s types, the three models identified by Mondros and Wilson (1994) are all relevant to progressive community organizing practice.

Fisher’s Neighborhood Organizing Approaches Fisher (1994) has also distinguished three approaches to neighborhood organizing: 1) social wel­ fare, 2) political activist, and 3) neighborhood maintenance. The social welfare (or social work) approach tends to focus on increasing access to social services through coalition building and lob­ bying. The organizer tends to function as an advocate, and the overall practice generally maintains current social arrangements. This approach shares commonalities with Rothman’s planning and policy model and Mondros and Wilson’s lobbying model. According to Fisher, at their best, social welfare projects coordinate and deliver needed social services to the poor and working class and complement services with social action. At their worst, they are elitist and manipulative, seeking to maintain existing class arrangements by palliating social problems and co-opting social disorder…. But in general the reformist vision, liberal objectives, con­ sensus strategies, scanty resources and power, and professional orientation characteristic of the social welfare approach militate against developing democratic grassroots projects that, by altering class and power arrangements in their favor, could truly serve the interests and needs of neighborhood residents. (p. 211) The political activist approach focuses on restructuring and securing political power for those who have not historically had access to it. Activists work to achieve this by supporting and empower­ ing working-class and low-income citizens to confront power where it tends to reside, in insti­ tutions, governmental decision-making bodies, and in other cultural and political spheres of influence. This kind of activism may include the development of alternative institutions as a social change strategy, such as cooperative local businesses led by low-income people of color or people

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with disabilities, wherein they create their own opportunities to build economic and social power. It is primarily the approach of the social movements discussed in the previous chapter. Neighborhood maintenance tends to be carried out by middle-class and upper-class individu­ als with the goal of keeping the neighborhood status quo in terms of safety, appearance, property values, etc. Such groups focus on sharing information about neighborhood happenings; addressing problems related to things like playgrounds, potholes, and lighting; and ensuring the safety of children. Although the neighborhood-maintenance approach is less relevant to this text’s concern with marginalized communities, it is important in the sense of the community building methods utilized which emphasize communication, social capital, and coordination of activities around shared interests, particularly those that are a function of geographic proximity. As one can see, there are many ways to characterize and categorize community organizing practice. In fact, readers may be finding themselves more confused than ever! Some typologies may be more useful than are others, in terms of helping people understand the range of activities in which organizers tend to engage. This book is ultimately more concerned with more inclusive characterizations of organizing and less concerned with discriminating and typologizing organizers and organizing. Next, I go deeper into a range of organizing frameworks which can help readers to discern where they see themselves orienting their own work. Momentum’s Hybrid Approach A new approach to organizing has been formulated in recent years with the goal of address­ ing the limits of traditional organizing while leveraging the power that mass mobilization can have to address needed large-scale and global social changes. The training incubator known as Momentum (Momentum, 2016) fuses together what they call “structure-based organizing” with “mass protest,” in other words, merging grassroots organizing with mass mobilization (Engler & Engler, 2016). Activists in this tradition also think of this as combining transactional organizing (which I refer to as utilitarian organizing later in this chapter), with transforma­ tive organizing. Momentum identifies the virtues of traditional structure-based organizing in the Alinsky tradition, as seen in community-based organizations and labor unions, noting the specific and piecemeal changes that can be achieved by “extract(ing) narrow concessions from opponents” (Engler & Engler, p. 96), such as what can be achieved when members of a tenant association withhold their rent. They note that base building, one-on-one relationships, lead­ ership development, and strategy can lead to practical reforms that leverage social power and reflect the needs of constituencies most impacted by the social issue. On the other hand, mass mobilization seeks to influence the public at large, through the involvement of autonomous groups and unaffiliated individuals coming together symbolically to protest issues. When public opinion shifts, powerholders have no choice but to concede. In this scenario, public opinion can shift quite abruptly as was the case in 2015 when public opinion was won and the Supreme Court’s ruling resulted in same-sex marriage being a right across the United States (Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015). Momentum is training organizers to use civil disobedience and mass mobilization in the age of social media. Momentum identifies what it calls “story, strategy, and structure,” three com­ ponents that constitute the DNA of a movement. The story is how participants understand the meaning and purpose of the movement; strategy is how they choose to take action; and structure is how they arrange themselves and make decisions. By leveraging the revolutionary visions of social

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movements, organizers utilize some of the tried and true strategies of the community organizing tradition to bring it into action. Organizers strategically utilize tactics to achieve specific goals, such as those developed by organizers in Birmingham, Alabama during the Civil Rights movement where the escalation of nonviolent confrontation was used to create the crisis, pushing the system to a breaking point (Engler & Engler, 2016). It has been noted that many movements, such as the Occupy protests, have not resulted in their intended outcomes because of the failure to incorpo­ rate story and strategy and structure (Engler & Engler, 2016). PROGRESSIVE ORGANIZING FRAMEWORKS: A SPECTRUM The father of community organizing, Saul Alinsky (1971), said: The men who pile up the heaps of discussion and literature on the ethics of means and ends… rarely write about their own experiences in the perpetual struggle of life and change.They are strangers, moreover, to the burdens and problems of operational responsibility and the unceas­ ing pressure for immediate release. (p. 25) These penetrating words express the longstanding dilemmas of community organizers. Although organizers may hold strong transformative justice values and be interested in attending to the means or processes of organizing, in reality, they find themselves working in a practical world in which achieving concrete, measurable outcomes in real time for communities is necessary. Alinsky, as discussed later in this chapter, preferred focusing on achieving practical victories in his work and concentrated less on clarifying values and engaging in consciousness-raising efforts, approaches that are favored by some organizers. He did not take lightly, however, the ubiquitous tension between the two. This conflict is just one dimension of the array of themes with which community organizing frameworks are concerned and is a mark of what differentiates various approaches to organizing. In this chapter, I present progressive organizing frameworks in some detail. I believe that most organizing frameworks rest within the tension discussed here, namely, a tension between utilitar­ ian approaches and transformative approaches (see Figure 5.1). Another way of thinking about this spectrum is to consider organizing as ends oriented and means oriented. Movements, organi­ zations, and campaigns that seek to transform the power structures and conditions (attitudes, institutions, etc.) that perpetuate social problems lie on the means-oriented or transformative side of the spectrum. They seek to crumble what have been called the pillars “that lend structural stability to a political system” (Engler & Engler, 2016, p. 92), such as the media, corporations, the military, educational institutions, civil service, the courts, etc. Transformative organizing attends to the way power has a negative impact on people in communities and seeks to transform such power structures not just in the larger community and social systems, but also within their own organizations, in their interactions with each other, and within themselves. Groups that focus on achieving victories or gaining incremental changes tend to fall into the utilitarian or ends-oriented category. The utilitarian groups are concerned with inequality and the differences between those with power and those without it in society; however, their work does not necessarily attempt to change the class or power arrangements of society. Instead, they seek to make the existing system more accessible to all people. To be sure, many groups engage in more eclectic approaches, utiliz­ ing ideas and strategies from both frameworks.

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FIGURE 5.1

A Progressive Organizing Spectrum

A sexual assault organization that actively seeks to address the systemic oppression that per­ petuates sexual assault (transformative) may also focus on changing rape laws or getting public funding for better services for assault victims in their communities (utilitarian). The former activities (transformative) may include consciousness-raising and educational programs about sexism, racism, and homophobia led by survivors of violence; a mandate that the board of direc­ tors consist of a majority of people of color, low-income, and sexual assault survivors; and staff/volunteer meetings that include time for collective care and group process focused on how intersectional patriarchy impacts the work. The latter activities (utilitarian) may entail testify­ ing at the state legislature for more funding for sexual assault services and conducting a public education campaign about sexual assault prevention. Of course, readers should actually be wary of the presentation of dichotomies that are presented as either–or. In the field of logic, this is known as “the fallacy of the false dilemma,” and it would be appropriate to ask whether there might be a third choice or to question whether these practices are really so discrete. These are the right questions, and I merely propose this divide as a heuristic for thinking about organizing frameworks on a spectrum. Community organizers, just like urban planners, therapists, teachers, and other practitioners, may approach their work from multiple paradigms or frameworks. Although many organizers and organizations may have a primary method or framework that guides their work, some may also draw from multiple approaches, depending on the circumstances. Although one may argue that this is a diffuse approach, it seems that a blended approach to organizing is astute, and privileges context over a blanket ideology that is applied in all situations at all times. In the following sec­ tions, I present two major frameworks that I believe represent the most prominent approaches to doing community organizing work—the utilitarian tradition, especially as developed and fleshed out in the Alinsky tradition and the transformative tradition. These traditions are not intended to

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be exhaustive, nor are they completely discrete from each other. They both have the potential to inform a powerful progressive community organizing practice. As readers reflect on the frameworks highlighted in this chapter, it might be useful to consider the following questions as a guide. Consider whether the approach: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Facilitates sustained engagement over time Engenders empowerment among those most impacted by the issues Results in real improvement in people’s lives Questions status quo narratives and structures Fosters changes to oppressive cultural and institutional practices Would be useful in cross-cultural and transnational settings Attends to the holistic needs of organizers including the impacts of historical trauma Would be personally gratifying in which to operate

These questions reflect many of the principles and central concerns of this book, including issues of empowerment, sustainability, social change, liberation and oppression, globalization, selfawareness, and healing justice.

ALINSKY AND THE UTILITARIAN TRADITION Saul Alinsky (1909–1972) was born to immigrant Jewish parents in a low-income Chicago neigh­ borhood. After studying archaeology and sociology at the University of Chicago, he began his graduate studies in criminology doing engaged field research on organized crime. For several years, he worked as a criminologist, studying poverty and crime; his field methods involved work­ ing from the inside by building relationships and getting to know people in the neighborhood. One day his boss, the University of Chicago sociologist Clifford Shaw, sent him to a West Side neigh­ borhood called the Back of the Yards. This neighborhood was “a foul-smelling, crime-ridden slum, downwind of Chicago’s Union Stockyards” (Finks, 1984, p. 13). The Back of the Yards was an area of Chicago that had been the inspiration for Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle (1906), where working conditions at the meatpacking plants were depicted in all their horror—long hours, dangerous working environments, and unhealthy living conditions. Shaw’s instructions to Alinsky were to get to know the neighborhood by searching out the local leaders and, in partnership with them, organize a community program to combat juvenile delinquency. Unlike Jane Addams’s work at nearby Hull House, the virtue of this program in Alinsky’s eyes was that it would be run by the people in the neighborhood rather than outsiders. Fortunate for Alinsky, union organizer John L. Lewis, the president of the Council of Industrial Organizations (CIO), had sent a team to organize the workers in Chicago’s meatpacking industry (Finks, 1984). These organizers entered into the lives of the stockyard workers. For these professionals, organizing was a fulltime job. It involved agitation—convincing people that their problems were not unique, but connected with the problems of poor, exploited people everywhere.They preached unity, soli­ darity, action, and reform. (Finks, 1984, p. 15)

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Alinsky was particularly impressed with the fact that these organizers were interested not just in studying poverty, but also in organizing people to change the conditions that kept them in poverty. He also noticed that the union organizers were attuned to issues beyond the packinghouse union, making connections to other social and political issues of the time—Black people in the South, the Dust Bowl migrants, the Spanish Civil War, government relief programs, and rent strikes. In 1938, Alinsky, rather than build a program to combat juvenile delinquency as he had been instructed, organized the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council (BYNC). BYNC brought together the entire community, including the United Packinghouse Workers Union as well as most of the Roman Catholic parishes in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. Building a powerful coalition that included unions, church leadership, and local citizens was a significant innovation of Alinsky’s. Finks (1984) describes the role that Alinsky came to play in the BYNC: Behind the scenes Alinsky worked hard to keep the council moving ahead. Like a shrewd fight manager, he arranged ever-tougher bouts for the organization.After every action Alinsky made the leaders take the time to talk about what had happened.They dissected, analyzed, and criti­ cized each event until they understood the reasons why they won or lost. Each victory was celebrated with speeches and impromptu parties. People began to notice that after every suc­ cessful battle, more residents joined the Back of the Yards Council. (p. 21) The group would go on to win victories in the areas of child welfare, public school improvement, and neighborhood stabilization. Alinsky’s successes in the BYNC would eventually call him to other parts of the country as an itinerant organizer. This led to the founding of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), which could financially support Alinsky’s services to other communities, particularly ones in which CIO unions were forming, drawing on his previous techniques of bringing the community, churches, and union together into a solid community voice. Because of the growing demand for his organ­ izing skills, Alinsky would train other organizers, including the notable organizers Fred Ross and Ed Chambers, to carry on the techniques he had been developing. In his books Reveille for Radicals, published in 1946 (1989), and Rules for Radicals, Alinsky (1971) called for people in urban areas to engage fully in the democratic process. An early adherent of what some today might call social capital building, Alinsky’s populist approach was that democ­ racy implied the formation of voluntary organizations, neighborhood-led governing, as well as citizen protest when necessary. “Alinsky considered the political system, despite its corruption and bias toward the rich, to be open to change if people could organize to demand inclusion” (Warren, 2001, p. 45). A true believer in U.S. democracy, Alinsky considered Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexis de Tocqueville as heroes (Finks, 1984). His approach to organizing emphasized conflictoriented, direct-action techniques. These confrontational tactics were based on his power analysis of social structures. Although not an adherent of Marxism nor an advocate for the overturning of democratic capitalism, Alinsky identified the “haves” and the “have-nots” in society as being by their very nature in conflict. To achieve change, he argued, it is necessary for oppressed groups to pressure those with power by creating demands or engaging in other confrontational tactics. Alin­ sky engaged in boycotts of stores, meatpacking strikes, rent strikes against slumlords, picketing of business, and sit-downs at city hall. Many of these actions were rooted in the labor movement of the 1930s and the techniques of his mentor John L. Lewis, president of American Mine Workers

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of America. Alinsky believed in polarizing issues and personalizing the enemy. He sought to take back power, that is, to “wrest power from elite groups and redistribute it to their constituency” (Betten & Austin, 1990, p. 152). Alinsky believed that the purpose of organizing was to win a victory; this may necessitate the use of creative, irreverent, or dramatic tactics (Boyte, 1984). His approach to direct action was to catch the “enemy” by surprise, to “hit them outside the usual realm of experience” (Betten, Austin, & Fisher, 1990, p. 158). This could involve embarrassing public officials and engaging in elaborate public displays. His groups would also try to get public officials to attend their meetings and to commit to promises such as funding for a new low-income housing development or other programs. In the early 1960s, race relations were changing in the United States. Woodlawn was an all-Black South Side Chicago neighborhood and would be “the first attempt by Alinsky—or anyone—to organize an entire black urban community” (Finks, 1984, p. 136). In Woodlawn, the organizers used creative tactics, such as confronting the board of education by holding a “death watch,” where mothers dressed in black to mourn their “educationally dying children” (Finks, 1984, p. 151). In 1966, Chambers and Alinsky had been working in Rochester, New York, to assist a local organizing group called FIGHT. In one of the most prominent struggles of Alinsky’s career, FIGHT sought to hold the Eastman Kodak company accountable for providing jobs to low-income and African American community members. The company made a promise that it would create new jobs; however, within a day of making the announcement, the company had reneged on this promise. Members of FIGHT, with the help of Alinsky, decided to confront the shareholders of Eastman Kodak on this issue. FIGHT cleverly bought a few shares in the company in order to be able to attend the shareholders meeting. FIGHT members confronted the shareholders in their meeting and made their demand—they gave the shareholders one hour to decide whether they were going to honor their agreement. The group marched out of the facility and returned in one hour, and when the shareholders said that they would not honor the agreement, the group said, “Then, it’s going to be a long, hot summer!” Not backing down or giving up, the organizers pro­ tested and pressured throughout the summer and eventually won their victory—much-needed jobs for community members (Bruno, 2004). Alinsky was hired by organizations to help strategize for organizing campaigns. He believed in the idea that one should “organize himself out of a job,” recognizing that indigenous leadership will always understand and appreciate the community the most and that it is the best way to sustain organizing efforts over time. Although the skills of trained, professional organizers are sometimes needed, it is the job of an organizer to pass on those skills and be a mentor to local leaders and future organizers. Having a deep grasp of the notion of empowerment, Alinsky engaged in the practice of identifying leaders and nurturing organizing skills as the path to organize oneself out of a job. He criticized “do-gooders” and charities and believed that one should never do things for people that they can do for themselves. The Alinsky Legacy The new populism of the 1970s, emerging out of an economic recession and the beginnings of government social welfare retrenchment, resulted in high levels of participation in neighborhood groups across the country. Whereas the organizing of the 1960s tended to be more ideologically focused, the populist approach emphasized what Alinsky had been focusing on all along—practical,

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down-to-earth organizing rooted in the community traditions of working-class people (Fisher, 1994). This approach rejected the emphasis on anticapitalist political ideology, the focus on “consciousness-raising,” the sectarianism, the single-minded attention to a particular constituency—whether African Americans or students—all of which, new populists contended, isolated late 1960s organizers from working people and prevented the development of effective grassroots neighborhood organizations. (Fisher, 1994, p. 140) Alinsky’s legacy of organizing methods was a perfect match for this new wave of populist neighborhood-based organizing. Successful organizing groups such as the Association of Commu­ nity Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO) had their roots in the organizing strategies of Alinsky (Fisher, 1994). Communities Organized for Public Service (COPS) was also built on the Alinsky tradition, under the leadership of Ernesto Cortes, Jr., who was trained under the IAF in the early 1970s (Warren, 2001). COPS focused on organizing a potentially powerful group of Latinx citizens in San Antonio, Texas, who represented a majority of the population in the city but had little politi­ cal power. Drawing from Alinsky’s strategy of engaging local churches, Cortes would follow suit, but with some unique innovations. Cortes came to see leadership differently and believed that leaders were not necessarily people who held important positions or who had good public speak­ ing skills; leaders were people who had social networks (Warren, 2001). These leaders tended to be women who were already engaged in parish councils, fundraising committees, and parent–teacher associations (PTAs). Alinsky emphasized a utilitarian approach to organizing people around an issue, but Cortes began to bring people together based on their common values, including reli­ gious values and the identification of community needs. Developing a practice that COPS and IAF would call “relational organizing,” Cortes facilitated community leaders coming together to talk about community needs and then identify issues around which to act (Warren, 2001). Whereas Alinsky’s approach emphasized organizing male position holders in the community who deter­ mined upfront what issues to mobilize around, Cortes’s plans “emerged out of conversations at the bottom, rather than issues identified by activists at the top” (Warren, 2001, p. 51). COPS, now called COPS/Metro, has achieved and continues to achieve many victories. One of its early victories was a critical intervention in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, a program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in San Antonio, Texas (Warren, 2001). The group advocated for CDBG funds to go to long-neglected projects in their constituent neighborhoods. Engaging in planning, research, and mobilization at public hearings, its members were able to influence the council’s allocations. From 1974 to 1993, 69.9% of CDBG funds went to council districts where COPS was instrumental in organizing (Warren, 2001). Overall, COPS/Metro has been building a vision of what community can be. Boyte (1984, p. 133) points out that Alinsky had failed to offer a vision of what communities were really work­ ing for: Much of the organizing that claimed his legacy gained a reputation for the narrowest of con­ cerns and vision. “Organizing for power” was often described as the end in itself with little or no reflection about how power was to be wielded, or for what purposes.

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Whereas Alinsky believed that people organized primarily out of self-interest, Cortes believed that common love of family, faith, and culture could bring people together. The heritage of Alinsky cannot be underestimated; many organizers today could trace their organizing lineage back to Alinsky, whether they are aware of it or not. Training in the art and science of organizing has been a way to pass down his strategies, tactics, and the innovations that have developed along the way. Training academies such as the Midwest Academy and the Gamaliel Foundation are examples of community organizing training programs that have roots in the Alinsky tradition. In this book, I identify his approach as utilitarian because it focuses on win­ ning campaigns, generally embracing the idea that “the ends justify the means,” and accepting the basic terms of the current system. Building community power and confronting power holders to achieve incremental gains in the community are the hallmarks of the original Alinsky tradition. TRANSFORMATIVE APPROACHES In this section, I turn now to some approaches to organizing that fit into the “transformative” end of the organizing framework spectrum. These approaches are grounded in a theory of change affirm­ ing that practical material changes necessarily require a change in consciousness, and that without changes to the systems that perpetuate injustice, true change is not possible. These consciousnessraising approaches emphasize popular education methods of adult learners, group reflection, and self-inquiry as the groundwork and necessary conditions for effecting change. In this section, I present the work of Myles Horton and the Highlander Center, Paulo Freire’s problematizing educational methods, feminist contributions, and reconciliation practices, all threads which make up the fabric of the transformative organizing tradition. Myles Horton and the Highlander Center Myles Horton (1905–1990), an educator and organizer, founded the Highlander Folk School in eastern Tennessee in 1932. Horton was born to a poor family in Tennessee to parents who were active in the community. As a young man, Horton worked in mills and factories and became involved in union organizing. He attended college in Tennessee and Union Theological Seminary in New York, where he became familiar with the social gospel philosophy. The Social Gospel movement was based on the Christian philosophy affirmed by Settlement House workers, labor organizers, and others in the Progressive Era, emphasizing a religious rationale for addressing poverty and other social ills. Eventually, he had the opportunity to visit Danish folk schools, and thus, he developed and engaged in popular adult education techniques inspired by his visit. High­ lander has served as a support organization to many organizers over the years, providing a space to engage in critical thinking about important social change issues. Since those early days, the Highlander Center has trained thousands of activists, such as labor organizers from the CIO, civil rights organizers such as Rosa Parks, and contemporary environmental organizers working against mountaintop removal. Rosa Parks attended an inter-racial workshop in 1955 which focused on strategies for implementing integration after the passage of Brown vs. Board of Education. For many people, during those times, it was the first time that White people and people of color had come together and shared space and worked on a common cause. Thus, the Highlander Center was truly ground-breaking in its impacts on inter-racial relations.

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Horton knew early on that traditional teaching methods influenced by formal K-12 school systems did not work with rural workers and others living in poverty. The teaching at High­ lander would be guided by the problems brought forth by the adult students and included prac­ tical learning experiences that utilized improvisational drama, songwriting, and singing (Peters & Bell, 1989). Zilphia Johnson Horton (wife of Myles) is credited with starting Highland­ er’s cultural program which included music, dramatic productions, and other arts (Williams, 2019). She was a musician, organizer, and folklorist and helped to turn hymns such as “We Shall Overcome,” and “This Little Light of Mine” into heralds of the Civil Rights movement, teach­ ing people to be social justice song leaders in their own communities (Septima Clark Learning Center, 2019). She believed that music and the arts touched people’s hearts which is critical to the transformation of society. She also believed in the importance of social justice friendships which were nurtured by playing games and engaging in other activities at Highlander, deepen­ ing relationships and perhaps what today we might call bolstering resilience for the challenges of social change work. Myles Horton and his cohorts came to believe in the axiom that the people themselves are the authorities on their experiences and thus on their own learning needs and educational agendas. Critical of top-down educational approaches and decision making about what is taught, Horton, like Paulo Freire, was interested in education for social change. A reflection of his commitment to democracy in all forms of human endeavors, he advocated that education be grounded in the learner’s experiences and included the use of questions to stimulate self-examination as well as an examination of social systems. According to Peters and Bell (1989), Horton’s belief in the imperative of control over their lives [adult learners] and the means of production parallels his belief in control over a learning activity by a circle of learners whose experiences and problems are being discussed. He argues equally convincingly that laborers need to develop confidence in their ability to direct change in their working conditions and to learn from their own experiences. Dependency on authority is believed by Horton to be anti­ thetical to freedom of thought and expression, whether it is in labor–management relations or in the relationship between student and teacher. Horton’s approach to education is a restruc­ turing process that places more control and responsibility in the hands of the learner, not only for the purpose of democratizing the experience, but also as intended practice for learners who are interested in achieving the same ends in other arenas in their lives. (p. 50) Accordingly, there are a few key features of Horton’s approach to adult popular education that are worthy of highlighting: ■ ■ ■ ■

Leadership development/Empowerment Social/Power analysis Learning from experience Making social meaning for collective and personal change

Because Horton and his colleagues were interested in building movements for social change, the development of leaders to be the authors of that change was crucial. Success in Highlander’s teach­ ing meant that former students would become key leaders in their community or enhance their existing leadership skills. If leaders were to change social systems, it was necessary for them to be able to critique social systems. These learning activities are not “neutral” in the way that traditional

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education purports to be; instead, it is value-driven. The purpose of popular education is not to support the status quo, but it is to understand, critique, and alter it. Popular education is an educational tool for political change that stresses pedagogical techniques that empower people to learn about the connections between individual experiences and social systems for the purposes of making change. Thus, the practice of social analysis at Highlander was and continues to be a long-range investiga­ tion of the social and economic structures of society in relation to a learner’s local situation back at home (Peters & Bell, 1989). Although Horton did not hide his own biases from students, he did not impose them and instead sought to engage in a dialogue between equals. By getting students to talk about their lived experiences in the world (such as working in a coal mine), his techniques entailed drawing information from them and filling in the blanks to complete the analysis. The learners then decide what actions to engage in based on the analysis. Finally, Horton emphasized the importance of people’s ability to learn from their own experiences. Learners can develop meaning from their lives and subsequently develop a social meaning that resonates with other learners’ experiences (Peters & Bell, 1989). The learner has ownership of the social meaning that will form the basis for social change. The Highlander Folk School (now called the Highlander Research and Education Center) would go through many changes over the years, educating many influential organizers including Martin Luther King, Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, Andrew Young, Stokely Carmichael, and Septima Clark. Set in the beautiful, rolling foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, Highlander conducts residential workshops for organizers. An additional feature of these workshops has been their emphasis on cultural expression because of its integral role in social experience. Culture serves the purpose of maintaining community, an antidote to individualistic values and norms in society. This is also critical for healing and transformative justice approaches which view culture as a potential source of liberation. The cultural program at Highlander Center has its roots in southern U.S. organizing traditions: in the Appalachian strip mine country or at civil rights rallies in Black Belt churches; on picket lines outside piedmont textile mills on in the jails of Albany or Birmingham; in low country citizenship schools or Native American teaching circles; in rural Alabama Blues clubs or South Louisiana Zydeco halls; in the midst of struggle and in the midst of celebration. (Sapp, 1989, p. 307) Today, the Highlander Center frames its work as part of a global justice movement, making con­ nections between the conditions of laborers in the U.S. South and the global South. The organi­ zation is concerned with the liberation of all people, including LGBTQ individuals, immigrants, women, people with disabilities, and people of color (Sapp, 1989). By continuing to engage in popular education, cultural programs, and consciousness-raising, the Highlander Research and Education Center is a social movement support organization that is carrying on a legacy of social change that focuses on the transformation and reformation of society (Peters & Bell, 1989). It is clearly a shining example of a transformative organizing approach in values and practice. Unfortunately, as a sign of the times and the truth that backlash is often the reality faced by people wishing to change the status quo, a core Highlander administrative building was destroyed by arsonists in early 2019 (Dreier, 2019). In investigating the incident, authorities discovered white supremacist symbols painted on the pavement near the building. Highlander has experi­ enced backlash before and as Myles Horton noted, Highlander Center can’t be destroyed because it is an idea and you can’t destroy ideas.

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The Educational Methods of Paulo Freire Paulo Freire (1921–1997), a Brazilian educator, could be considered a grandfather of transforma­ tive and consciousness-raising approaches to social change. Indeed, he has become the patron saint of social change for many organizers, activists, and educators worldwide. One of the things that is particularly interesting about the legacy of Freire’s oeuvre has been the extensive number of door­ ways through which people enter into his work. Some are interested in his specific techniques of adult literacy, whereas others are moved by his popular educational philosophy for social change organizing, and still others are concerned with what he actually contributed to Latin American social movements. Paulo Freire was born in Recife, Brazil; because of the global economic problems of 1929, his family moved to Jaboatäo, Brazil, which is where he first began to be aware of extreme poverty. Eventually, he was able to return to Recife to go to a private upper-class high school. In time, he married a schoolteacher and attended law school but decided that being an educator was better for him. Between 1940 and 1950, he engaged in a scholarly study of education, focusing on the prob­ lems of education in a systematic way. In 1946, he became director of the Department of Educa­ tion and Culture of SESI (Serviço Social da Indústria), a government agency that used funds from a national confederation of factory owners to create programs for the betterment of the standard of living of their workers. In 1959, his thesis was accepted, and he was appointed as professor of the history and philosophy of education (Gadotti, 1994). Concerned with the problem of illiteracy and poverty throughout Brazil, Freire came to believe that adult education of illiterate individuals had to have its foundation in the conscious­ ness of the day-to-day situations lived by the learners. He believed that educational work toward democracy would only be achieved if the literacy process was not about or for people, but with people. He believed that a more progressive segment of Brazilian society was ready to break with the archaic, discriminatory, elitist traditions that had restricted Brazilian poor people for centuries (Gadotti, 1994). He tried out his educational method with 300 sugarcane sharecroppers in a Brazilian village in 1963; when the experiment proved successful, he was invited by the president to implement a national literacy campaign. The program intended to make 5 million adults literate and politi­ cally progressive within the first year. (According to the national law at the time, adults could only vote if they were functionally literate to some degree; this limitation had worked in favor of the contemporary powers in Brazil.) The landowners became threatened by the possibility that the peasants would organize into leagues, become literate, and swell the ranks of voters. A coup in 1964 deposed the government and imposed military rule, which lasted more than 20 years (Gadotti, 1994). Because of Freire’s participation in social movements for popular education, he was arrested twice and imprisoned; he eventually received political asylum and was exiled for 16 years. In San­ tiago, Chile, he worked as an adult educator for two organizations having to do with agricultural improvement and land reform. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, he taught for one year at Harvard, and in Geneva, Switzerland, he worked and traveled under the auspices of the World Council of Churches as a kind of roving ambassador of literacy in the third world. Freire returned to Brazil in 1980 with the dream of “relearning it” and worked as a professor (Gadotti, 1994). His party (the Workers Party) won the elections in 1988, and he was invited to take over the position of munici­ pal secretary of education. At this time, he implemented a new educational model. He eventually went back to teaching and writing until he died.

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Just like Myles Horton, Freire argued that traditional education occurs in a culture where the person being educated must listen and obey. Freire was highly critical of what he called banking education, a system of knowledge production wherein knowledge is a possession or commodity that teachers give to students as if making a deposit into an empty account that will become full. According to Freire (1970), education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiqués and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat…. In the banking concept of education, knowledge is a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing. (p. 58) This traditional “banking” education is a barrier to developing a critical consciousness about the world, which is a necessary condition for transforming the world. To be educated for critical consciousness is to follow a long path, along which the people being educated will reject the oppressor who has been living inside them. Today, in healing justice circles, whole self and bodymind approaches are used to enter into a compassionate relationship with this kind of internalized oppression, to understand it more deeply and to learn that we are more than this oppression. According to Freire, oppressed individuals come to internalize the oppressor’s characteristics and, thus, people who are oppressed desire to take on the role of the oppressor. Hegel and Marx both acknowledged this phenomenon through their articulations of the master–slave dialectic and false consciousness, respectively. From Freire’s perspective, oppressed people may come to have some power in institutions that they have worked their way into and become tyrants themselves. Moreover, they come to fear the possibilities of freedom and liberation. Because freedom is really an essential human desire (a tenet affirmed by the fundamental assumptions of the capabilities approach), oppressed people may suffer from a kind of ambivalence (fear of freedom and desire for freedom) and thus an inauthentic and incomplete existence. Foucault (1980) also agreed, arguing that the hegemonic power of ideas and institutions becomes internalized in us making us oppressors of ourselves and others. Freire identified a “culture of silence,” a term he employed to describe illiterate inhabitants of Northeast Brazil (Freire, 1994). He believed it was necessary to “give them the word” so that they could “move” and could participate in the construction of a Brazil where they would be responsible for their own destiny and where colonialism would be overcome (Freire, 1970). He popularized the term conscientization (from the Portuguese, conscientização), which is an ongoing process involved in colearning. It shows the relationship that exists between thinking and act­ ing; a group of people is able to discover the reasons why things are the way they are. Through this consciousness-raising process, which critiques present circumstances and attempts to over­ come these circumstances, a new vision of the world is learned. The means for this quest are not imposed but are left to the creative capacity of the “free” conscience. Importantly, a single isolated individual is never conscientized alone but as part of a community wherein solidarity is developed in relation to a common situation. Freire also embraced the idea of praxis, the unity that should exist between what one does (practice) and what one thinks about what one does (theory). The antidote to banking education, according to Freire, is problematizing education (Gadotti, 1994; Shor, 1993). Problematizing education is a critical dialogical reflection on knowledge

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that is usually taken for granted. To problematize something goes beyond mere critique and involves the use of critical questioning by a teacher encouraging students to “question answers rather than merely to answer questions” (Shor, 1993, p. 26). Freire believed that banking edu­ cation was by its nature antidialogic and that problematizing education for critical conscious­ ness embraced a dialogic theory. Antidialogic theory enables the conquest of people; it divides oppressed people, creating and deepening differences through an endless variety of methods in order to dominate, dehumanize, and colonize them. Antidialogic theory is a way to manipulate that invades people culturally, imposing on oppressed people the invader’s vision of the world. Dialogic theory, on the other hand, involves collaboration, union, organization, and cultural syn­ thesis (Gadotti, 1994). Community organizers have drawn from Freire’s popular education methods, identifying the work of organizing people as a kind of dialogic or critical educational process. This process of engagement becomes a political act and is necessarily connected to the development of a plan for action. Engagement in the community happens within a container of tolerance and trust in people’s intellectual capabilities and a belief in their ability to act for change on their own behalf. It begins with “listening from the heart” (Ledwith, 2016, p. 52) and talking to people about their everyday lives and learning about what is important to them. Shor (1993) has identified four qualities of critical consciousness, the goal of Freirean edu­ cation, all of which resonate with the goals of Horton and the Highlander Center as noted in the previous section: 1) power awareness, 2) critical literacy, 3) desocialization, and 4) self-organization/self-education. Power awareness requires an understanding of history and of how marginalized groups have tapped into their own power to effect change. This sense of empowerment includes an understanding of how power operates in society and how social action can transform it. Critical literacy is the development of analytic habits of thinking, writ­ ing, reading, and speaking that go beyond traditional myths and assumptions. Problematizing reality and knowledge is to uncover the deeper meaning of a policy or practice. Desocialization is to critically examine the “regressive values operating in society, which are internalized into consciousness” (Shor, 1993, p. 32). This includes questioning not just racism, classism, gen­ der tyranny, and homophobia, but also societal values such as consumerism and individualism. Self-organization/self-education is social change activity in the world, including transforma­ tive acts in communities, schools, organizations, and other contexts that may be authoritarian or undemocratic. It should be clear that, from a critical education perspective, developing group work skills are crucial for effective transformative community organizing. These group work skills are not neutral, however; they are necessarily biased toward social change. Holding study groups is another way of raising consciousness among a group of individuals (Bookchin, 1999). Such study groups date back to the years before the French Revolution, and such groups “provided the indispensable intellectual ferment that fed into the French Revolution” (Bookchin, 1999, p. 337). Reading books as a group about progressive ideas can be a way of learning novel per­ spectives and formulating a value-based outlook as a group. Many study groups have emerged recently around anti-racism and liberation from white supremacy. Such study groups can evolve into publishing a blog that clarifies ideas, or they could evolve into some other kind of cultural action or direct action. Overall, Freire’s ideas about social change, particularly the importance of popular education and consciousness-raising, are indispensable for fleshing out a transforma­ tive approach to organizing.

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Feminist Contributions Whereas Chapter 3 highlighted feminist theories and Chapter 4 highlighted feminist social move­ ments, in this section, I emphasize the contributions that feminism and feminist organizing approaches have made to the development of a transformative organizing approach. Although cisgender women, queer women, trans women, and nonbinary people have historically played key leadership roles in community organizing, it has only been in the last 35 years or so that explicit models of feminist-oriented ways of organizing have been advanced. What is most unique about feminist organizers is that they have always grappled with the complexities that other organiz­ ing traditions have not been willing to grapple with. For example, they have problematized the split that exists in the Alinsky tradition between public/private ways of organizing, wherein the Alinsky tradition privileges more public ways of organizing through marches, direct actions, and protests, while feminist organizers are concerned with how to organize more inclusively focus­ ing on cooperation, mutual aid, consciousness-raising, and community building (Izlar, 2019). In addition, the concept of intersectionality emerges from the struggles and complexities of feminist organizing (Taylor, 2017) as Black women, for example, did not see their voices and experi­ ences being represented in White, middle-class feminist organizing circles. The Combahee River Collective statement written in 1977 articulated a feminism and feminist organizing agenda that included antiracist and anticapitalist analyses that reflected their unique positionality as Black, lesbian women. It may be useful to consider the battered women’s movement as a case study of feminist con­ tributions to transformative organizing frameworks (Schechter, 1982). In the early 1970s, diverse groups of women began meeting in small groups to talk about their common personal experiences with a variety of conditions, including battering that they experienced from their partners and sexual assault they had experienced from partners, acquaintances, and strangers. As these women came to discuss these issues, they realized that their experiences often shared many commonali­ ties. They learned, for example, that their partners used similar tactics of power and control, such as isolating them from friends and family and verbally abusing them. They came to understand that what was happening in their own homes was a manifestation of a larger patriarchal system of values, institutions, and practices. What emerged was a kind of political consciousness that pinpoints patriarchy as a common oppressive force that condones violence against women. Here the practice of consciousness-raising developed into a framework that affirmed that the “personal is political.” Although the idea of consciousness-raising first emerged in communist China in the 1950s, feminism would embrace it as a central orientation point for framing and organizing. Grounded in ideas of radical feminism, an upshot of the process of consciousness-raising was the emergence of nonhierarchical and collectively structured organizations led by survivors of vio­ lence (Ferree & Hess, 2000 Schechter, 1982). These structures reflected the radical feminist cri­ tiques of patriarchal social constructions that supported violence against women (Walker, 2002). Audre Lorde (1981) once said, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change” (p. 99). This insight implies that organizing strategies too often replicate injustice and thus inhibit real social change. Making decisions by consensus highlights the strengths and empowerment of people who have traditionally not had a voice in decision-making, and in this case, women have especially been excluded from such processes. Such practices also encouraged women, including battered and formerly battered women who had been silenced and conditioned

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to accept hierarchal authority, to trust themselves. This empowerment, in turn, can translate into a stronger sense of political self-efficacy and more successful outcomes in the community. Service provision has been essential to the battered women’s movement. While social ser­ vices and social change are often deemed incompatible, the movement historically offered exam­ ples of social service practice with a social change orientation (Kivel, 2007). With an emphasis on empowerment and self-determination, advocacy and service approaches are grounded in the insights gleaned from consciousness-raising practices. Hotline services, emergency sheltering, counseling, and court advocacy were the major service provisions offered. As the movement evolved and gained political maturity, legislative advocacy became a key tactic (Schechter, 1982). In more recent years, the direction of the movement has certainly shifted from an organizing model led by formerly battered women to an advocacy/service approach in which professionals engage. This has been due to internal and external influences, including legislation with more complex funding structures requiring greater amounts of administrative and fiscal accountability and oversight. Although the growth of professionals within the movement has enhanced some of the services available to survivors of violence, as well as enabling effective legislative advocacy and relatively stable funding, movement away from a grassroots organizing approach has arguably had a negative impact on the ability of the movement to effect transformative social change. In Chapter 11, I discuss in more detail some of the struggles of feminist organizing, including those in the battered women’s movement. Feminist organizing has been conceptualized by some as a form of care work, a kind of com­ munity caretaking (Bookman & Morgen, 1988, p. 3). What has been central to the study of women’s activism has been “recognition of the significance of women’s social networks and their constructions of the community for their political work” (Bookman & Morgen, 1988, p. 4). Git­ tell, Ortega–Bustamente, and Steffy (2000) conducted a study of women-identified commu­ nity development leaders and found common themes among the group. These themes included emphases on: 1) human needs, 2) the connectedness of issues, 3) a holistic approach to social and economic development, 4) a “process-oriented” approach, 5) community participation, and 6) the importance of networking. A group of social work women organizers developed a feminist conceptual organizing model (Joseph et al., 1991). The framework underscores the importance of feminist organizing to address issues that affect women while also empowering them. It affirms values that are tradition­ ally ascribed to the profession of social work but also goes beyond these values to include the belief in the idea that the personal is political and an emphasis on cooperation over competition. The approach also stresses the idea that process should be equally as important as outcomes. A processoriented approach requires the creation of an emotionally safe environment that empowers people and nurtures leadership skills. In addition, the model emphasizes consciousness-raising, consensus building, and collective problem-solving. All of these values and practices are integral to a transformative approach to organizing. Given the various contributions to feminist organizing, here are some of the most important insights, articulating five defining features of feminist organizing: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Concern with power, oppression, and pathways to liberation Nonhierarchical and/or consensus-oriented decision making Valuing of group process Coalition building and concern beyond single-issue organizing Commitment to collective and individual healing from oppression

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These features are dependent on one another for their meaningfulness and actualization. For example, group process is a method that helps organizers see how power relationships can affect women’s everyday experiences (Weil, 1995) as well as to learn how oppression manifests somati­ cally and emotionally thus requiring attention to individual and collective healing in organizational structures and culture (Pyles, 2018). One of the primary features of feminist organizing is to inquire into the root causes of women’s inequity and other forms of oppression. This practice of critical inquiry enables women to see how issues, such as battering and poverty, are clearly con­ nected, as well as to reflect on how they might have internalized such oppressions. Thus, in the last 15 years, engagement in coalition work that focuses on poverty, welfare policies, housing, financial empowerment, and other aspects of economic justice has been a natural step for organ­ izers working on gender-based violence issues. In a discussion of contemporary university antisexual assault organizing, Martell and Avitabile (1998) identify the tensions between feminist organizing and the realities of working to achieve utilitarian goals. In a study of campus organizers who were attempting to employ feminist organ­ izing models, the organizers found some aspects of feminist organizing theory difficult to apply. Martell and Avitabile (1998) recount one particular example: They wanted to bring a gender lens to the analysis of sexual assault, but this perspective raised the question of whether sexism was the root cause of all forms of social oppression against women. Although the organizers and a number of group members supported this perspective, it became clear that the group was split on the causes of sexual assault. Deciding that this debate was counterproductive, the organizers decided to abandon it. Instead, they focused on reaching agreements on particular goals and tasks.This tactic allowed the group to accomplish goals that resulted in group solidarity and pride and progress in changing institutional policies. However, the lack of agreement on causality resulted in the disintegration of the group when this question came under fire as a result of the backlash movement. (p. 407) The authors later identify that, in hindsight, it would have been better not to abandon the issue and further seek understanding among the group. At any rate, the case illustrates the point that feminist organizing, like other consciousness-raising approaches, is often in conflict with the reali­ ties of achieving particular goals. Feminist organizers, like many organizers, often must choose utilitarian tactics to achieve needed reforms for communities in crisis.

Truth-Telling, Reconciliation, and Restoration Naomi Klein (2007) argued in her book The Shock Doctrine that one of the harmful practices of capitalism has been the tendency of corporations and government partners to take advantage of people during a crisis, such as war, terrorist attacks, or natural disasters what has been referred to as disaster capitalism. When people are in a state of shock, experiencing a kind of vertigo because of a crisis, they are particularly vulnerable to being taken advantage of. This may happen through the enactment of policies that restrict freedoms or that commandeer public and private property for the gain of the private sector. The economist Milton Friedman was a proponent of this approach and argued that crisis is the time to push through painful policies all at once (Klein, 2007). Examples might be the Patriot Act, which was implemented after 9/11, or the suspension

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of the Davis–Bacon Act (an act that protects workers on publicly funded projects) in the Gulf Coast after Katrina (later reinstated). Klein (2018) also wrote about how Hurricane Maria in 2017 in Puerto Rico set off a wave of shock doctrines within a pre-existing colonial relationship between the U.S. and Puerto Rico, including the imposition of an external Financial Oversight and Management Board that would make decisions for local people. Reeling from the devastation, these shock doctrines included the abandonment of physical and social infrastructure, school clo­ sures, and forced privatization of health and social services. Communities that are resistant to such practices, indeed what Klein calls “shock resistant,” are ones, she says, that have “metabolized” histories of oppression, such that new attempts at mar­ ginalization are more easily resisted. She argues for processes that entail a collective reckoning with the past that can help communities build resilience and strengthen their capacities to organ­ ize themselves. In order to move forward and create positive social change in communities, it is often necessary to face painful realities, including historical trauma that, left unaddressed, may be perpetuating social injustice. Such mechanisms might manifest as a truth commission, tribunal, or any group process that promotes communities coming to terms with collective histories, such as restorative justice and testimonios. These processes may entail a detailing of wrongdoings, an acknowledgment of injustice by perpetrators, forgiveness by victims, and other specific ways that perpetrators could be held accountable for their actions, such as by means of reparations. Through such mechanisms, communities are better able to be rooted in their own histories, building resist­ ance to future oppressive events or policies that can surface. This kind of power in truth makes people more likely to recognize such practices in the future and to come from a more balanced and whole place to do social justice work. One example of such approaches is restorative justice, which engages a community of stake­ holders in a participatory process through dialogue about pain and suffering allowing space for real healing to transpire. Restorative justice is a paradigm shift in the victim-offender retribu­ tive justice system approach, focusing instead on repairing the harm caused, mutual listening and learning, and strengthening community. While restorative justice has its roots in indigenous ways of relating, its more recent history in schools, criminal justice systems, communities and other settings is best understood within the context of racist neoliberal policies and “tough on crime” retributive justice approaches which focus on punishment and humiliation. Young people of color in public schools who are given suspensions for acting out in class are at much greater risk for later involvement in the criminal justice system; thus creating a culture of care within schools can interrupt such a process (Cavanaugh, DeCarolo, Putnam & Prinzing, 2018). When there is an opportunity to address underlying racial histories and traumas, transformation of systems and people becomes possible. Davis (2019) writes: Our nation was born in the horrific traumas of genocide and slavery. Because we have neither fully acknowledged nor reckoned with these twin traumas, much less worked to heal them, they perpetually reenact themselves transgenerationally.We who dedicate our lives to social change have a chance to succeed only if we also devote ourselves to individual and collective healing. (pp. 2-3) Through inclusive circles, participants attend to feelings, causes, harms, and diversity, therein taking care of each other’s humanity and creating the possibility for healing. Another example is known as testimonio (Mora, 2015), an indigenous methodology that high­ lights stories from those who are most marginalized offering a first-hand account to those outside

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of the situation. Testimonio, rooted in Latin American and feminist liberation traditions, is a Spanish word that means “witness account” and is a form of narrative or story-telling of a person who has experienced marginalization and is thought to be representative of a larger collective narrative of a community. It may take the form of a speech, written article, or spoken word account wherein the speaker breaks silences around a difficult topic. The speaker relives the expe­ riences for an audience who is engaged and willing to act at the same time the speaker becomes an empowered survivor (Reyes & Rodriguez, 2012). The stories of women of color in This Bridge Called my Back (Moraga & Anzaldúa, 2015), first published in the early 1980s, is an example of such a testimonio while a more recent one was articulated by DREAM Act youth whose stories are depicted in Underground Undergrads: UCLA Undocumented Immigrant Students Speak Out (Madera, Wong, Monroe, Rivera–Salgado, & Mathay, 2008). Many groups, in a variety of contexts and concerned with a host of issues, have attempted reconciliation efforts. The Southern Truth and Reconciliation Group was convened in Atlanta, Georgia, to assist communities in the South who are struggling with the ongoing effects of racial violence. Other efforts have been carried out across the globe in South Africa, Australia, and Rwanda. In post-Katrina New Orleans, the Southern Institute for Education and Research, the Tulane Institute for the Study of Race and Poverty, and the People’s Hurricane Relief Fund worked to address the underlying historical and current issues of racism that manifested during Katrina, the subsequent flooding of the city, and the recovery and rebuilding period. The practices of these groups represent unique social change strategies that can enhance understanding of the effects of past policies and practices on people’s lives, enhance solidarity, and foster empower­ ment for future organizing. The international tribunals on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita resulted from the work of a coali­ tion of local and national organizations, including the People’s Hurricane Relief Fund and Over­ sight Coalition, the U.S. Human Rights Network, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, National Conference of Black Lawyers, and Common Ground Collective. One of the unique elements of this event was the transnational, or global justice, frame, which sought to connect people of Afri­ can descent who have been victims of colonization and slavery for hundreds of years and suffering the effects of the earliest iterations of imperialist globalization. Clear frames were articulated at this tribunal that connected the shared oppression of people of African descent across the globe. Jurists at the tribunal hailing from the United States, Brazil, France, Haiti, Venezuela, South Africa, and other countries listened to the stories/testimony of survivors of the disaster. The tri­ bunal resulted in a petition demanding accountability from the U.S. government for levee failures and human rights violations, as well as the right to resettlement and return. The organization of the tribunal was enhanced because of the communication facility that the technology of globaliza­ tion has offered. Another example of the tribunal approach is the World Courts of Women (WCW), which is a series of hearings and an approach to addressing the everyday violence experienced by women, an opportunity to clarify historical and contemporary injustices. The structures of these courts have been built on the Nuremberg trials and various UN-held trials because they put the people first, before the nation (People’s Movement Assembly Resolution of Action, n.d.). Recently, the WCW held an event to bring awareness to the impact of poverty on women’s lives. One may argue that such reconciliation efforts are not effective in that they are not working toward changing a particular policy or implementing a program. “It’s just a bunch of people sit­ ting around talking and not taking action,” one might be inclined to say. However, reconcilia­ tion approaches are a form of consciousness-raising and serve the purpose of clarifying history,

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and they can foster a greater understanding of social systems, the processes and perpetrators of oppression, as well as the ingenuity of survival and resilience. Moreover, they are essential to heal­ ing justice and transformative justice. Structures such as the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) have been criticized for overemphasizing reconciliation and underemphasizing justice and accountability. The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (Hamber, Maepa, Mofokeng, & van der Merwe, 1998) studied the TRC in South Africa and highlighted concerns and weaknesses. Conducting focus groups with survivors of apartheid, many people viewed the process of rec­ onciliation and truth-telling as a useful step in breaking the silence about the atrocities that hap­ pened over the course of more than 40 years. Victims believed that the process was not effective for many reasons, such as the fact that there were not enough White people who showed up at the tribunals to make it effective and that perpetrators were offered amnesty and were not held accountable for reparations or other forms of justice. It is imperative that any reconciliation practices with the goal of coming to terms with the past or present be thoughtfully planned. Such events can be very painful or retraumatizing to victims; some may still be at risk of being victimized. In addition, if perpetrators or other groups with privilege are involved, it is important that they be fully committed to the process and the safety valves for survivors be built into the process. The short-term and long-term effects of such actions can be evaluated through formal and informal means. The Center for the Preven­ tion of Sexual and Domestic Violence has offered what it considers to be the seven elements of justice-making: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Truth telling—sharing the experience Acknowledging the violation Compassion—to suffer with Protecting the vulnerable from further harm Accountability for the abuser Restitution to the survivor Vindication for the survivor

Organizers can consider these elements as a framework and adapt them in order to create and evaluate reconciliation processes related to a variety of issues. Reconciliation practices potentially offer many lessons learned for organizers doing coalition work (see Chapter 6), practitioners seeking out creative tactics (see Chapter 9), and those actively working to address interlocking oppressions through intersectional practice (see Chapter 11).

REFLECTIONS ON PROGRESSIVE ORGANIZING FRAMEWORKS Transformative approaches to community organizing often begin with the premise that success has as much to do with internal processes, culture, and values of organizations and coalitions as it does with the external wins that define political victory. Organizers who are committed to a transformative approach to change tend to emphasize a complete transformation of society, including the institutions and groups we form, as well as individuals. There is a new genera­ tion of activists interested in grassroots social change and healing justice and the ideas that the

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successful organizations are the ones that are led by those most impacted by oppression who are able to bring their whole selves to their work, be authentic and vulnerable, and allow space for recovery from intersectional oppressions. This requires a relentless focus on challenging a set of practices that contribute to oppressions in society, as well as within the organizations that organizers operate in. Practices such as self-inquiry, conscious communication, and criti­ cal education provide opportunities to explore how experiences, feelings, and thoughts can be pathways to liberation. Feminist and other transformative methods that focus on the dissolu­ tion of power are perhaps more important now than ever as making demands of those in power or even seizing power are perhaps reinforcing the status quo of neoliberal capitalism that is destroying the planet (Izlar, 2019). Groups that are committed to a transformative approach tend to: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Be dedicated to race, class, and gender (and other social categories) analyses Frame social problems and solutions in the words of those most affected by the issues Prefer consensus-oriented and other forms of decolonized decision making Engage in cultural critique Committed to self-inquiry, self-care, and personal transformation as collective, social justice issues Identify with a social movement(s)

Not all groups will exemplify all of these characteristics. For example, a group that regularly talks about race and class in its work may participate in a coalition of organizations that are not focused on addressing such issues; it might engage in such coalition work as a relationship of convenience that can further the passage of a particular law or implement a new program, which reveals that hybrid approaches that combine utilitarian and transformative approaches can be quite powerful. Utilitarian approaches to organizing are concerned with achieving concrete results that can have a positive impact on people’s lives in real time. This approach shares several key features, including the following: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Common ground based on self-interest on a specific issue Hierarchical organizations that emphasize efficiency and winning victories Working within the system to pass legislation or gain funding support for new programs Campaigns that may be short term Issue-oriented coalition work

As previously noted, these two approaches are not always so distinctive. For example, although some groups may set out to do their work from a transformative perspective, reality may force them to adapt their vision to something more pragmatic. Minkler (2005) discusses how public health students who were organizing low-income elderly adults living in single-room occu­ pancy hotels in San Francisco faced this dilemma. She points out that although the project was originally envisioned as a project based on Freire’s techniques “with the idea that student facili­ tators would use this approach when leading hotel-based and discussion groups, regular appli­ cations of problems, for example, often proved impractical when residents were motivated to organize quickly around problems that demanded immediate action” (p. 274). Furthermore, it is not uncommon for practitioners to approach their work from multiple perspectives, utilizing a practical, praxis-oriented approach. Such eclectic approaches in community organizing are

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realistic ways of doing social change work. Minkler (2005) further elaborates on the work of student organizers: Student facilitators used a combination of organizing and educational approaches to help fos­ ter group solidarity and eventually community organizing. A Freirean problem-posing process was used as appropriate, for example, to help residents engage in dialogue about shared prob­ lems and their causes to generate potential action plans. Similarly, facilitators followed Alin­ sky’s admonition to create dissatisfaction with the status quo, channel frustration into concrete action, and help people identify specific, winnable issues. (p. 275) It seems apparent that to effect long-term social change in communities that can unlock the manifestations of interlocking oppressions, some kind of deep and ongoing consciousness-rais­ ing practice is necessary in order to undo the narratives and practices that become embodied in body, heart and mind. It is necessary that such transformative practices be complemented by the utilitarian practices first developed by Alinsky, which seek to achieve concrete ends for people in their communities. Some might argue that the two approaches to community organ­ izing are incompatible with each other, but both approaches are vital for advancing progressive agendas. The next generation of organizers is in an opportune position to identify the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches in order to creatively address the deep-seated issues that plague society. QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION 1. Alinsky emphasized confrontational tactics through which groups of citizens confront power holders with a unified voice. What role does context play in applying this approach? What are the benefits and potential pitfalls of such an approach? 2. What are the benefits and barriers to engaging in consciousness-raising approaches to com­ munity organizing? Consider the personal, cultural, organizational, and policy levels. 3. In what ways are feminist approaches to organizing relevant to issues beyond those that would be considered “women’s issues” or “gender issues”? 4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of attempting reconciliation activities within communities, such as tribunals, racial reconciliation processes, or restorative justice? 5. What are some of the practical realities that groups that use a transformative approach may face today? How can they be responsive to those realities? SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER INQUIRY Books Alinsky, S. (1971). Rules for radicals: A practical primer for realistic radicals. New York, NY: Ran­ dom House. Brown, A. M. (2017). Emergent strategy: Shaping change, changing worlds. Engler, M., & Engler, P. (2016). This is an uprising: How nonviolent revolt is shaping the twentyfirst century.

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Freire, P. (1994). Pedagogy of hope: Reliving pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, NY: Continuum. INCITE (Ed.), The revolution will not be funded: Beyond the non-profit industrial complex (pp. 127–149). Cambridge, MA: South End Press. Taylor, K. Y. (2017). How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective. Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books. Zehr, H. (2015). The little book of restorative justice: Revised and updated. Simon and Schuster.

Web Art for Social Change. https://icasc.ca/

Comeuppance. http://comeuppance.blogspot.com

Community Catalyst. https://www.communitycatalyst.org/resources/tools/copy-of-grassroots/

what-is-grassroots-organizing

Concepts in Intercultural Dialogue. https://centerforinterculturaldialogue.files.wordpress.com/

2015/01/kc45-testimonio.pdf

Momentum. https://www.momentumcommunity.org/

Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed. http://www.ptoweb.org

Septima Clark Learning Center. https://www.highlandercenter.org/our-impact/septima-clark­ learning-center/

REFERENCES alinsky, s. D. (1989). reveille for radicals. new york, ny: Vintage Books.

alinsky, s. D. (1971). rules for radicals: a practical primer for realistic radicals. new york, ny: random House.

Betten, n., austin, m. J., & Fisher, r. (1990). the roots of community organizing, 1917–1939. temple university

Press. Bookchin, m. (1999). anarchism, marxism and the future of the left. oakland, Ca: ak Press. Bookman, a., & morgen, s. (1988). women and the politics of empowerment. Philadelphia, Pa: temple university Press. Boyte, H. C. (1984). Community is possible: repairing america’s roots. new york, ny: Harper & row. Bruno, r. (2004). the Democratic promise: saul alinsky and his legacy. Labor studies Journal, 29(2), 107–108. Cavanaugh, t., DeCarlo, L., Putnam, J., & Prinzing, a. (2018). using restorative justice principles and practices to support a culture of care in new york state schools. restorative justice education, new york, ny: CaBoCes. CLasP. (2020). Center for law and social policy. retrieved from https://www.clasp.org Community Catalyst. (2019). what is grassroots organizing? retrieved october 9, 2019, from Community Catalyst website: https://www.communitycatalyst.org/resources/tools/copy-of-grassroots/what-is-grassroots-organizing Davis, F. e. (2019). the little book of race and restorative justice: Black lives, healing, and us social transforma­ tion. simon and schuster.

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FOUNDATIONS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING Dreier, P. (2019, April 12). The Highlander center won’t let an arsonist extinguish its flame of justice. Retrieved October 9, 2019, from The American Prospect website: https://prospect.org/api/content/5fa8d8be-b8a3-50c19a3c-e6775bc44462/ Engler, M., & Engler, P. (2016). This is an uprising: How nonviolent revolt is shaping the twenty-first century. New York, NY: Bold Type Books. Ferree, M. M., & Hess, B. B. (2000). Controversy and coalition: The new feminist movement across three decades of change. New York, NY: Routledge. Finks, P. D. (1984). The radical vision of Saul Alinsky. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press. Fisher, R. (1994). This is an uprising: How nonviolent revolt is shaping the twenty-first century let the people decide: Neighborhood organizing in America. Twayne Pub. Foucault, M. (1980). This is an uprising: How nonviolent revolt is shaping the twenty-first century Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings, 1972–1977. Vintage. Freire, P. (1994). The adult literacy process as cultural action for freedom. Language and Literacy in Social Practice: A Reader, 252. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Publishing Group. Freire, P. (2018). Pedagogy of the oppressed (4th ed.). New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic Gadotti, M. (1994). Reading Paulo Freire: His life and work. Albany, NY: Suny Press. Gittell, M., Ortega-Bustamante, I., & Steffy, T. (2000). Social capital and social change: Women’s community activism. Urban Affairs Review, 36(2), 123–147. Hamber, B., Maepa, T., Mofokeng, T., & van der Merwe, H. (1998). The Khulumani Support Group (1998). Submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Survivor’s perceptions of the TRC and suggestions for the final report. The report compiled by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation and the Khulumani Support Group. Izlar, J. (2019). The case for prefigurative feminist organizing. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 30(1), 1–10. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10428232.2019.1575089. Joseph, B., Lob, S., McLaughlin, P., Mizrahi, T., Peterson, J., Rosenthal, B., & Sugarman, F. (1991). A framework for feminist organizing: Values, goals, methods, strategies, and roles. New York: Education Center for Community Organizing. Retrieved September 7, 2006. Kivel, P. (2007). Social service or social change? In INCITE (Ed.), The revolution will not be funded: Beyond the non-profit industrial complex (pp. 127–149). Cambridge, MA: South End Press. Klein, N. (2007). The shock doctrine: The rise of disaster capitalism. New York, NY: Picador. Macmillan. Klein, N. (2018). The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico takes on the disaster capitalists. Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books. Ledwith, M. (2016). Community development in action: Putting Freire into practice. Bristol, UK: Policy Press. Lorde, A. (1981). The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. In C. Moraga, & G. Anzaldua (Eds.), This bridge called my back: Writings by radical women of color (pp. 98–101). Watertown, MA: Persephone Press. Madera, G., Wong, K., Monroe, J., Rivera-Salgado, G., & Mathay, A. A. (2008). Underground undergrads: UCLA undocumented immigrant students speak out. Los Angeles: UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education. Martell, D., & Avitabile, N. E. (1998). Feminist community organizing on a college campus. Affilia, 13(4), 393–410. Minkler, M. (2005). Community-based research partnerships: Challenges and opportunities. Journal of Urban Health, 82(2), ii3–ii12.

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Community Organizing Frameworks Momentum. (2016). Momentum. Retrieved October 9, 2019, from Momentum website: https://www.momentumcommunity. org Mondros, J. B., & Wilson, S. (1994). Organizing for power and empowerment. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Mora, J. C. B. (2015). Historia y memoria: una discusión historiográfica. Pensar Historia, (5). Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 1732 (U.S. 2015). Moraga, C., & Anzaldúa, G. (Eds.) (2015). This bridge called my back: Writings by radical women of color. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. People’s Movement Assembly Resolution of Action. (n.d.). Introduction on the World Court of Women. Retrieved from https://worldcourtsofwomen.wordpress.com/test-test/what-are-the-world-courts-of-women/ Peters, J. M., & Bell, B. (1989). Horton of Highlander. In Highlander Research and Education Center: An approach to education, edited by: J. M. Peters, & B. Bell (pp. 34–64). New Market, TN: Highlander Research and Education Center. Piven, F. F. & Cloward, R. A. (2000). Why Americans still don’t vote and why politicians want it that way (Vol. 8). Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Pyles, L. (2018). Healing justice: Holistic self-care for change makers. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Reyes, K. B., & Curry Rodríguez, J. E. (2012). Testimonio: Origins, terms, and resources. Equity & Excellence in Education, 45(3), 525–538. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.698571 Ross, M. G. (1967). Community organization: Theory, principles, and practice. New York, NY: Harper and Row Publishers. Rothman, J. (2008). Multimodes of intervention at the macro level. Journal of Community Practice, 15(4), 11–40. Rothman, J., Erlich, J. L., & Tropman, J. E. (2001). Strategies of community intervention. Itsaca, IL: FE Peacock Publisher. Schechter, S. (1982). Women and male violence: The visions and struggles of the battered women’s movement. Cambridge, MA: South End Press. Septima Clark Learning Center. (2019, March 2). Zilphia Horton + The Septima Clark learning Center [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=237&v=XnkI8Kknfk4 Shor, I. (1993). Education is politics: Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy. In Paulo Freire: A critical encounter, edited by: P. McLaren, & P. Leonard, (pp. 25−35). London, UK: Routledge. Taylor, K. Y. (2017). How we get free: Black feminism and the Combahee River collective. Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books. Walker, M. B. (2002). Philosophy and the maternal body: Reading silence. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. Warren, M. R. (2001). Community building and political renewal. In Dry bones rattling: Community building to revitalize American democracy (pp. 15–39). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Williams, S. (2019). Zilphia Horton + The Septima Clark Learning Center. Retrieved from https://www.youtube. com/watch?time_continue=237&v=XnkI8Kknfk4

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Part II Tools for Community Organizing

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Chapter 6

Organizing People Mississippi civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer once said that “there is one thing you have got to learn about our movement. Three people are better than no people.” This is an unam­ biguous response to the ubiquitous frustration of community organizers, namely there never seems to be enough people to do the work that needs to be done. It can sometimes feel for organizers like people are too busy or do not care, and if there were just more people who were willing to become active, then the overwhelming task of social change would be possi­ ble. However, Hamer’s point is that three people are better than two, or one, or none. While the aspiration of organizers is to enlarge the circle of people who participate in the struggle for social change, that is, to “build the base” (Fisher, 1994; Staples, 2016), the quality of relation­ ships is an equally important determinant of success and longevity than the quantity. The base is comprised of people who are most impacted by injustice and thus have the most investment and interest in the outcome of organizing work. For the purpose of this book, I also refer to the base as constituents and impacted people. They are the people along with their family and friends, who are experiencing the brunt of neoliberal policy-making and other forms of struc­ tural oppression. It is essential that they are on the frontlines of decision-making processes in social change work. The base carries the struggle on over time, builds organizational or move­ ment capacity and sustainability, and passes on critical knowledge of the values and practices of organizations. When determining who the base is for a particular issue or campaign, it is useful to think of all the people who are affected by an issue or who may be key players in facilitating change—people who live in a neighborhood that has been impacted by disinvestment, people receiving public or social services, working-class people, low-income parents, youth, people with disabilities, and older adults, to name a few. This is a vastly different orientation to the way that most interven­ tions happen wherein the provision of services creates a dichotomy between helper and helped or between a professional and client. This is not to say that the help of other actors is not enlisted, including professional organizers. But, those people who are most affected by an issue or issues are the base and, therefore, the leaders.

ORGANIZING CONSTITUENCIES AND COALITIONS Whether one is talking about organizing individuals affected by an issue and bringing them into an organization or collective of people, or building a formal, broad-based coalition with other organizations, it is useful to consider some of the core values and aspirations of organizing. These guideposts—empowerment, accountability, relationship, and transformation—can serve as a moral compass for community organizers.

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Empowerment Empowerment is a state of awareness and felt sense of agency leading to action that is realized alongside other people through political education and action. Unfortunately, empowerment is a term that has been co-opted and commodified by neoliberal and professionalized discourses that have fixated on individualized notions of empowerment, focusing more on physical, emotional or economic well-being achieved through personal effort, and divorced from the collective and political roots of the term. The popular usage of the term emphasizes bootstrapism; human capi­ tal over social capital; the physical strength of an individual (perhaps achieved through extreme discipline); overcoming “victimhood”; and an overall fixation on individual economic well-being, Staples (2016) has noted that empowerment has been “overused and abused by a wide variety of institutions—often in a cynical, self-serving manner” (p. 260). Gutierrez and Lewis (2012) suggest an empowerment framework in organizing that stresses education, participation, and capacity building. Consciousness-raising through popular education is crucial to empowerment. As Freire and other popular educators have taught, creating circles or other spaces where people can talk about their lived experiences is crucial for leveraging concerns and strengths into action, whether the action is becoming a more active member of an organiza­ tion, turning people out for direct action, or designing fliers to distribute to the community. A positive feedback loop is created when organizers can help people connect with their personal and collective power and then unleashed by working with others to effect change. Political education that creates space for people to name the issues that impact them, make connections to their own lives, and articulate agendas paves the way to empowerment. The relational meeting, which is discussed in this chapter, is a cornerstone for engaging people and helping them tap into power. The more meaningfully engaged that people—those who are most affected by the issues—are in social change processes, the more likely they are to feel empowered. If the tendency is to do something for people or on behalf of people, then such service or advocacy models are not likely to empower or enfranchise oppressed people over time, even though the immediate outcome may appear positive. Saul Alinsky (1971) advocated that professional organizers should actually strive toward organizing themselves out of a job. By standing in solidarity “with” people rather than “for” them, what the Zapatistas called “leading by obeying,” the needs of people who are most margin­ alized are centered. For example, a state-level labor policy may get changed due to the efforts of advocates working on behalf of workers, but what if the workers who are most affected by it have not been mobilized? These workers are not prepared for the next time that a policy that affects them needs to be changed; they are, in fact, dependent on the possibility that the advocate will be there to help them in the future. What if the funding for that advocate has run out? What if the advocate has moved on to another issue? The notion of being “a voice for the voiceless” may come from a legitimate desire to help dis­ enfranchised people, but if there is an opportunity to organize people who are marginalized or to work in solidarity with them, then sustainable change is within closer reach. Moreover, mar­ ginalized people most affected by issues always have a greater understanding of their own needs and, ultimately, what agenda to pursue and what strategies and tactics to use to meet those needs. According to one organizer I met, who was working in post-Katrina New Orleans, They’re upset about an issue, and we’re going to do something, but it’s not going to be [me] coming in like Captain America or something and saving the day. That’s not what’s going to

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happen here because that would disempower the person and that would disempower people in that community.Then I have the power to change and you just have the power to sit back and go, “She will fix it.”That’s nothing. To be sure, empowerment is not an unambiguous concept. Insofar that the concept even points to anything real at all, it most certainly rests on a nuanced continuum. On one side of the continuum is a strong and engaged rank and file, that is, a base that is leading the way, and on the other end is a legion of paid staff members who create, implement, and evaluate the agenda. Most organizing happens somewhere along the continuum. Understanding this continuum is vital; being honest and transparent about where the work stands on the continuum requires ongoing self-awareness and group inquiry. Empowerment is intimately connected to these other guideposts—account­ ability, relationship, and transformation. Accountability In community organizing, accountability means being able to answer to constituent communi­ ties and represent the needs of the most vulnerable members of society. But, one can think about accountability in organizing and change work in even more ways; accountability to impacted people, holding people in power accountable, accountability to each other, and accountability to oneself. In terms of accountability to impacted people, the premise is that the more actively involved the base is in social change work, especially in leadership positions, the more accountability there is to their basic concerns. In fields, such as community/social development, planning, humanitarianism, and others that utilize participatory approaches to research or practice, the concept of participation itself is flagged and problematized (Cornwall, 2011; Cueto et al., 2015; Hickey & Mohan, 2004; Bozlak, Caringi, Jurkowski, Lawson, & Pyles, 2015; Paul, 1987). The quality of participation by impacted people is always structurated, a function of how power is held and reproduced and reflective of the social location of actors, such as their race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, and ability. Accountability is especially important when change agents are engaged in multi-issue organ­ izing or working in coalition with diverse groups representing a variety of constituencies and actors. This is important as we think about a transformative view of organizing such that, for example, Latinx women may find that not only do they need to be accountable to other Latinx women but also accountable to Black women and vice versa (Mann, 2011). In addition, if one is working with a diverse group of impacted people to influence mental health policy reform and the majority of group members attempting to work on the issue are mental health professionals and other advocates, accountability to the impacted group is less likely. When the majority of coalition members is current or former mental health consumers, accountability to the con­ stituency is more possible. That being said, it is also appropriate to challenge such a dichotomy, acknowledging that some mental health professionals may certainly be in mental health recov­ ery themselves. In the case of service provision in the fields of substance abuse recovery and domestic violence, for example, there was a time when actually having experience with the issues, as opposed to professional credentials, was much more valued and considered central to the ability to do the work well. There is much that organizers can learn from peer support movements which value lived wisdom through collective care (Butcher, Davies, & Gray, 2017; Marill, 2019).

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Sometimes organizers may find themselves in situations where they feel accountable to multi­ ple parties, beyond just impacted communities. For example, some people working in nonprofits may feel beholden to boards of directors or funders as much as to their constituency. This can especially be the case when funded social services are at play. Activist Paul Kivel (2007) offers several questions for social service organizations to consider when thinking about accountability to grassroots communities: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Who supervises your work? Are you involved in community-based social justice struggles? Is political struggle part of the work you do? Are you in a contentious relationship with those in power? Are you sharing access to power and resources with those on the frontlines of the struggle? Do you help people come together?

Community organizing requires groups to continually pose such critical inquiries about account­ ability and challenge each other’s blind spots. Because the field, including public policies and other contextual factors, is constantly changing, groups can never be satisfied that the questions around accountability have been answered. One of the main activities of organizers is to hold powerholders accountable to the people. In order to uphold democracy and its values, elected officials and other powerholders should be accountable to impacted people, citizens, taxpayers, etc. Accountability sessions are opportuni­ ties to hold an elected official, elites, or other powerholders accountable for their actions. While this may be done behind closed doors, it may be done in a public setting such that the larger the audience, the better. Examples include town hall or other community sessions that call out an official who is either present or not. Other ways may be through direct actions such as showing up in a public space where decisions are made and making demands of decision makers, or using the media and social media such as letters to the editor that attempt to hold a decision maker’s feet to the fire on a specific policy point or issue. Still another dimension of accountability is the basic notion that we do what we say we are going to do. Block (2009) discusses accountability and commitment and states: “accountability is the willingness to care for the well-being of the whole; commitment is the willingness to make a promise with no expectation of return” (p. 71). Staples (2016) notes that organizations must work to create a “culture of accountability” (p. 203). For example, if an organizer says that they are going to have 10 one-on-one meetings, then they need to report back to an individual or group and show that they have done that. Or, if they fail to do this, they have the opportunity to discuss any obstacles or lessons learned along the way, which is essential for good praxis anyway. We stay accountable to each other by following through with commitments to call someone back, meet up with them, and generally do the right thing. All of this accountability work must be balanced with a sense of accountability to ourselves—to our own values and well-being. This kind of accountability includes values alignment such that our discourses, organizational culture and actions align with our core values, such as service, social justice and human dignity. Within the transformative practice framework, this book has articulated healing justice as a foundational principle, so that accountability within this context means that both individually and collectively we do not forget to apply our values to ourselves and recognize our own limits. We create organizational spaces that help us stay connected to and in relationship with our bodies, minds, and spirits.

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Relationship No matter what kind of organizing framework that an organization operates from, establishing relationships means that we develop human connections and continue to nurture these connec­ tions over time. According to activist Carlton Turner, a cultural organizer, Relationships.You have to have relationships with the people that you’re trying to organize. If you don’t, people always see you as a stranger. One of the big things that was going on dur­ ing the Civil Rights years in Mississippi early on was that people initially looked at the SNCC [Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee] organizers as outsiders.The White population definitely looked at them as outside agitators. But what the SNCC people did was they came in and became infused in the community.The Civil Rights movement didn’t happen in a ballroom. This was the epitome of grassroots.You’re talking about people who went in and lived in com­ munities for six, seven months.They didn’t have a per diem.They didn’t have any housing.They lived with whoever was willing to put them up.They ate whatever someone was willing to cook for them.They didn’t have any transportation.They rolled around with whoever was willing to drive them around. (Szakos & Szakos, 2007, p. 98.) This quotation gives voice to the realities of social change work and the lengths that people are often willing to go to develop relationships. Similarly, this was the purpose of residential liv­ ing with poor families in settlement houses in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, along with educating and sharing resources. Though power differentials existed and intentions always needed interrogation, the purpose of these efforts was ultimately about building solidarity. Although it may not always be necessary to go to such lengths, organizers often underestimate the time and energy that it takes to build these relationships with people. To “meet people where they are” has always been a mantra for organizers, social workers and the like. This can apply to any level of organizing—organizing neighborhood people, social ser­ vices consumers, or organizing people in coalitions. In order to meet people where they are, one obviously has to understand where indeed they are. The first step certainly demands the develop­ ment of the skill of conscious listening, listening that is not focused on what you are going to say next but on holding space for people to speak their truths. It is not that this listening does not have an agenda, though, as it is coupled with inquiry and momentum toward action. This kind of listening may be different from the kind of listening that you may do with people who are already part of your organization or movement, wherein there may be a goal of just supporting someone or might involve having a conversation about a difficult or complex issue related to the daily lived experiences of people holding intersectional identities. One labor organizer put the relationship in organizing in this way: One of the things about organizers is that they have to meet people where they are.They don’t necessarily want to leave them there, but they have to be able to accept people where they are, at least for the most part, and not to be terribly judgmental. (Szakos & Szakos, 2007, p. 98) Although listening is challenging, it is virtually impossible when the organizers think they have all the right answers. Unfortunately, some organizers live by the modus operandi of pounding the

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“right” answers into people’s heads. This kind of attitude can result in a more transactional kind of organizing about building numbers, which is not about building relationships. Community practitioners, such as social workers, have discussed extensively on the nature of relationships and partnerships between practitioners and constituents. Drawing from this wis­ dom can be useful to organizers. Miley, O’Melia, and DuBois (2013) identify several quali­ ties of such relationships that are easily adaptable to the organizing context. These qualities include genuineness, acceptance and respect, trustworthiness, empathy, cultural sensitivity, and purposefulness. Genuineness is the quality of “being real,” ethical, spontaneous, and authentic. Displaying such behavior is important when having an organizing conversation with a vulnerable constituent whose issues are palpable and whose time is valuable. Acceptance and respect are qualities that are exemplified through the actions of organizers. These actions include engaging with “unconditional positive regard,” listening, and identifying strengths. Although organizers, unlike counselors or therapists, are often charged with the task of agitating constituents to the point where they want to do something about the problems in their communities, this can still be done in a way that is respectful and trauma-informed. Drawing from the insights of restorative justice and the practices of creating restorative communities, Block (2009) notes how developing a presence with others and being in the conversation as a community reveals a pathway that can transform communities. Trustworthiness, like accountability and commitment, is another important quality to nurture between an organizer and a constituent. Trust can be built over time; though trust is a two-way street, organizers can exemplify qualities, such as reliability and credibility, which can enhance long-term trust-building—showing up on time, following through with promises, supporting positions with facts. Empathy is also an important quality to embody. Empathy is the accurate per­ ception of another’s feelings and experiences (Gair, 2013). Listening to the stories of underpaid workers or the parents of children at a low-performing school and validating their perspectives are examples of empathic listening. Rather than pity or sympathy, empathy means to suffer with, and it is a conduit not only for building relationship but for fostering empowerment. To be sure, though, there are limits to empathy; we can only understand a person’s experience to a certain extent; we can never live inside their skin. Cultural sensitivity, or perhaps better put, cultural humility, is especially valuable when working in a diverse, globalizing world. When relating with people of different race/ethnici­ ties, genders, religions, sexual orientations, abilities, and countries of origin, it is essential that organizers develop the humility that will allow them to remain attuned to cultural differences and to take an attitude of respect and “not knowing” when appropriate. Furthermore, organ­ izers seek to understand the systemic barriers that marginalize people from being viewed as whole human beings by the dominant system, so while there may not be equality in the rela­ tionship, but organizers can work on building equitable and even transformative relationships. Finally, purposefulness means that the relationship has a conscious goal to it. The goal of the relationship is to seek common ground and to invite the person into a values-based community, movement, campaign, action, or organization. That being said, joining may not be a good idea for some people, or in their best interests, or good for their well-being. An organizer should always be sensitive to this. Whether organizing an individual in a one-on-one situation or building the strength of a group of constituents, it should be clear that relationships remain central. Building relationships neces­ sitates seeking common ground among people with diverse experiences and visions. One exam­ ple that this common ground can be established on is through the human and cultural practice

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of sharing food. Whether it is sharing a cup of coffee or a meal that everyone contributes to, food is a way to bring communities together. Providing food can be a particularly good way to engage low-income people, who may be struggling to make ends meet. In Troy, New York, Oakwood Community Center has a monthly offering called “The Soul Café.” This is a “pay-what-you-can” community meal put together by volunteers often using “culled” produce from supermarkets and farms that would otherwise be thrown away. Multiple objectives around relationship and commu­ nity building are achieved as local neighbors that surround the community center, volunteers, and others intermingle and share in this basic human experience. Whether they are college students or people who are experiencing homelessness, providing food in a space that people are comfortable with can be a good strategy for getting them engaged in issues that have relevance to their lives. It is particularly important to keep in mind that the food served be culturally appropriate and sensi­ tive to diverse dietary needs, as well as the health of the planet. Transformation Doing social change work means that one continually pays attention to the way that one does one’s work, that one does not replicate injustices in the course of trying to achieve justice. Although nobody wants to perpetuate oppression, this actually turns out to be a tall order. We have a lot of blind spots and organizations unconsciously adopt those blind spots as part of their structure, culture, and activities. Sexism in the civil rights movement, racism in the labor move­ ment, homophobia in the women’s movement—this has been an unfortunate part of the legacy of community organizing. The reality is that organizers, even though they are a subculture of society, are all members of a larger society that tends to perpetuate such “isms.” Thus, it is not surprising that organizers replicate these oppressions in their organizing practices and strategies. What makes organizers who are committed to transformation unique, however, is the fact that they are interested in understanding their own inner worlds and how they interface with others. Through a combination of healing and accountability, it is possible to transform oppression such that the work results in more just and whole practices, organizations, campaigns, communities, and people. One of the greatest pitfalls in organizing work is to think of those with power as “the enemy” or “the other.” Many groups teach their organizers to think this way. I have often thought of politi­ cians, corporate executives, or state-level administrators or other gatekeepers in this way. These divisions and dichotomies can have the consequence of creating hierarchies of “good and bad” or “superior and less than,” which is exactly what social change work seeks to redress. But I think this approach may not be so helpful if we break it down both philosophically and practically. A commitment to transformation requires us to cut through such social constructions that might essentialize people in any way. A commitment to transformation means that we stay willing and open to the fact that commu­ nity organizing and social movement work will and should change us. Augusto Boal, the founder of the Theater of the Oppressed, which is transformation-oriented participatory theater, believed in undoing the internalization of oppressive forces which he referred to as “the cop in the heart” (Boal & Epstein, 1990; Mann, 2011). Whether it is through an intentional healing justice practice, such as theater, generative somatics (Zimmerman & Quiroz, 2015), or meditation, or by way of the work itself through direct actions and conversations in communities and organizations, per­ sonal, interpersonal, and structural transformation are interconnected.

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ORGANIZING INDIVIDUALS Labor organizer Cesar Chavez (2008) once said, “You have to convert people one person at a time; time after time, … the concept is so simple that most of us miss it” (p. 32). For a short time, in the early 1990s, I worked as a canvasser for an environmental organization. This meant that I went door-knocking, one of the most challenging tasks of community organizing work. Each day, our coordinator would give us a map of the neighborhood to canvass and drop us off for a few hours in the evenings or on the weekends. Our goal was to raise people’s awareness of environmental issues and get people involved in the organization. More specifically, we hoped to get people to become members of the organization, which included signing up and commit­ ting money on the spot. It did not take long to realize that many people were not interested in talking about the environment to someone standing on their doorstep. They often said they were busy doing other things. My favorite excuse was—“Sorry, I’ve got to watch The Wheel” (i.e. Wheel of Fortune). Others had firm beliefs that the rights of corporations outweighed those of the environment and basically were not interested in what I had to say. It could be incredibly frustrating work. I had to hold unyieldingly to my belief that talking about the nearest nuclear power plant and how it could affect their children was really important. I firmly believed that having these critical conversations in neighborhoods was a great way to do this. Some people invited me in and really wanted to talk about the issues in depth, offering me water on a hot day and engaging in deep conversations that would sustain me for weeks. It seemed to be the best way to really connect with people about issues—better than a flyer, a newspaper editorial, or today, a social media post, ever could. When people had the visceral experience of engaging with a person, they might even remember me as a person and the way they felt when having the conversation. I have had similar experiences when doing union organizing in higher education. The excuses always seem to be the same—too busy to get involved, afraid they will get in trouble and lose their job, and feeling like getting involved would not improve the situation anyway. I have had to learn how to respond to all of these excuses. Oftentimes, the best way to respond has been to reply with a question back to them. Organizers have long talked about the importance of getting a potential member or leader “agitated.” This Socratic way of engaging in dialogue is often effective because the answers came from within the person and thus they have ownership of the answers. For those who said they were too busy, I would ask them if they thought that they could find 30 minutes or an hour a week to make phone calls or meet with people. Many people agreed that they could find such a small amount of time in their schedule. For those who thought they could lose their job, I asked them if they had ever actually known anyone who had lost their job for being part of a union. Not many people did. I had to help them deconstruct some of their own stories about the situa­ tion and, in some cases, help them break down their own fears. Sociologist Floyd Hunter (1953) identified many years ago that “fear, pessimism, and silence are three elements in the behavior of individuals with which any community organizer … must deal” (p. 228). It should also be noted though that, in some situations, it really may not be safe for someone to get involved or to join a union; some workers have had experiences where they have been retaliated against or lost their jobs or even worse for their organizing activities, even though there are laws that in theory protect people from such retaliatory actions. People of color, undoc­ umented immigrants, LGBTQ people, and other marginalized individuals tend to be and feel more at risk. Thus, it is important to honor people’s perceptions and experiences and to help them think through their own risks and benefits when determining if they want to be a part of

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an effort or organization. Letting them know about victories the organization has achieved as a group in solidarity or reminding them that there can be power and safety in numbers are good antidotes to these concerns. Ultimately, achieving justice—for example, securing a union con­ tract and getting better pay and benefits—is always the best antidote.

THE RELATIONAL MEETING According to Ed Chambers (2018), a disciple of Alinsky and a long-time leader in the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), the most basic ritual of organizing is the “relational meeting.” A rela­ tional meeting is a one-on-one meeting that serves the purpose of bringing into the public sphere those issues that are often only talked about in private, if at all; through dialogue, organiz­ ers seek to find out what a person is thinking and feeling about an issue and to identify self-interest and shared values in order to engage in action. Posing questions such as “Why do you say that?” or “What does it mean to you?” can be an efficacious in heightening awareness and building rela­ tionships with people who are potential allies or leaders. The point is to listen for stories that are meaningful to people or their family; perhaps it’s a story about immigration or about education or about recovery or redemption. Relational meetings are also important points in time when one can begin talking about an organization’s framework for thinking about an issue. However, it is not a time for ideological ranting on the part of the organizer, nor is it a time to find people who share your views or will follow the party line. Rather than pressuring people, Chambers believes that the relational meeting must also communicate to the constituent that the “agenda has some fluidity, that its tone or strategy might be altered, that newcomers are expected to bring some­ thing to the group’s agenda” (p. 44). According to Chambers (2018), the relational meeting has some of the following components: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Develops a public relationship Centers on the spirit and values of the other person Requires special focus beyond an ordinary conversation Entails stirring up the depths of the other Obliges a certain amount of vulnerability on both sides Bridges the barriers of race, religion, class, gender, and politics Is an art form that takes unique skills and time to develop

Relational meetings can take place inside people’s homes, on their front porch, at a public library, coffee shop, or in any number of places. It is important to remember that when a good relational meeting occurs, two people connect in a way that transcends ordinary, everyday talk. Both have the opportunity to pause and reflect on their personal experience regarding the tension between the world as it is and the world as it should be. And at that moment, a new public relationship may be born, through which both will gain the power to be truer to their best selves, to live more effectively and creatively in between the two worlds. (Chambers, 2018, p. 45) Finally, the organizer should take notes after every relational meeting; these notes should be guided by questions, such as “Does this person have grief, anger, passion, or vision about the

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issues?” “What strengths would they bring to an organization?” “Who else is this person connected to?” and “What is the best way to follow up with this person?” (Chambers, 2018). Good praxis asks us to engage in reflection with a colleague about what worked and what did not, helping us to strengthen our practice, build self-awareness and grow as a person and organizer.

ORGANIZING AS LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Unfortunately, imperialist-white supremacist-capitalist patriarchy presents and models a form of leadership that is very different from what transformative community organizers attempt to embody. Status quo leadership means leaders are privileged people “at the top” with a rare or spe­ cial set of skills. An alternative view is that of “relational leadership” wherein “we can stop looking for leadership as though it were scarce or lost” (Block, 2009, p. 86) but rather to look around and see that leaders are all around us. Leaders are people who “embrace their own humanity” and cre­ ate conditions for and experiences of civic engagement such that “relatedness, accountability, and commitment are every moment available, experienced, and demonstrated” (Block, 2009, p. 86). Ernesto Cortes, Jr., a leader of the group Communities Organized for Public Service (COPS), believes that rather than viewing leaders as people who speak to large crowds or have some kind of institutional power, leaders could be seen as regular people who have networks and relationships. When Cortes finds someone who has potential, he works hard to organize them. One person with this potential was Beatrice Cortez, an office worker who was active in her church, whom he first met at a parents’ meeting about the closing of a neighborhood school (Warren, 2001). Mrs. Cortez was angry when she learned that the school district was planning to close three schools in the community and to use the money for a new administration building. Inexperienced and nerv­ ous about speaking out, Mrs. Cortez was trying to avoid Cortes, who was encouraging her to take some action. She said, There was a man, Ernie, sitting next to me at the meeting. He encouraged me to push for us to take some action. So, I was asked to speak with school officials. But I was afraid because I had never spoken in public before. Ernie met me outside the meeting and pinned me down to agree to speak. (Warren, 2001, p. 51) Although the group was never able to stop the school closing, they were successful in stopping the new administration building and were able to ensure that the dollars were funneled back into existing schools. The taste of success was enough for Beatrice Cortez to want to continue her work; she eventually became the president of COPS. After that first victory, she remembered, “I told Ernie to teach me everything. I stopped being a victim. Now you know what’s going on because you’re making it happen” (Warren, 2001, p. 51). Mondros and Wilson (1994) have identified three aspects of the organizing process—recruit­ ing and engaging new members, keeping current members inspired and engaged, and deepening member participation. This last aspect, deepening member participation, is a cornerstone of lead­ ership development. Mann (2011) refers to this as “completing the circle” (p. 131), the capacity to learn and take on the roles of organizing from beginning to end, from soup to nuts. According to Murphy and Cunningham (2003), “opportunities to take on responsibilities and learn new skills should be freely offered to a newly committed member. The more the new member develops

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capacity, the stronger the organization becomes” (p. 83). When Mark Trechock, staff director at Dakota Resource Council, was asked to share his proudest achievement in organizing, he said, One of the things that makes me really proud is seeing someone that I’ve recruited, either into membership or into leadership in our organization, blossom and discover their true gifts as a leader, and put those into the service of the campaign…. Standing and watching them give testimony, or talk to the press, or lead a meeting, or come in with a fistful of memberships of people they’ve gone out and recruited—nothing could make me happier than that. And that’s about building power. Because building power entails building leadership. (Szakos & Szakos, 2007, pp. 117–118) Leadership development is the actualization of relationship building, accountability, participation, and empowerment. According to an organizer who was working with neighborhood leaders in post-Katrina New Orleans, I’m just saying that our base that we want to support is a base that is local and a base that is driven by people—people and neighborhoods. That’s where the emphasis is. And not driven to take over and clear power or to take over their voice, but to empower them to speak for themselves. So, consistently, when I’m asked to do interviews by media, I say “well, what’s the subject? You ought to interview this person, that’s what you’re interested in, talk to them.” Last night, for example, NPR was at our meeting interviewing us doing some stuff. And Steve Inskeep asked me to do an interview, and I said “I’d rather you talk to [this] pastor, he’s a neigh­ borhood leader in the [neighborhood name] area who is helping that neighborhood come back and is struggling, but has real stories from the trenches. Amazing stories, brilliant, insightful, nuanced New Orleans stories. And he’s the vice chairman of my board, and that’s who I want to be interviewed.” Because I want to get as far away and as in front of this thing as I can. I really share the power, but show that the power of the organization—and this organization exists only because—of these neighborhoods. I’d like to emphasize them. As this organizer insightfully points out, developing leaders may require that organizers step out of the spotlight and share power with constituents, allowing their strengths and achievements to shine. And, it is not uncommon for there to be racial, class, or gendered dimensions to these sce­ narios. In the preceding case, for example, the organizer was White and the pastor he suggested be interviewed was Black. It was a way for the organizer to do something with his White privilege that shifted the needle of progress rather than perpetuating oppression. ORGANIZING IN SOCIAL SERVICES ORGANIZATIONS For people who work in social services organizations or have connections with agencies that may serve clients or other consumers, attempting to organize them can be perceived as both an oppor­ tunity and a challenge. Individuals receiving public welfare benefits, community mental health care, or other social services have tremendous wisdom and investment in the outcomes of many organizing campaigns. The welfare rights movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, led by poor women receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), challenged prevailing perceptions about social services recipients and organized themselves into a powerful movement. Social services recipients or “clients” represent a potentially formidable base of support. To be sure, it does not have to be either/or, i.e. social services or social change (Kivel, 2007). There are

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many examples of social movements and organizations today that are doing both. Make the Road New York is an organization supporting immigrants and working-class people of color. They describe their work as follows: Our programs are designed to support families over years and even decades, first tackling crises—like an impending eviction or debilitating hospital bill—and then supporting com­ munity members to get on their feet, perhaps by training for a healthcare career or stabilizing their immigration status, and finally engaging clients and students in organizing to address root causes of our problems.The result is a resilient and tight-knit community that nurtures the selfsufficiency and leadership of each member. (Make the Road, 2020) They offer youth programs, adult literacy programs, legal services and health-care services at the same time that they engage their constituents in grassroots organizing focused on issues, such as immigration, workplace justice, environmental justice, policing, and more. An initial temptation when thinking about organizing social services recipients may be to merely obtain their “input” on issues, or as scholars of participatory practice have noted (Schuller, 2008), tokenizing them through consultation rather than centering them from assessment to intervention to evaluation and organizing them into positions of power or leadership roles. Such an approach to garnering client input has been explained by Kretzmann and McKnight (1997), who view tra­ ditional social welfare provision as limited in its fixation on needs. This traditional, needs-based approach tends to segment social problems and render people’s identities as merely social services recipients who are dependent on services. They are people with a laundry list of problems and needs. Instead, they argue for seeing people as a part of a community with tremendous gifts and strengths, seeing them as people with power. A low-income single mom who is working two jobs, trying to maintain housing, and navigating the juvenile justice system on behalf of her child, inherently understands that social problems are not separate from each other and, in fact, that the causes of social problems are often interconnected. Most importantly, she is already a resilient advocate who seeks justice for her family. Although there may certainly be legitimate reasons only to obtain feedback from clients about their needs, the community, or the services they are receiving, by actually organizing social services recipients, there is an opportunity to move beyond disempowerment and the status quo. Engaging in a critical inquiry that deconstructs traditional approaches to social welfare provision (Who really benefits? What hegemonic relationships are maintained?) can unleash creative forces of those whose voices may be silenced in civic life and make the most of a potentially powerful constituency. One of the barriers to organizing social services recipients to engage in social change work is that there is a perception that the “client” may not be “over” the problem that they sought to address in the first place. A mental health consumer may still be struggling with symptoms; a survivor of domestic violence may still be trying to stay safe from her batterer; a person recov­ ering from substance abuse problems may relapse; a veteran with a head injury may experience intermittent homelessness. The reality is that many low-income and marginalized individuals may continue to struggle with such problems all their lives, or they may not. Of utmost importance when thinking about such issues is whether the individual feels like they are ready or interested in participating in social change work. In other words, organizers should operate on principles of “do no harm” and self-determination, particularly with social services consumers who have multiple vulnerabilities. Moreover, regardless of economic class or ethnicity, a person could be working as an organizer and then find themselves in an abusive relationship or in need of medication for

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mental health problems. Such strict notions that divide “the helper” and “the helped” that may be prevalent in social services settings are quite slippery in reality and may be a barrier in thinking about social change work and engaging in community organizing. Unfortunately, in organizations that do both organizing and social services delivery, I have seen policies that are antithetical to principles of self-determination, empowerment, and trans­ formation. For example, policies at domestic violence programs may prohibit people who have received advocacy or other services from participating in volunteer or advocacy activities for a certain time frame, such as one year or two years or some other arbitrary timeline. Such poli­ cies purport to exist for the best interest of the client, and yet, they are arguably paternalistic. It may certainly be appropriate for an organization to set up some kind of boundaries or create mechanisms that support thoughtful discernment processes with former clients about engaging in survivor-centered community change work. In the case of domestic violence, working on a safety plan with a woman interested in organizing would be appropriate. Such mechanisms could be beneficial for the individual, the organization, and the larger social agenda. The clients or consumers ultimately know best what their needs and limitations are. Furthermore, community organizing may be the most healing activity that they ever engage in. It is also worth noting that no organizer I have ever met has all their “stuff” together. In many cases, the staff at social services organizations may not be directly involved in com­ munity organizing; they may, however, be part of a coalition or consider themselves allies to other organizing groups. Consider social services workers doing health outreach with low-income immigrant Latinx communities. Such an intervention could be a way to link people not just into health care services, but also into local organizing efforts. The trained staff at the health clinic talks to the patients about their situation, connecting them with each other and to social justice organi­ zations that are organizing around issues that would be salient to the individual person. There are certainly challenges a worker faces by walking the line between the two worlds of organizing and service. But, just to provide the services, the bandage, and not to seize the chance to truly empower people could be viewed as a wasted opportunity. To be able to walk such a line, workers need the right kind of training that focuses on deconstructing social issues with a critical lens, empowerment, and boundaries, in addition to a conducive organizational climate. COALITION BUILDING Coalitions are created because organizers see that they have common interests with others that can be leveraged into power to effect change. A coalition is a group of associations, organiza­ tions, and individuals that work together on a common social issue in order to change or create a policy, practice, or program. In order to recognize the mutual benefits of working together, one must see the interconnectedness of issues and realize that people are mutually affected by issues. In other words, people live in a web of interconnections, and their fates are linked. As Martin Luther King, Jr., (1997) said, “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly” (p. 186). Affecting and changing systems is an enormous task, and it is virtually impossible to do so without coalitions. In the early 2000s, college students and other young people organizing against global injustice became conscious of the ways that globalization affects not only workers, but also themselves. They became aware of how they have been manipulated by corporate advertising, which attempts to create unnecessary desires and hyperconsumerist behavior. Student groups worked in coali­ tion with unions and workers in the United States and abroad and achieved meaningful victories

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around sweatshops, workplace justice, and fair trade. AIDS activists are another example of a group that has done the important work of engaging in broad-based coalition work, that is, work­ ing on issues that go beyond their own direct, immediate self-interest, but take a broader view of self-interest to include interconnected issues. AIDS activists have organized around immigrant rights, homelessness, community gardens, and the rights of prisoners (Shepard, 2011). The Coalition for Immokalee Workers (CIW), a Florida organization of farm workers from Mexico, Guatemala, and Haiti, worked for many years to engage in dialogue with growers to attempt to improve poor wages. Eventually, the group realized that the large corporations ben­ efiting the most from the situation, such as Taco Bell, were those demanding cheap labor from growers. After attempting to dialogue with Taco Bell directly about the farm labor conditions to no avail, CIW began a boycott against the company (Chavez, 2005). The ultimate success of this campaign, culminating in an agreement with the company to meet the demands for improving conditions, was attributed to coalition work, namely a coalition between farm workers and allies. According to Chavez, through our organizing, one of the most important lessons we’ve learned is the necessity of building strong alliances…. Now we know that we are not alone and will never be alone again. Today, thousands of students and young people from all over the country know of our struggle, and they have come to understand that this is their struggle as well. As the multinational fast food corporation oppresses farm workers with the tyranny of extreme poverty, they oppress the youth of this country with their marketing based on the assumption that youth are hedon­ istic and apathetic. But we know differently. Young people across the country are taking the initiative to fight shoulder to shoulder with us for a world in which all of us may be heard—a world in which if one of us shouts for justice, there will always be thousands of voices echoing that shout. (p. 204) When building coalitions or alliances, it may be helpful to consider such efforts on a spectrum. On the one end is a sustained collaboration over time, and on the other end is a short-term relationship of convenience. Both utilitarian and transformative organizers may engage with coalitions at any point on the spectrum. There are several considerations to keep in mind when engaging in any kind of coalition work (R. Sen, 2003): 1. 2. 3. 4.

Membership, values, and politics Degree of formality Resources and infrastructure Power within the coalition

First, it is important that groups working together have some kind of values and/or political beliefs in common. Although there always will be differences of opinion among coalition mem­ bers, which are also strengths, there should be some basic values in common. This is true whether the coalition is a relationship of convenience or whether it is a sustained collaboration, in which the latter group would likely tend to have a stronger values bond. The values discussion goes hand in hand with deciding who is to be included in the coalition. These discussions are important frontend decisions when setting up a coalition and are also ongoing ones. Membership can include large social welfare and advocacy organizations and small grassroots organizations. But they can also include leaders of marginalized communities and loose knit associations.

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Second, there are many kinds of collaborations—coalitions, councils, alliances, networks, and other more informal types. Social movements can be considered a form of coalition work, and indeed, coalitions are the secret sauce of social movements. This was true with the civil rights movement when Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) collaborated with the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) and other groups and was true of the Occupy movement wherein labor unions worked in coalition with student groups or when prison re-entry groups have worked with Black Lives Matter activists. The degree of formality of a coalition is an important consideration and is directly related to whether the group is focused on sustained collaborations or on relationships of convenience. Some coalitions and networks may choose to become more permanent by seeking legal nonprofit status, such as the National Network to End Domestic Violence which is a national coalition of statewide domestic violence organizations. Other coalitions may prefer to stay informal. Informality may afford groups the capability of being more politically powerful and being less susceptible to co-optation by the internal and external pressures of a formal nonprofit organization. Third, allocation of resources and the creation of the infrastructure in the group is another consideration. Coalition members can contemplate whether everyone should contribute some­ thing to the group or not; decisions about the division of tasks can be based on the strengths and resources of the groups in the coalition. For example, who in the coalition is best suited to be the media spokesperson? These people must have the ability to communicate and stick to the mes­ sage of the group to the outside. In addition, they have to be able to focus on the message of the larger coalition and not confuse it with the message of one’s individual organization when they differ. Creating infrastructure in a coalition means establishing protocols for how meetings are conducted, how decisions are made, and how members communicate outside of meetings. Even if a coalition has been formed for the sake of convenience and is very ends-oriented, it will likely meet with more success if issues of resources and infrastructure are established from the outset. Fourth, coalitions should be attuned to the ways in which power within the group is distrib­ uted. Transparency in decision making is essential in order not to perpetuate unequal and/or toxic power dynamics. Paying attention to power issues is always a necessary part of coalition work; it is especially important when the coalitions are diverse in terms of race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and so on. Are the cisgender men in the coalition the leaders and the women in the group the ones taking minutes? Is the organization that has the most resources making the majority of the decisions? Attending to these kinds of issues are what transforma­ tive change-makers do; they do not want to replicate injustice in the way they do their work. Sometimes, there are varying levels of commitment in a coalition. Additionally, nonparticipating members may be reaping the rewards of membership in the coalition, but they may not be com­ mitting time and resources. Such scenarios may be inevitable, but the coalition should be clear in how they address this in terms of decision-making practices and the distribution of rewards that may result from the coalition work. Overcoming Barriers to Coalition Work Uniting in a coalition can increase the impact of organizing; such work often involves overcom­ ing divisions and barriers with which separate organizations are often confronted. In 1966, the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) had been growing in strength and achieving vic­ tories for grape pickers in California under the leadership of Cesar Chavez (DiCanio, 1998). To

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thwart the effectiveness of the NFWA, the DiGiorgio company, a large corporation that owned vineyards in the region, devised a strategy that would permit the Teamsters Union (which had a reputation for illegal practices) to recruit workers in the field. This divide-and-conquer strategy resulted in a union election being held between three different unions: the NFWA, the Team­ sters, and the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), a small union associated with the AFL-CIO. Chavez came to understand what was happening and saw that NFWA and AWOC had common ground on which to build. So, he developed the strategy that the NFWA and AWOC could defeat the Teamsters. The two unions merged and became the United Farm Workers (UFW) and won the election by 530 votes to 331. Rather than succumbing to being pit­ ted against each other, the two groups worked in coalition and were able to be successful. There are several reasons why groups may have trouble coming together to form coalitions. These reasons include substantive and philosophical differences, organizational and tactical differ­ ences, and power/cultural differences. Although these differences may be very real, it can also be the case that the dissimilarities are socially constructed by society. By engaging in critical reflec­ tion, groups can often overcome real and perceived barriers and come together as powerful forces in their organizing work. Here I discuss some barriers to coalition work and some remedies that can help organizers overcome them. Substantive and Philosophical Differences One of the major obstacles for successful coalitions is that organizers often believe that they may not have much in common with other groups, both substantively and philosophically. For exam­ ple, if one works for a group that advocates for people with disabilities, one may not consider a group that works to alleviate children’s poverty to be an ally. Part of this barrier has to do with the segregated ways in which people are conditioned to think about social problems and social services, which is also a result of the segmented thinking that informs public policy funding mechanisms. If one is able to see social problems as interconnected and begins to understand the strengths of various sectors and community organizations, one can begin to get more clarity about who one’s allies are. Maybe the statewide children’s poverty group and the statewide disabilities group realize that they have both been victims of recent budget cuts—less funding for children’s health insurance programs and less funding for independent living centers. As the groups fur­ ther discuss their issues, they come to understand that both children and people with disabilities historically have been groups with very little “voice” and for whom policy decisions have been made without their input. Finally, the two groups may see themselves as in alliance with each other because of barriers, such as discrimination in employment and low wages that both people with disabilities and low-income families with children face. Finding this common ground can be achieved through a variety of mechanisms, such as workshops, popular education groups, and the centering of impacted communities in coalition meetings. Some organizers may be hesitant to enter into coalition work because they believe that their frameworks for understanding social issues are vastly different from those of other groups. Schechter (1999) studied and commented on how domestic violence activists sometimes isolate themselves from other groups, noting that they have been described by others as “suspicious and cynical” because they “refuse to acknowledge their limits … they think they can do everything” (p. 7). Other community advocates have noted that “being with them is like trying to get into the most exclusive women’s sorority” (Schechter, 1999, p. 7). Organizers may want to overcome ideological and other divides by learning the art of compromise and reframing their issues in a

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more palatable discourse by softening or changing their language, or not. Organizers have often strategically chosen to act in coalition to get work accomplished by concealing ideological differ­ ences (Arnold, 1995). When I was working as an advocate for low-income battered women, I defined myself as a feminist, specifically as an advocate for an oppressed population, namely women. In the midand late 1990s, we were focusing on the effects of welfare reform on survivors of sexual and domestic violence. One of the interesting things about these times was that welfare reform was so damaging that it was clear to many that a uniform response from community organizers and advocates was needed. We could not work in isolation from other groups; we had to work together, with a variety of organizations and constituencies. Because the devolution of public welfare services was being placed in the hands of the states rather than the federal government, statewide advocacy was becoming more important than ever before. Thus, we participated in a state-level welfare reform coalition that included a children’s poverty organization, a hun­ ger organization, the Catholic archdiocese, and my group, the coalition representing domestic violence and sexual assault programs. I admittedly became somewhat wary of the possibility of working with a Catholic organization. In my mind, this organization likely did not have the same philosophy that I did about women’s lives and, in particular, the rights of women to make choices for their own lives regarding reproductive health. In my naïveté, I thought that this meant that I could not work with this group. And then I met Sister Therese; Sister Therese was a wellrespected organizer on poverty policy issues at the state legislature. The barriers I had erected in my mind became irrelevant, as I came to realize that we had common values when it came to families struggling to make ends meet. I was able to break through the attachment I had to my ideology and to pay attention to the new reality that was presenting itself, namely a wonderful human being who was committed to social justice. These common values were strong enough to not just develop a relationship of convenience on the particular issue of welfare reform, but they were strong enough for us to foster a sustained collaboration over time. In the end, she would become a tremendous mentor for me, and we later recruited her to speak about legisla­ tive advocacy with our constituency, people who worked at domestic violence and sexual assault programs from across the state. Organizational and Tactical Differences Another reason why coalitions are difficult to form and coalesce is not only that the substan­ tive issues with which organizations are engaged are so different, but also because the ways in which organizations operate can be so divergent. Organizations may have different philosophies in terms of decision making, staff–volunteer patterns, and funding streams. One group may be a locally based grassroots organization, whereas another group may be a large national organization with different chapters across the country. Identifying mutual interests and values can be a way to overcome the barriers. Differences can also be leveraged, as the grassroots group may have more empowered leadership from its base constituency and a stronger sense of accountability to impacted populations, while the national group may have more access to resources, which, when combined, can be formidable. During the World Trade Organization (WTO) protests in Seattle in 1999, an extensive net­ work of activists came together to express their right to organize against a global economy that has been destructive to workers and the environment. The groups that came together were not only diverse in terms of the issues that they worked on and the ways that their organizations functioned,

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but they were also dissimilar in terms of the tactics that they utilized. A few groups broke the windows of businesses as a way to express their dissatisfaction with corporations. This resulted in the use of police violence against all of the participants in the protest. After the event, activists reflected that difficult discussions within the global justice movement were necessary, because most groups were using nonviolent tactics and were committed to them while other groups were using more provocative tactics, which inadvertently put the peaceful protesters at risk. Something similar happened after the protests in Minneapolis and other U.S. cities after the death of George Floyd in May 2020. Although most organizers would never advocate the use of violent tactics, tactical differences should be viewed as strengths in coalition work, as the radical flank effect (Ellefsen, 2018) teaches that the activities of extreme groups can open doors for the more moder­ ately situated groups. On the other hand, extreme tactics can have a negative effect on the entire movement or action. Power and Cultural Differences There are a variety of differences among groups that come under the heading of power and cul­ tural differences; such differences might be a function of race/ethnicity, gender, age, sexual ori­ entation, country of origin, and ability, among others. In a study by Mizrahi and Lombe (2007), the authors found that women of color were less likely to engage in coalition work as an organizing strategy. This is a complex finding, but it can possibly be explained by a greater understanding of the historical realities faced by women of color. Women of color have historically and continue to experience exclusion and silencing in women’s organizing activities. As the dynamics of power and privilege are played out, the voices and agendas of White women can easily come to domi­ nate. It was out of this reality that the Black socialist feminist Combahee River Collective was formed in 1974 (Taylor, 2017). It is not the case that the women in the study are noncooperative or do not see the potential of coalition work per se. However, based on past experiences, there is a belief that some coalition work may erase issues of difference, and the unique needs of women of color may get subsumed. These groups believe, and quite reasonably, that they need to focus on building their own base more strongly before attempting to build bridges. Or, to use the lan­ guage of social capital, the groups embrace strengthening their bonding social capital rather than bridging social capital. Some recent sustained coalition-building activities have focused on the need for intergenera­ tional coalition building. Because of the rifts that have been identified between older and younger activists, some groups are actively working to bridge such rifts. In anti-racism work, this has meant bridging the civil rights generation activists with the hip-hop generation activists. The com­ munity organizing leadership development institute Southern Echo operates on what it calls an “intergenerational model.” Such important coalition-building work focuses on helping the newer generation learn the historical organizing lessons of the past. However, it is also important to remember that such intergenerational organizing is a two-way street, and older organizers have a lot to learn from the younger generation as well. Older activists may hold stereotypes and even scapegoat younger organizers, believing that the current generation does not care about issues or that they do not respect the older generation and their accomplishments or that they are too focused on digital technology and social media. The younger generation of activists has different strengths, including their sensibilities about self and community, healing justice, and the hypocri­ sies of democracy and capitalism. They also face different issues than previous generations, includ­ ing economic, cultural, environmental, and technological issues.

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The Zapatista model of encuentro may offer organizers insights into overcoming barriers, as this model represents a unique approach to coalition building that emphasizes consciousness raising while also allowing for differences to appear within and among actors. One such encuentro was held in 1996, bringing together 5,000 activists from all over the world to discuss how neolib­ eral globalization affects people politically, economically, culturally, and socially. Callahan (2004) describes encuentro as “a political space convened for dialogue, analysis, and direct action that deliberately and creatively acknowledges and respects difference, i.e. different political proposals and cultural practices that emerge from a variety of subject positions, histories, and political com­ mitments” (p. 13).1 It also serves as a mechanism for bridging local struggles with larger networks of global struggle. Coalition work means finding common ground and bridging differences to effect change. Coa­ litions can be valuable at the local, city, state, national, and global levels. In the contemporary context, coalition work is vital at the global level, as transnational alliances offer excellent possi­ bilities for building global solidarity and achieving global justice victories. Chapter 13 explains and analyzes transnational alliances in further detail. Overall, relationship building with individuals and through coalitions is clearly a necessary condition for building momentum and achieving social change across constituencies and issues.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION 1. What are your concerns and fears about relational organizing and one-on-one meetings? What are the benefits of this approach? 2. If you have ever worked in a social services organization or done some kind of direct serviceoriented volunteer work, think about a client or consumer you have worked with and discuss the strengths and barriers that they could have brought to a community organizing campaign or other social movement work. 3. Discuss the benefits and limitations of coalition building to an organizing campaign or social movement. 4. What are some ways in which organizers can hold themselves or others accountable when doing social change work? 5. Discuss the idea and practice of empowerment as a political project/intervention. In what ways have you seen the term be co-opted?

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER INQUIRY Books Butterfoss, F. D. (2013). Ignite!. Author House. Chambers, E. (2018). Roots for radicals: Organizing for power, action and justice. New York, NY: Bloomsbury. Mann, E. (2011). Playbook for progressives: 16 qualities of the successful organizer. Boston, MA: Bea­ con Press. McAlevey, J. (2018). No shortcuts: Organizing for power in the New Gilded Age. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

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Minkler, M. (Ed.). (2012). Community organizing and community building for health and welfare. Rut­ gers, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Staples, L. (2016). Roots to power: A manual for grassroots organizing (3rd ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

Web Catalyst Project: A Center for Political Education and Movement Building. http://www.collectiveliberation.org Citizen Works:Tools for Democracy. http://www.citizenworks.org Community Organizing Toolkit. http://organizinggame.org Make the Road New York. https://maketheroadny.org/ Midwest Academy. http://www.midwestacademy.com

NOTE 1. One should be mindful when considering whether to borrow practices of indigenous people for use in social change work. This could be considered a form of cultural appropriation that has negative associations with damaging colonialist practices. Nonetheless, relating to and coming together as human beings does not belong to a particular culture. Organizations can develop their own practices based on their own cultures, values, and interests.

REFERENCES alinsky, S. (1971). rules for radicals: a practical primer for realistic radicals. new York, nY: random House. arnold, g. (1995). Dilemmas of feminist coalitions: Collective identity and strategic effectiveness in the battered women’s movement. in M. M. Ferree, & P. Y. Martin (eds.), Feminist organizations: Harvest of the new women’s movement (pp. 276–290). Philadelphia, Pa: Temple University Press. Block, D. (2009). Second language identities. london, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing. Boal, a., & epstein, S. (1990). The cop in the head: Three hypotheses. TDr: The Drama review, 34, 35–42. https:// doi.org/10.2307/1146067 Callahan, M. (2004). zapatismo beyond Chiapas. in D. Solnit (ed.), globalize liberation: How to uproot the system and build a better world (pp. 217–229). San Francisco, Ca: City lights Books. Chambers, e. T. (2018). roots for radicals: Organizing for power, action, and justice. london, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing. Chavez, C. (2008). an organizer’s tale: Speeches. new York, nY: Penguin Books. Chavez, g. r. (2005). To the young activists of tomorrow. in D. Berger, C. Boudin, & K. Farrow (eds.), letters from young activists: Today’s rebels speak out (pp. 201–205). new York, nY: nation Books. Cornwall, P. a. (2011). The participation reader. london, UK: zed Books.

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Organizing PeOPle Cueto, r. M., Fernández, M. z., Moll, S., & rivera, g. (2015). Community Participation and Strengthening in a reconstruction Context after a natural Disaster. Journal of Prevention & intervention in the Community, 43(4), 291–303, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10852352.2014.973296 DiCanio, M. B. (1998). encyclopaedia of american activism: 1960 to the present. Santa Barbara, Ca: aBC-CliO, inc. ellefsen, r. (2018). Deepening the explanation of radical flank effects: Tracing contingent outcomes of destructive capacity. Qualitative Sociology, 41(1), 111–133. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-018-9373-3. Fisher, r. (1994). let the people decide: neighborhood organizing in america. new York, nY: Twayne Publishers. gair, S. (2013). inducing empathy: Pondering students’(in) ability to empathize with an aboriginal man’s lament and what might be done about it. Journal of Social Work education, 49(1), 136–149. gray, M., Davies, K., & Butcher, l. (2017). Finding the right connections: Peer support within a community-based mental health service. international Journal of Social Welfare, 26(2), 188–196. gutierrez, l. M., & lewis, e. a. (2012). education, participation, and capacity building in community organizing with women of color. in Community organizing and community building for health and welfare (pp. 215–228). new Brunswick, nJ: rutgers University Press. Hickey, S., & Mohan, g. (2004). Participation—from tyranny to transformation?: exploring new approaches to participation in development. london, UK: zed books. Hunter, F. (1953). Community power structure: a study of decision makers. Chapel Hill: University of north Caro­ lina Press. King, M. l. (1997). letter from Birmingham jail. in i. ness (ed.), encyclopedia of american social movements (Vol. 1, pp. 186–188). armonk, nY: M. e. Sharpe. Kivel, P.. (2007). Social service or social change? in incite! Women of Color against Violence (eds.), The revolution will not be funded: Beyond the non-profit industrial complex (pp. 129–149). Cambridge, Ma: South end Press. Kretzmann, J. P., & McKnight, J. l. (1997). Building communities from the inside out. Skokie, il: aCTa Publications. lawson, H. a., Caringi, J. C., Pyles, l., Jurkowski, J. M., & Bozlak, C. T. (2015). Participatory action research. Pocket guides to Social Work r. Make the road new York (2020). Our Programs. https://maketheroadny.org/our-programs/. Mann, e. (2011). Playbook for progressives: 16 qualities of the successful organizer. Beacon Press. Marill, M. C. (2019). Beyond twelve steps, peer-supported mental health care. Health affairs, 38(6), 896–901. Miley, K. K., O’Melia, M., & DuBois, B. (2013). generalist social work practice: an empowering approach (8th ed.). Boston: allyn and Bacon. Minkler, M. (ed.). (2012). Community organizing and community building for health and welfare. new Brunswick, nJ: rutgers University Press. Mizrahi, T., & lombe, M. (2007). Perspectives on women organizers: Views on gender, race, class and sexual ori­ entation. Journal of Community Practice, 14(3), 93–118. Mondros, J. B., & Wilson, S. M. (1994). Organizing for power and empowerment. new York, nY: Columbia Uni­ versity Press. Murphy, P. W., & Cunningham, J. V. (2003). Organizing for community-controlled development: renewing civil society. Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage.

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TOOLS FOR COMMUNITY ORGANIZING Paul, S. (1987). Community participation in development projects: The World Bank experience. Finance & Develop­ ment, 24(4), 20. retrieved from https://search-proquest com.libproxy.albany.edu/docview/209390602?accoun tid=14166 Schechter, S. (1999). new challenges for the battered women’s movement: Building collaborations and improving public policy for poor women. retrieved from http://www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/nwchllng/nwchllng.html Schuller, M. (2008). Participation, more than add women and stir? a comparative case analysis in Post-coup Haiti. a Journal of Caribbean Perspectives on gender and Feminism, (2), 1–22. Sen, r. (2003). Stir it up: lessons in community organizing and advocacy. San Francisco, Ca: Jossey-Bass. Shepard, B. (2011). Play, creativity and social movements: if i can’t dance, it’s not my revolution. new York, nY: routledge. Staples, l. (2016). roots to power: a manual for grassroots organizing: a manual for grassroots organizing. aBC-CliO. Szakos, K. l., & Szakos, J. (2007). We make change: Community organizers talk about what they do—and why. nashville, Tn: Vanderbilt University Press. Taylor, K. Y. (2017). How we get free: Black feminism and the Combahee river collective. Chicago, il: Haymarket Books. Warren, M. r. (2001). Dry bones rattling: Community building to revitalize american democracy. Princeton, nJ: Princeton University Press. zimmerman, K., & Quiroz, J. (2015). love with power: Practicing transformation for social justice. national Domestic Workers alliance: leading with love. Movement Strategy Center.

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Chapter 7

Transformative Organizations Resource mobilization theory posits that the amount of resources available to a movement is the strongest determinate of its success. Gamson (1990), in particular, argued that the most critical kinds of resources are strong organizations. In studies of social movement groups, some research­ ers have found that successful groups tend to be more bureaucratized and centralized and do not have as many problems with factionalism (Gamson, 1990; Giugni, 2004). However, others have noted the strengths of decentralized and/or networked but integrated approaches to social move­ ments identifying how decentralized leadership and organizational arrangements can be a strength of a movement (Engler & Engler, 2016; Nikiporets-Takigawa, 2017). Alinsky and many of his followers have been strong advocates of the importance of build­ ing organizations for successful organizing (e.g. Chambers, 2018). Others have argued just the opposite: social change is more likely to occur when groups avoid building durable organizations because they are better able to utilize the tactic of disruption (Giugni, 2004; Piven & Cloward, 1979). Although institutionalization may allow for more stability, the development of resources, and sustainability, mobilization may allow for more flexibility, spontaneity, and creativity (Tait, 2005). Rubin and Rubin (2001) suggested that organizations, in general, are capable of focusing power, offering continuity, developing expertise, and reacting quickly to changing conditions. In the context of a globalizing economy and neoliberal social welfare policies that have resulted in austerities through the abandonment of state supports and interventions, the roles of civil soci­ ety, including religious organizations, nonprofit organizations (NGOs), and grassroots groups are critical actors in communities across the globe (Katz, 2006; Reisch, 2013). It is clear that organi­ zations play an important, though contested, role in community organizing work. Ferree and Martin (1995) pointed out that “a movement organization is not a contradiction in terms, but it is, by definition, in tension” (p. 8). In other words, organizations that come into being to address social oppressions, an outgrowth of the critiques of societal power structures, are also creating new power structures as an organization and may, in fact, be replicating existing hegemonic and capitalist relations (Katz, 2006). Indeed, most nonprofit organizations uncon­ sciously draw from organizational norms inspired by neoliberal, patriarchal, and white suprema­ cist values and practices, including emphases on hierarchy, efficiency, and accountability to the top, rather than the bottom. Sometimes the survival of organizations through the performance of bureaucratic efficiencies misguidedly becomes the modus operandi of the culture of the organiza­ tion. Moreover, community organizing and social change work can be sites where structurated, interpersonal, and personal trauma is recycled in the organizational culture. For some working on the frontlines, all of this results in a profound dissonance between the realities of what have been called “the nonprofit industrial complex” (Incite!, 2007) and the values of empathy, service, and social justice. The dissonance between progressive agendas and organizational maintenance is an enduring problem in organizing (Padgett, 2002).

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Transformative organizations, which can come in many varieties, provide an antidote to organ­ izational models that are prevalent in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. Transformative organizations seek to decolonize organizational spaces by grounding their work in principles of solidarity and utilizing process-oriented structures and culture that facilitate personal, inter­ personal, and structural healing and change. Building accountable organizations wherein people practice and learn democratic processes is critical to empowering, social-change work. The High­ lander Research and Education Center (n.d.) calls this practice “constructing democracy,” advo­ cating that grassroots organizations be experiments in democracy and training grounds to prepare people for participation and leadership in a more democratic society. Moreover, transformative organizations can actually be places where healing justice transpires by bringing intentional aware­ ness to structural and cultural practices that support the transformation of internalized and inter­ personal oppression and that sustain organizer/worker well-being. In this chapter, after discussing some of the complexities of doing organizing and other social change work in a neoliberal context particularly as it plays out in nonprofits, I focus on organizational capacity building in a few impor­ tant areas: organizational structure and culture including leadership, consensus decision making, fund-raising, research and evaluation, and healing justice.

ORGANIZING IN THE NONPROFIT WORLD A publication by South End Press—The Revolution Will Not Be Funded (Incite! Women of Color Against Violence, 2007)—contemplates the question of whether social change is even possible through the mechanisms of the nonprofit sector. A play on the title of the 1974 Gil Scott Heron song “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” the authors problematize organizing and social change work in the context of nonprofit organizations, addressing the limitations that institutional­ ized social services provision poses to social change organizing. The institutionalization of a move­ ment, campaign, or social change endeavor can easily lead to bureaucratization that silences the marginalized voices it was intending to amplify in the first place (Tait, 2005). Rodriguez (2007) argues that nonprofit organizations can manifest as mechanisms of control by the state to maintain current conditions and existing social structures. Modeled on corporations and state bureaucracies, nonprofit organizations originally intended for social change can easily succumb to the pressures of funding streams, the professional culture of the nonprofit world, and organizational maintenance, and come to view clients as consumers (Hasenfeld & Garrow, 2012). As Reisch (2013) notes, in the neoliberal context, “market ideas have influenced these organizations’ vocabulary, program empha­ ses, staffing patterns, funding sources, and their relationship with constituents” (p. 61). For people working in nonprofit organizations, especially organizations that are providing ser­ vices, including social workers, human services professionals, advocates, and others, organizing can sometimes seem at odds with the realities of a social services organization. This dilemma dates back to the time of Jane Addams during the Settlement House movement. Addams (1910) defended engaging in labor organizing in the context of a service organization: That a Settlement is drawn into labor issues of its city can seem remote to its purpose only to those who fail to realize that so far as the present industrial system thwarts our ethical demands, not only for social righteousness but for social order, a settlement is committed to an effort to understand and, as far as possible, to alleviate it. (p. 150)

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In the contemporary context, social workers, community development workers, and others mov­ ing in nonprofit settings only rarely engage in community organizing activities. Several reasons for this exist, including perceived conflicts of interest with the agendas of grant funders, a shortage of staff and skills, a lack of social change organizational climates, and a dearth of solidarity-based relationships with impacted communities. Specht and Courtney (1994) remind us that when many activists were engaged in protests against the Vietnam War, social workers were conspicuously absent. Fisher and Shragge (2000) argue that through the 1980s and 1990s, there was a shift in emphasis away from social change in the social work field. The shift was already becoming clear in the 1970s, in terms of the relationship between the growth of professionalization and the reduc­ tion of grassroots power. Some have argued that it has been the availability of relatively wellpaying jobs in the nonprofit sector that has derailed many activists from community organizing, focusing instead on funded social services delivery (Smith, 2006). Nonprofit actors have been referred to as a mediating middle-class between the “haves” and the “have-nots” part of the “professional-managerial class” (PMC) (Press, 2019) The PMC are “salaried mental workers who do not own the means of production and whose major function in the social division of labor may be described broadly as the reproduction of capitalist culture and capitalist class relations” (Ehrenreich, cited in Press, 2019). In the context of international development, the term “NGO class” has been used to refer to middle-class workers who often operate in service to (unknowingly or knowingly) larger global macroeconomic structures and interests. Caught in a double bind, they tend to forego solidarity to the most marginalized in their own countries and instead become beholden to foreign and transnational capitalist interests (Schuller, 2009). Nonprofit organizations are often hesitant to engage in various types of advocacy and organ­ izing work because they believe “lobbying” legislators could jeopardize, what in U.S. tax code is referred to as 501(c)3 status. The truth is that nonprofits can indeed educate their legislators about the issues that are important to them and their constituency; the only thing that they cannot do is endorse particular political candidates. Some grants and other funding sources may prohibit certain lobbying activities, but there is nothing in the 501(c)3 statute that prohibits it. Support organizations, such as the Alliance for Justice, work to assist organizations with legal issues related to such questions about nonprofit status (Bolder Advocacy, 2018). Some organizations, noting that the 501(c)3 tax code was created not by grassroots activists but by wealthy philanthropists who were seeking a tax shelter, choose not to seek such legal status for their organizations, which provides more flexibility in terms of organizational activities, but may extend struggles to maintain funding. Foundations have the burden of exerting expenditure responsibility, and thus they tend to fund only 501(c)3 organizations because there is a higher bur­ den on the foundation if there is no such status. One common solution is to find a parent nonprofit organization that can serve as a fiscal sponsor. Certainly, it is still possible to get donations from people in the community without legal, nonprofit status. Maintaining a grassroots approach can support an organization in staying more accountable to a larger membership which gives smaller donations as well as allowing more flexibility with the funding compared to the restrictions of foundations and government grants. Amara Pérez (2007) of Sisters in Action for Power has discussed the difficulties of doing social change and community organizing work in the traditional nonprofit model. Through many diffi­ cult lessons, her organization has focused its efforts on creating an organizational practice context that is compatible with social change values. Such mechanisms are built into the organization as a way to preserve the integrity of social change work. Although not advocating that these practices

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are appropriate for all organizations, Sisters in Action for Power have identified important activi­ ties that can help maintain an empowering, transformational organizational climate: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Create a work plan that outlines the larger issues the organization seeks to address, including organizational strategies and annual goals Collectively evaluate and reflect on annual goals using the organization’s political framework Meet every week as staff and/or volunteers to make decisions as a group, inform each other about work, and assess workload and organizational capacities Include journal writing and other methods for staff to communicate their personal work as part of collective movement building Schedule dedicated days for staff political education, including taking turns facilitating discussions Every three months, take time for team building and bonding Take care of personal selves by monitoring the pace of work, hours worked, and time off

Due to the ongoing pressures of organizing, decision-making responsibilities, and accountabil­ ity to funders, nonprofit organizations can build mechanisms into their policies, structures, and practices such as these. Such practices do not erase the innate tensions that exist in progressive organizations; they can, however, facilitate more transparency, sustainability, and empowerment.

ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING Building organizational capacities not only aids organizations in achieving their external goals, but it can create more relational and empowering environments for members, volunteers, and work­ ers. Capacity building may entail a variety of activities, including upgrading technological and social media facility, building in restorative practices for staff and volunteers, developing fundraising competence, enhancing financial management systems, and improving the multilingual abilities of an organization, to name a few. The following sections extend the discussion on capac­ ity building, focusing on key domains of organizational life in the context of community organ­ izing: organizational structure and culture, leadership, consensus decision making, fund-raising, research and evaluation, and healing justice. Although these domains are certainly not exhaustive when it comes to organizational practice, they are particularly salient for transformative organ­ izers interested in attending to social change organizing in a globalizing world.

Organizational Structure and Culture Organizations of all varieties have both an organizational structure and organizational culture. Organizational structure is concerned with how an organization’s activities are allocated, coordinated, and supervised, as well as with how information, communication, and account­ ability flow. Organizational structures may be more centralized or de-centralized, hierarchical or nonhierarchical. Many human services and social justice organizations function as hierarchi­ cal bureaucracies, which Max Weber identified as organizations that have clearly defined roles and responsibilities, a hierarchical structure, and respect for merit (Appelbaum, Carr, Duneier, & Giddens, 2018). Smaller organizations tend to be less complex, less hierarchical, and more

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flexible, fluid, and responsive. While it is not to say that accountability, empowerment, relation­ ship, and transformation cannot transpire in highly complex, hierarchical, and centralized organi­ zations, the tendency toward bureaucracy and efficiency may undermine the values and efforts of transformative practices. For example, large organizations may be challenged to create struc­ tures which require worker participation in decision making. Organizational culture, or climate, is a pattern of basic assumptions that a group creates in terms of how it maintains itself in relation to its environment (Cohen & Hyde, 2014). These assumptions are passed on to new members through artifacts (symbols, norms, rituals, and language), values (how things ought to be), and underlying assumptions (deeply held, though sometimes uninterrogated con­ victions). Some questions that might help one to understand an organization’s culture are—What kind of labels or language do people in the organization use to refer to impacted people? What is the level of emotional intimacy in the organization? What kinds of boundaries are kept between employees and consumers/clients/constituents? Do meetings and events begin on time? In assessing an organization, one may want to inquire further into any discrepancies between the vision/mission (i.e. values), on the one hand, and norms and behaviors, on the other. For example, does the organization have rheto­ ric about valuing diversity and yet it fails to hire and/or maintain a diverse workforce? Most nonprofit organizations have historically shaped their decision-making structure out of for-profit organizations. The executive director position is modeled after a chief executive officer (CEO) position who reports to a board of directors. Frontline workers report to middle manage­ ment, i.e. department directors and coordinators, who report to the executive director. Leaders may be open to input from those working on the frontlines regarding decisions to be made, but, ultimately, final decisions usually are made at the top. This kind of hierarchical decision making can be effective when lines of communication are clear. In an environment in which public policies and funding opportunities are in flux, it is often necessary to be able to make decisions quickly. When such decisions are in the hands of a single person, it can be very efficient. But efficiency is not necessarily a central value of transformative organizers. Thus, how compat­ ible are these traditional nonprofit management approaches with those premised on accountability, empowerment, relationship, and transformation? Does the manner in which an organization oper­ ates, as long as it is engaging in successful campaigns and creating new opportunities in partnership with its constituents, matter? For progressive community organizers, particularly those working from a transformative approach, it does matter. Such an orientation necessarily entails a commitment on the part of community organizations to attend to its own processes and mechanisms, particularly when it comes to issues of leadership and decision making. The guidelines for organizing discussed in the previous chapter—accountability, empowerment, relationship, and transformation—continue to be equally as relevant to the organizational work as it is to the organizing work. Nonhierarchical and feminist approaches to organizational structure, culture, and leadership offer a different set of insights for social change organizations which may otherwise drift toward oligarchy and disempower­ ment as it replicates the hierarchies of white supremacy and patriarchy (Iannello, 2013). Leadership Organizational structure in progressive community organizations can manifest in various ways, from centralized, hierarchical models to decentralized and nonhierarchical approaches in the form of col­ lectives or other democratically oriented structures. Often, organizational structures and leader­ ship philosophies lie somewhere between these extremes. Traditional notions of leadership focus on one or a few people who have power and lead others, the followers. Transformative community

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organizers recognize that such practices have oppressed many people in organizations and, more generally, in society. These approaches to leadership may tend to marginalize women, people of color, LGBTQ individuals, individuals who are not fluent in the dominant language, and people with disabilities (Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence [SPAN], 2005). Progressive community organizing rests on the idea that organizing greater numbers of constituents is a desirable goal, and for many, this implies that each person has the potential to be a leader. By teaching leadership skills, such as meeting facilitation, and organizing constituents and members into positions of increasingly greater responsibility, community organizers directly trouble traditional models of leadership. Much has been said about leadership in progressive organizations and social movements (Block, 2009; Bobo & Pabellón, 2016; Staples, 2016). In the simplest terms, outside of the context of social change and organizing, leadership is a “process of performing multiple roles and functions for the purpose of achieving some set of goals reflecting the needs, concerns, or desires of a group, including a social movement” (Barnett, 1997, p. 303). But leadership in the context of community organizing, especially transformative organizing, can take a variety of shapes and embodies much more than this definition reveals. Ospina and Foldy (2005) studied 40 social change organizations focused on issues, such as economic and community development, immigrant rights, HIV/AIDS, housing, human development, and human rights, which resulted in an emergent framework for social change leadership. They define social change leadership as: the consistent use of a set of leadership drivers, anchored in a set of assumptions and core values of social justice, [which] helps members of these organizations engage in practices and activities that build collective power, which is then leveraged to produce long-term outcomes for social change. (p. 12) These leadership drivers include a deeply held understanding of systemic inequities coupled with a vision of the future which embraces transformation, inclusion, and preservation of culture, rooted in social justice values, such as solidarity, equity, and transparency. This grounded humanism is practiced through collaboration, dialogue, attention to identity, and carefully crafted framing as organizational members engage in the activities of organizing, advocacy, community develop­ ment, and services. Leaders in organizations and movements may be the people who hold the vision and/or play an important role in making decisions. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a vision holder and, hence, a key leader of the civil rights movement. But leaders may also take the form of rank-and-file activists who engage in momentous actions that inspire others; Rosa Parks was one such example. Leader­ ship, like many other phenomena viewed through a critical lens, can be problematized, that is, broken down into its assumptions, determining who wins and who loses in various organizational structures in particular contexts. In a study of campus LGBTQ organizing, Meyer (2004) noted that those who are considered “leaders” and those who are considered “members” of organizations tend to view leadership differently. Leaders were perceived as “committed to the cause,” often associated with their visibility in the community and their level of being “out” by both leaders and members of the community. As a result, participants in leadership roles tended to frame leaders as committed and members as apathetic. Participants in membership roles, however, expressed their frustration with leaders, observing that leadership styles in the community were sometimes “overbearing” and “silencing” (p. 505). Although hierarchical, bureaucratic decision-making structures can lead to silencing, nonhierarchi­ cal, egalitarian, and feminist structures can also lead to “unspoken hierarchies” (Smith, 2006, p. 69).

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Leaders in organizations, who have a considerable amount of longevity doing the work or who hap­ pen to be charismatic, may have implicit privileges in the organizational culture. Their voices may be more likely to be heeded during discussions about certain decisions, and they may even become “rockstars” in the social movement world (Brown, 2017). This can come at a cost to everyone, including the charismatic leader as they may become isolated, be called on to do superhuman-type feats, and burn out quickly. But, using healing justice tools and other self and collective awareness processes can help remedy and transform these challenges. The group BOLD (Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity) is an example of an organization that builds the capacity of leaders and cre­ ates spaces for accountability, collaborative action, and vulnerability (Brown, 2017; BOLD, 2018). Traditional hierarchical administrative models are not necessarily incompatible with progres­ sive social change organizing. It is, however, necessary to consider the implications and com­ plexities of such scenarios. SPAN has articulated several qualities of leaders, such as executive directors, who are committed to building multiethnic, inclusive, and antiracist organizations. These qualities include people who ■ ■ ■ ■

are willing to acknowledge their own power and privilege utilize transparent decision-making process are not removed from everyday struggles are committed to and model conflict-resolution processes when injuries and damages occur within the organization (SPAN, 2005)

Because power and privilege can easily and quite subtly be used to marginalize and stifle people in organizations, such leadership qualities and actions can be effective in bringing about a more relational and empowered organization. The Annie E. Casey Foundation partnered with the Leadership Learning Community (LLC) to find out how to expand leadership opportunities for people of color (Perry, 2005). In the study, LLC interviewed organizational leaders and learned about barriers to expanding such opportuni­ ties as well as what strategies can be useful to facilitate leadership opportunities. Based on focus groups and interviews with a variety of nonprofit stakeholders, Perry found that there are many barriers within organizations and among other key stakeholders that hinder more collectively oriented and people-of-color-driven organizational practices. The findings of this study included several possible solutions to these hindrances, including focusing on individual leadership develop­ ment among people of color, with a particular focus on mentoring and skills development. Devel­ oping impacted community, organizational, and interorganizational capacities appears to be just as critical to expanding such leadership opportunities. Recommendations included reviewing per­ sonnel policies, job descriptions, and decision-making standards for alignment with organizational values. In addition, funders can make diversity and inclusiveness in leadership and organizational management as part of their criteria for funding. Consensus Decision Making As previously noted, many decisions in nonprofit organizations are made by management, with or without input from frontline workers, volunteers, or impacted communities. Other organi­ zations embrace more democratic practices, proactively using processes designed to engage all people affected in decision making. Many community organizations will use some combination

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of Robert’s Rules of Order and voting to make decisions. Another method is consensus decision making, which offers an alternative model for making decisions in an organization (Brown, 2017; Auvine, Avery, Stribel, & Weiss, 1981). Consensus decision making is process-oriented decision making that works toward agreement among a substantial number of members that is reached after group study and discussion. It is the sense of what the group supports. It is not a vote or a majority, wherein people in the minority lose out, and it is not necessarily unanimity either. Emerging from feminist, environmental, and anarchist organizing, this kind of decision making requires a group of individuals who are committed to the values and principles of decolonization and nonhierarchical organizing. Searching for common ground through dialogue is the primary objective of consensus decision-making processes. Before engaging in consensus decision making, the group should have a clear sense of its mis­ sion and have some semblance of unity in its principles, as without a common set of values, it would make little sense to engage in a value-driven activity, such as consensus (Gelderloos, 2006). According to Gelderloos, adopting a conscious consensus process is significant in a number of ways. Commitment to the ideal of consensus signifies a bold rejection of society’s dominant values of order, hierarchy, competition, and formalized leadership….The process also recognizes that the oppressive sys­ tems of our society deeply affect our own behaviors, and that people who are typically silenced by our society can also be marginalized within ostensibly antiauthoritarian groups unless there is an intentional structure that helps expose and overcome these power dynamics. (2006, pp. 14–15) Groups such as Seeds for Change in the UK and Training for Change in the U.S. offer training in consensus decision making that can support individual and group capacities to make decisions col­ lectively, which is clearly counter to the cultural status quo of decision making. Emerging from work in the antiviolence movement, Creighton and Kivel (1993) identify basic agreements that build trust and respect in a group, which one may consider central for creating liberation and justice. Communication becomes the crucial mechanism for achieving consensus and is the basis of organizational empowerment. Grounded in principles of feminism, some group conditions that support consensus are: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Principles of unity Equal access to power Autonomy of the group from the external hierarchical structures A willingness in the group to spend time to attend to process A willingness in the group to attend to attitudes A willingness in the group to learn and practice

Establishing group agreements is a common practice in transformative change work, whether it is in the context of popular, social justice education or organizational decision making. Dialogue is truly fundamental for any social change organization with a transformative or consciousnessraising approach to organizing. Freire (1970) reminds us of the importance of dialogue as a way to hear the voices of people who can often become marginalized in the group process. By building mechanisms for communication about issues into ongoing organizational decision-making pro­ cesses, organizers can create a more relational and empowering environment. In this case, the means becomes as important as the ends. Besides the values and intention, each meeting or session

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can include assigning positions such as a facilitator, a note-taker, a timekeeper, and a process watcher. The facilitator position is often rotated, but this is the person who keeps the process going, making sure that everyone in the group has a chance to participate. The process watcher pays attention to the emotions of the group, including people’s body language. The timekeeper makes sure that the process is staying within the allotted time for each agenda item, while the note-taker keeps track of what is happening. The following are a few further guidelines for communication in a consensus process and may be helpful in other kinds of social justice and social change spaces: Engage with your whole self: This may mean tuning into your own somatic cues, listening from the heart or gut, and taking responsibility for your own limits Confidentiality: Everything said in the group is confidential, allowing people to feel safe to express their perspectives Amnesty: People are not blamed for their beliefs, and an atmosphere of grace for human foibles is created Put-ups, not put-downs: Operating from a strengths perspective, the group seeks common ground Right to pass: Nobody is forced to speak when they do not want to. Some people contribute to the process through means other than talking No cross-talk,no piggybacking: Side conversations are not productive to group consensus. Piggyback­ ing is a way to build an argument and position and is more conducive to a debate atmosphere rather than a consensus atmosphere Feelings: Because feelings are often invalidated in traditional organizational settings, being as aware, vulnerable, and transparent about one’s own feelings as possible is advantageous to group process Respect/listening: Conscious Listening is a vital skill in consensus decision making “I” statements: Speaking in “I” statements, such as “I believe this action would be beneficial because…,” encourages personal accountability for statements. Speaking on behalf of others by using “we” statements may be experienced as colonization of another’s experience Try on the process: It is unfair to critique the process unless you actually try it with an open mind Make space, take space: If you tend to be quiet in a group or your voice tends to be marginalized because of some aspect(s) of your identity, consider taking more space in the conversation; and vice versa These guidelines can make group discussions more liberating and productive, especially when focused around a very specific question or when a decision about a concrete proposal is needed. There are also additional ways that group members who are not able to find common ground with the group can express this. By choosing to “stand aside” from a decision, a member of the group agrees not to block the decision from happening. When all other means have been exhausted, one person could have the right to “block” a decision that is the will of the group if they cannot find common ground. One of the critiques of consensus work is that it takes too much time or that it is not “effi­ cient.” Brown (2017) offers a useful perspective on why consensus decision making can sometimes appear to take so long, reframing the concept of “efficiency” noting that is important to clarify “that there is nothing dragging or diverting the energy of the work” (p. 230). People often do not

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actually understand or embrace the values behind it, so they may not give it their full attention or sabotage the process. Besides getting clear about agreements, successful consensus-oriented organizations establish time parameters before every meeting and for every agenda item; they can agree to extend time for more complex issues. In the long run, it may actually take less time to utilize consensus decision making than do traditional approaches. This is because consensus allows for reflection on decisions from multiple perspectives, giving everyone the opportunity to think through unintended consequences as well as to “buy in” to the decision. When groups do not have complete group buy-in on decisions, they often have to go back and undo those decisions or attend to resistances and sabotage anyway, which can ultimately be more time-consuming. Consensus decision making has been perceived by some critics as antidemocratic because a person who blocks a proposal can be viewed as having too much power. Quakers have also made significant contributions to the practice of consensus decision making and have responded to this particular critique by saying that a block can only hold when the entire group agrees that the block is based on a core value of the group or that without the block, the decision would be catastrophic (Bressen, 2004). Consensus decision making may not be the right approach for all organizations at all times. Some organizations may choose to utilize consensus for a particular committee, for example, but do not use it for their daily decision-making processes. Other groups may choose to employ consensus for all organizational decisions. I worked at an organization where every deci­ sion was made based on consensus. Even daily decisions could be made by a “Committee of 3” or what we called a “C of 3.” Any three organizational members could make decisions, because we did not have an executive director or other supervisor to whom we deferred. I also worked for a different organization that attempted to utilize consensus decision making, but we quickly learned that the value commitment just was not there to make it successful. Each group has to determine what its own values are before deciding what kind of decision-making processes are most appro­ priate for it. Fund-Raising All organizing work requires a certain amount of financial resources; building power in organi­ zations means building some semblance of financial power. Though many organizations receive donations of time, services, and materials, it is virtually impossible for an organization to have an impact without some money. They will likely need money for things like rent, printing, web services, travel, hospitality, and, in many cases, paid staff with benefits. Securing money for organizing is typically achieved through some combination of membership dues, grants, and fund-raising. Collecting annual or monthly dues from members is a time-honored tradition in membership organizations. A membership organization, with values grounded in solidarity and commit­ ted to building collective power, is comprised of members who receive specific benefits and who go through a process to join via certain activities and/or by membership fees. There are different strategies for collecting dues depending on the organization size, focus, and context. For some organizations, it would certainly be appropriate to collect dues through the mail or by elec­ tronic means. But, for community-based organizations, collecting dues in person can be an effi­ cacious strategy, particularly when the act itself is approached as a form of relationship-building and organizing. This was a particularly successful, though painstaking, strategy for an inter­ national association of autonomous community organizing groups, Association of Community

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Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). ACORN was founded in 1970 and dissolved in 2010. (It re-emerged in some of its locations including, for example, in New York as New York Communities for Change.) Wade Rathke, a founding member of ACORN, explained that col­ lecting membership dues was the “critical distinguishing characteristic at the foundation of the organization” (2009, p. 46) though it is certainly not what most organizers imagine organizing to be. He noted that Perhaps they see themselves standing on a table addressing crowds or secluded in a back room cutting a deal, but they don’t necessarily see themselves as checking off the list and counting the dollars and checks in the back room at the end of the night with a local group treasurer. Every night. Night after night. (p. 48) Collecting membership dues requires organizers to meet with members and ask for their modest dues every month, creating an opportunity to engage in dialogue about the issues and campaigns and serving as a leadership development opportunity. In rural Haiti, the Association of the Peas­ ants of Fondwa (APF) was founded in 1998 by Father Joseph Philippe as a way to organize com­ munities, create economic opportunities, and transform lives. He started the organization with a handful of farmers sitting under a tree and asking them to pay one gourde (equivalent of a few coins) as a sign of commitment. A parallel of this phenomena in the world of political organizing is when Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was running for the Democratic nomination for Presi­ dent in 2016, he asked people to donate a mere $27 as an antidote to the corporate-driven Super PACs (political action committees) that dominate Washington politics. These examples hold up the values of transparency, accountability, and commitment to solidarity, at the same time that they deliberately defy growth-oriented models that tend to be more accountable to big donors than to the base. Although many service organizations secure grants from national and local government agen­ cies as well as the private sector, obtaining grants to do social change work can be significantly more challenging. The government is probably not going to give your organization money to transport activists and stage protests in front of the U.S. Capitol. But when possible, tapping into grant funds can be beneficial to organizations in spite of the challenges and drawbacks. Within a system that views human services as a scarce commodity to be bought and sold, the current grants and fund-raising climate in the nonprofit world encourage organizations to compete against one another for funding. Moreover, philanthropists tend to make their decisions about what and who to fund behind closed doors, without the input of impacted communities. However, there are alternative solutions. Such solutions empower the community to be a part of the decision-making process and enable its members to be at the table when deciding who gets funding, how much, and for how long. The Third Wave Fund provides grants and supports youthled gender justice activism in communities of color and low-income communities. Led by women and trans and queer people of color under 35, they are committed to activism that advances politi­ cal power, well-being, and self-determination of their own communities. The Colorado Trust (2019) represents another alternative approach to philanthropy through its community partnerships strategy for funding health equity projects. Diverse groups of Colora­ doans identify their own community assets and needs as the Trust works in conjunction with com­ munities to make joint decisions about how the money is spent. They emphasize the building of power in communities and engage people who have normally been excluded from decision making

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in a multi-part process that begins with a connecting phase through an implementation phase. The guideposts which steer the strategy are that the work: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Meaningfully involves people who are most affected by the challenges that their community is facing—in the leadership, planning, implementation and evaluation of the work Addresses one or more social determinants of health Seeks to narrow a health equity gap Focuses on an important need in the community (as demonstrated by community stories, con­ versations, and data) Requires a deep understanding of an issue and its root causes, so that effective solutions can be identified Resonates broadly across diverse groups of people in the community Simultaneously builds resources, capacity and a strong team to lead this work, both short- and long-term (The Colorado Trust, 2019).

This approach is indeed an exception to the norm of philanthropic giving but is representative of a trend in more participatory-oriented approaches to giving, approaches that are in more alignment with the values of community organizers. Activists have noted that funding community organizing can be more difficult than funding social services provision. Engaged in organizing with low-income elderly individuals who were living in single-room-occupancy hotel rooms, Minkler (2005) noted that when her group shifted to a pure community organizing project, it also discovered that its goals (for example, community empowerment and leadership development) were less attractive to the most traditional founda­ tion and corporate sponsors than were tangible deliverables, such as hotel-based mini-markets and health promotion resource centers. She goes on to say: Moreover, even progressive foundations that understood and applauded [the group’s] new direc­ tions tended to avoid refunding the same project, so new sources of income continually had to be located. With an overworked board and no staff or volunteers specifically devoted to rais­ ing money, [the group’s] two full-time organizers found themselves unable to respond to many requests to help organize in new buildings because they were too busy raising funds. (p. 279) Despite the barriers, there are grants available for organizing work. Resources such as the Grassroots Fundraising Journal (http://www.grassrootsfundraising.org/) provide useful informa­ tion and ideas regarding the challenges of staying afloat in community organizations. There are other creative strategies available to organizers to fund their work including online crowdsourc­ ing, in-kind donations, and event organizing. Fund-raising events include everything from 5Ks to garage sales to pancake breakfasts. Though such events are labor-intensive, community organizers can take their own uniquely appropriate approach in the process, embracing relationship building and organizing people into other forms of participation. In general, when working with donors, it is important to build the relationship and get to know donors. In supporting activists focused on the issue of worker centers, Bobo and Pabellón (2016) invite organizers to engage with donors around a series of questions, focusing on listening more than talking: What are their concerns? What are their values? How does supporting a worker center align with their values and concerns? What kinds of things have they given to in the past? What is their favorite charity and why? What first got them to give to their favorite charities? (pp. 43–44)

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Taking the time to build the relationship creates more opportunity for values alignment between the funder and the organization. Here I offer some questions and guidelines for group and organizational decision making about engaging in grant-funded activities: ■



■ ■

Carefully determine the campaigns and projects that your organization wants to engage in, making sure that such decisions are accountable to the constituency. Once this has been deter­ mined, then look for funding to do the work. Do not do it the other way around and have the funder determine your priorities. If the funder is a private foundation, research who the financier is. Is the foundation an arm of a corporation that is engaging in oppressive social or economic practices? What does the funder stand for? Are their values commensurate with your organization’s values? If the funder is a governmental agency, consider the political climate and agenda that the state may be trying to promote. Is the agenda commensurate with the values of your organization? What kind of evaluation and reporting requirements does the funder have? Are there resources available to build the capacity of the organization to engage in such activities? Will it be possible to do a participatory evaluation that involves impacted people in the process of determining what worked and what did not work?

Most organizers consider fund-raising to be an unpalatable activity that only detracts from the time that could better be spent organizing. However, some organizations have reframed this complaint and consider fund-raising to be a central part of their organizing strategy. Project South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty and Genocide is a grassroots organization in Atlanta, Georgia, focused on racial and economic justice. For this group, fundraising itself has become a strategy for maintaining a connection to its base constituency. “We define organizing as building relation­ ships and institutions to sustain community power, and it follows that fundraising is organizing” (Guilloud & Cordery, 2007, p. 108). Rather than hiring fundraisers to do fundraising, they hire organizers to do fundraising. Their experience has been that dependency on foundations limits their effectiveness. The funders are often defining the programming trends, and then nonprofits must “bend to these requests rather than assess real needs and realistic goals” (Guilloud & Cordery, 2007, p. 108). Thus, Project South’s fundraising strategy is based on the notion of a “community­ based economy,” wherein resources flow from and return to the same community. Although not all of their fundraising comes from the grassroots community, their goal is to increase that percentage each year. Many activists tend to hold an overly simplified view of philanthropists as a monolithic group of rich people running foundations, but in reality, working and poor people can be considered philanthropists because they are generous and actually give proportionally more of their income. Securing $20 from a constituent and getting them involved in the organization may be more valuable and sustainable in the long run than is $1000 from a wealthy donor.

Research and Evaluation in Community Organizing Organizer Ed Chambers (2003) wrote: “Research, action, reflection … action is the middle term … sandwiched between moments of hard reflection” (p. 15). The evaluation of an organiza­ tion’s actions becomes a vital part of a feedback loop that informs the development of conscious­ ness as well as future action. Reflection and evaluation can be a kind of “critical living praxis”

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(Ledwith, 2016, p. 139) and even emancipatory. Grassroots organizations, such as women’s groups and labor groups, have historically valued an organizational culture that embraces a dialec­ tic between active engagement and honest reflection. One of the primary ways of evaluating the work that organizations or movements engage in is through informal group process and reflection. These moments of reflection may include a diversity of members of an organization, including impacted communities, members, volunteers, staff, administrators, board members, and allies. An organization that has implemented a complex monitoring and evaluation system that is guided by logic models and theories of change, and yet does not take the time for informal reflection on the work that it does, is missing the boat. In the case of the evaluation of direct action or other major event or program, a group of 15 people will have 15 different perspectives on how it went, so it is necessary to create a space that minimally allows people to share their perceptions and reflect. Most practitioners doing community-based change work agree that it can be very difficult to evaluate their efforts in a more formal way. Andrew Mott (2003) of the Community Learning Project has discussed how organizations can strengthen their social change efforts through organi­ zational learning and evaluation. According to Mott, social change “requires overcoming the status quo, making innovations and taking risks, often against great odds. It, therefore, involves trial and error, and messy, uncertain processes which are difficult to track and evaluate” (p. 3). Determin­ ing the effectiveness of organizing can be a problem because cause and effect are not always appar­ ent. A logic model that evaluates the effectiveness of internal organizational strategies may mask the external variables and structural conditions that tend to have significant impacts on organizing. In fact, many have argued that the success of some endeavors is more dependent on external political factors than it is on internal organizational structures (Duyvendak, Giugni, Koopmans, & Kriesi, 1992; Piven & Cloward, 1979). This may include the formal arrangements that govern the decision-making process in any given country as well as the relationships that activists have to political authorities (Giugni, 2004). Thus, electoral factors, political will, and political alliances are as important as internal factors, such as the number of people participating in actions or the communication methods used. A politician may be unwilling to ally with an organization during an election year because of a belief that the alliance could have a negative impact on their ability to be re-elected. It is difficult, then, to measure the efficacy of a group’s efforts when so much is out of one’s control (Ohmer & Korr, 2006). One of the predicaments of the contemporary climate of evidence-based outcomes reporting in the social services field is that there is pressure on organizations to present their work as a “suc­ cess.” This burden can prevent organizers from having honest discussions about failures and the realities of the sometimes slow rhythms of social change (Incite! Women of Color Against Vio­ lence, 2007). Grounded in an expanded view of what counts as success, several types of outcomes are legitimate when thinking about community organizing. Mondros and Wilson (1994) identified four types of achievement, which I explicate through examples of organizing endeavors from my research in post-Katrina New Orleans. Instrumental changes in the environment are what organizations set out to do, such as securing funding for public schools that will result in higher quality educational environments or outcomes or getting a union contract that will result in improved salaries, benefits, and health and safety measures. Neighborhood associations in post-Katrina New Orleans identified a variety of such successes—securing a FEMA trailer park that provided temporary housing, stopping new detri­ mental developments in neighborhoods, getting streetlights working again to enhance safety, and obtaining funding for homeowners to rebuild and secure long-term housing.

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Success in the area of leadership development is marked by an increase in current members tak­ ing on leadership responsibilities. One organizer told his story about getting more involved in his neighborhood association: I answered somebody’s thing that said “we need volunteers,” would you please volunteer? And, I did, I volunteered, and I was working in this community office where we give information out to people, and they asked me to take that over, and I did.Then we started with the Block Captains, and so…. I became the coordinator for all of the block captains…. So, that’s how I became involved. I answered a call for volunteers, and I just—with being retired, I have a lot of time, I ended up taking the minutes at the infrastructure meetings and writing them up and sending them to everybody. Development of an organization’s resources and capabilities is another outcome measure of success. One neighborhood association defined success in the following way: The biggest way we can measure success at this point is by membership because it’s very difficult to get people to join.We’ve been able to build this up very slowly….We formed the association and one way we could measure success at least for us is the number of dues-paying members, and we have 100 dues-paying members.There are only 500 households in [our neighborhood], so 20% impact we feel is very good for neighborhoods because it is very hard to recruit people to join and pay dues. Dues are nominal—they’re $15 for individuals and $25 for family. In addition to enhancing leadership capacities, increasing the quality of the membership and secur­ ing financial resources are examples of such successes in organizations. Increasing public awareness is achieved when organizations get their messages heard. One public housing organizer in post-Katrina New Orleans identified the fact that there is any public debate about public housing at all as one of his organization’s successes. The group worked to bring the issue to the table, reframe it as a human rights issue, and encouraged the community to engage in discourse about the role of public housing in the community. All of these successes tend to influ­ ence the other; for example, increasing public awareness may be a direct result of an organiza­ tion’s enhancement of resources and capabilities, or vice versa. Many organizations engaged in organizing may resent the fact that their funders require them to evaluate their work, often because it appears to be a time-consuming activity, just busywork, or that it must be done in a way that reinforces the status quo. The feeling may be that it takes away from the real work of the organization. When a group of social change leaders and evaluators came together to discuss some of these important issues, the members identified several principles on which evaluation should be based that could help alleviate many concerns: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Social change organizations should be involved in developing, interpreting, and communicating the results of the evaluation and receive adequate support to carry out those responsibilities. Evaluation should be designed to be useful in improving the work of grantees, the field, and others. Evaluation should build the group’s internal capacity for self-evaluation and/or build on exist­ ing mechanisms for reflection and self-assessment. Evaluation should respect and acknowledge the context in which the organization is operating. All the costs of conducting the evaluation should be fully funded. Candor should not be punished inside an organization or by funders (Mott, 2003).

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Recent movements in social work research and practice, influenced by a medical model, have focused on developing an “evidence base” for social work practice. The philosophy behind evidence-based practice (EBP) is that practice is driven by guidelines and protocols that come from experimental empirical research findings. One of the problems with this approach, particularly from a critical social constructionist perspective, concerns the possibility of replicating distorted discourses and existing power arrangements. Concepts, variables, and methodologies in research are always a function of a metanarrative about social work and social change. Parton (2007) has written on the subject: While I am not, in principle, against the notion of EBP, my concern is that it has been used in a quite specific way that has the impact of reinforcing the political instrumentalism and aspirations for greater central control than that being implemented by the modernization agenda. It is consistent with attempts to manufacture a sense of certainty in an increasingly uncertain world. (p. 155) The EBP movement reflects a marriage of human service practices to science and, arguably, a divorce from history, politics, and other social complexities. Scheyett (2006) has written about the role of EBP in relationship to mental health consumers, believing that EBP has a silencing effect on consumers. The EBP hierarchy of knowledge that is valued includes randomized trials at the top and qualitative studies, particularly first-person accounts, toward the bottom. Consumer voices can thus be marginalized in this process. Oftentimes, the research question and the out­ comes are determined by people who are not impacted by these questions at hand. In a critique of mental health evaluation studies, researchers have pointed out that outcomes, such as hope, meaning, and purpose, are underemphasized (Scheyett, 2006). Healing Justice in Organizations People working on the frontlines of social change are not only coping with the stress of living in a society permeated with structural violence, but also are confronted with moral injury and secondary trauma as they work directly in communities, all while negotiating their own indi­ vidual trauma loads. While compassion fatigue (similar to concepts such as vicarious trauma or secondary stress) is caused by ongoing “exposure” to people who are traumatized or in crisis (Maslach, 2003), burnout is a response to work stress that may include similar symptoms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced self-efficacy, but, in this case, the approximate cause is organizational context and other environmental factors (Halbesleben & Buckley, 2004). In other words, burnout is preventable through appropriate attention to the environment. However, the term “burnout” does not really do justice to what is actually tran­ spiring, as it is perhaps more like a kind of moral injury; it is an experience that masks the larger political, social, and economic arrangements at play. To be sure, women, people of color, immigrants, queer people, and other marginalized groups, i.e. those whose bodies are the tar­ get of exclusionary policies, violence, and microaggressions, tend to bear the disproportionate brunt of this “burnout” (Pyles, 2018). Moreover, the recycling of trauma in organizations can result in a relentless sense of crisis mode, identification with dominant hierarchies, disconnection, and unconscious communication patterns (James, Pathikinda, Salgado, & Zimmerman, 2010). Organizational trauma is trauma that is structurally caused and played out in organizations resulting in emotional, cognitive, and

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somatic stress reactions. This trauma may be a function of: 1) secondary trauma that is a result of the work itself; 2) acute and chronic organizational crises related to funding cuts, downsiz­ ing, mergers, and workload creep; and 3) unresolved trauma that workers bring to organizations that gets played out through toxic leadership, poor communication, and crisis-oriented behaviors (Vivian & Horman, 2013). It is no coincidence that increased emphases on worker resilience and workplace wellness pro­ grams have occurred at the same time as the growing presence of neoliberalism in the nonprofit arena, social welfare retrenchment, the 2008 economic crisis, the rise of technology, and having to do more with less. In the field of human rights, for example, initiatives such as New York University’s Human Rights Resilience Project focus on the stress and vicarious trauma of human rights workers. Interventions in the human rights field are bringing greater attention to mental health through mindfulness-based self-care in order to attenuate the impacts of the work (Cheung, 2016). Academic programs that are training social workers, educators, counselors, and other helping professionals are bringing more mindfulness-based self-care into educational programs with an emphasis on self-care, self-regulation, and self-awareness (Lynn, 2010; McGarrigle & Walsh, 2011; Skovholt & Trotter-Matthison, 2016). While there is value in supporting individual well-being, the neoliberal narcissism of the selfcare revolution has shifted the focus from organizational structures and culture to coping and self-regulation. While mindfulness and other practices can certainly be helpful to workers, they can shift attention away from the causes of stress in organizational environments and reinforce bootstrapism and self-blame. According to the Buddhist Peace Fellowship: “This individualistic approach [to mindfulness] obscures the role of institutionalized systems of oppression, shifting the burden of change to the entrepreneurial self which falsely appears as the sole agent untouched by sociohistoric conditioning” (Ng & Purser, 2017). Some organizations have endeavored to bring forth more healing in their organizations by embracing collectively oriented approaches while also resisting some of the trends of merely fix­ ating on individualized wellness. There are a few organizational case studies and models that are helpful to review in terms of ascertaining key structural and cultural dimensions of organizations that can facilitate transformative and healing spaces. For example, the National Domestic Work­ ers Alliance, who represent nannies, housekeepers, and caregivers are incorporating mind-body practices into their political and grassroots education, including Aikido and generative somatics (Rowe, 2016). Another example is the trauma-informed work of the Sanctuary Model which is an organizational model that focuses on safety and nonviolence so that all participants in organi­ zational life can get support in healing from trauma (Bloom, 2013). A qualitative study published by the Movement Strategy Center reports on how community organizers are incorporating spir­ itual practices in order to bolster resilience, deepen awareness, and facilitate transformative jus­ tice (James, Pathikinda, Salgado, & Zimmerman, 2010). Such activities include the creation of a Buddhist meditation community for people of color, reclaiming the Native Pueblo practices from a family of origin, and practicing an African traditional religion derived from the Yoruba people in Nigeria. Questions of inclusivity, accessibility, and collectively oriented approaches to wellness, resil­ ience, and healing are also important to this discussion. As mindfulness and yoga are sometimes viewed by marginalized people, such as people of color and larger-bodied people, as something for middle-class White women, these offerings can be experienced as exclusionary. Further, ques­ tions about cultural appropriation and cultural congruence with diverse groups become critical when considering healing justice.

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Organizational practices are socially produced phenomena that can be deconstructed and ulti­ mately reconstructed. Pathways for organizational change can begin with assessment, analysis, and reflection on an organization’s structure and culture. These ideas are also relevant for creating new organizations altogether. This assessment can be undertaken through consideration of the six areas of work-life that are considered to be predictive of burnout (Maslach, 2003). These are work­ load (demands in relation to time and resources), control (worker’s ability to make decisions about work), rewards (recognition, including financial), community (quality of relationships in organiza­ tional context), fairness (transparency and respect in decision-making), and values (congruence between personal and organizational values) (cited in Heaslip, Ray, White, & Wong, 2013). Below are what I consider to be key domains of organizational inquiry for the cultivation of healing justice organizations. These domains are articulated as an assessment that would be a part of larger reflective processes that could result in tailored organizational pathways for change. The following questions can be answered on a Likert scale, but it is mostly meant to be used as an informal tool for reflection. These dimensions, coupled with an explicit commitment to transformative justice and self-care, can form the basis for a healing justice organization. 1. The workplace articulates a healing justice mission through key messages internally and externally, e.g. messages about oppression and social change, community building, and access to culturally appropriate wellness. 2. The workplace is trauma-informed, i.e. demonstrates understanding and provides support regarding the impact of trauma, secondary trauma, and historical and inter-generational trauma. 3. There is participatory and transparent decision making in the workplace and workers have a say in how their work is structured. 4. Workplace cultural norms support self-care for workers, e.g. taking breaks, using vacation time, access to health care, and offering reflective processes for staff. 5. There are opportunities to learn and grow professionally, e.g. adequate support, mentoring, and professional development opportunities. 6. There is a sense of community and/or belonging in the workplace. 7. The environment in the workplace is inviting, e.g. exposure to sunlight, plants, attractive and comfortable spaces. 8. Workers are rewarded for their work, i.e. individually, socially, and financially. Moving from organizational assessment and reflection to action requires intentionality and organi­ zational change strategies (Cohen & Hyde, 2014). Organizations might address making changes to schedules, re-organizing work duties, improved communication mechanisms, enhanced job skills training, greater levels of supervisory supports, and sabbatical programs (Awa, Plaumann, & Walter, 2010; Kang, Kim, & Lee, 2010).

Case Study: Youth Organizing Young people have always been at the forefront of social movements and today youth around the world continue to mobilize, resist, and organize around a variety of issues and across racial/ ethnic, class, gender, and other lines. Whether it is the youth activism around gun violence by survivors of a school shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, youth demonstrators for democracy in Hong Kong, or organized school strikes focused on environmental devastation

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and climate crisis, young people utilize their gifts for clear seeing, risk-taking and coordinated communication to affect change locally and globally. Youth bring vital strengths to community organizing, including life experiences in their families and communities, creativity, techno­ logical savvy, passion, and integrity. They are organizing around LGBTQ issues, public educa­ tion, immigration, homelessness, and environmental justice. Clear that the civic engagement of youth can move beyond the recycling club or other service-oriented projects, youth are increasingly changing perceptions as they are being viewed as impacted and empowered actors who are capable of confronting various power structures and winning important gains. Some of this youth organizing is clearly youth-driven, whereas some of it is driven by a youth–adult partnership model (Share & Stacks, 2006). Regardless of the way that leadership is constructed, youth are achieving meaningful gains in their geographic and identity-based communities. For example, youth leaders in Oakland, California, involved with the group Kids First! led a coalition that organized students, parents, and elected officials. The group was able to convince the regional transportation district to provide free bus passes for students who qualify for subsidized lunch programs (Hosang, 2003). The members argued their case on the premise that public education should be free, pointing out that low-income students were paying $27 per month for a bus pass, a significant amount of money for poor families. Hosang (2003) has identified some commonalities that cut across many diverse venues of contemporary youth organizing, pointing to three common components. First, a widespread characteristic in youth organizing is a holistic approach to social change that can yield multiple outcomes. Besides the traditional organizing campaign which strives for real material changes in the environment, youth organizing models employ cultural enrichment programs, leader­ ship development, and personal growth opportunities, thus embracing more of a transforma­ tive approach to social change and organizing. Because many of the youth hold marginalized identities and may have unstable family and social situations, internal supports or partner­ ships with youth agencies that can work with youth to address emotional, legal, and material issues can be very helpful (Dailey, 2003). Moreover, a positive youth development model is often used to inform youth organizing. This model moves beyond the pathologizing and scapegoating of youth and focuses instead on their educational, artistic, and physical develop­ ment, cultural and racial identities, and the role that youth can play in shaping these processes (Edwards, Johnson & McGillicuddy, 2003; Schwartz & Suyemoto, 2012) Second, another common characteristic is the value that is placed on the political education of youth. Training is conducted on topics, such as capitalism, racism, and other issues cen­ tral to developing a critical consciousness about oppression and social change. For example, Sistas and Brothas United (SBU) grew out of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC), a community organization that has won successful campaigns in hous­ ing and public education. Although some attempts at education reform have focused on mobi­ lizing parents, several factors made organizing the high school students themselves a more appropriate choice. SBU has been more focused on political education than have some adult groups, especially regarding topics on identity and race (Dailey, 2003). Third, youth organizers do tend to rely on paid staff member organizers, “many of whom are in their 20s or early 30s—who can successfully balance roles as mentors, political strate­ gists, trainers, and fundraisers” (Hosang, 2003, p. 68). These staff members, like any profes­ sional staff members engaging impacted communities, work in solidarity with young people, emphasizing empowerment and leadership development. Besides the obvious practical social justice and policy and program outcomes of youth organizing, other positive benefits of community organizing have been studied by researchers (Ohmer, 2016; Rogers & Terriquez, 2013; Schwartz & Suyemoto, 2012). Such studies have

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focused on outcomes related to identity development, skill building, educational attainment, self-perception, collective efficacy, empowerment, and civic identity. Californians for Justice (CFJ) (2018) engages youth to create more equitable school fund­ ing, build relationship-centered schools, and strengthen democracy in California. Through after-school programs and clubs, low-income, LGBTQ, immigrant and youth of color learn about leadership and organizing and engage their peers to create systemic change, deepening their understanding around issues, such as racism, education inequity, and gender and sexual­ ity. These youth are changing the narrative about these key issues as they organize campaigns and speak out in spaces, such as school boards and the state capitol. They focus on issues, such as bilingual education, equitable school funding, and teacher diversity and support. Besides the real material changes in the environment and other positive youth development outcomes, the alumni of CFJ (2018) are 3.5 times more likely to attend a four-year university and 5 times more likely to stay civically engaged into adulthood than their peers. Overall, organizing youth represents a tremendous hope for social change for the future. By raising conscious­ ness, fostering organizing skills, and supporting youth activist agendas, the seeds of sustainable social change work are being planted for the future. Riot Youth The Neutral Zone (n.d.) is a youth-driven teen center in Ann Arbor, Michigan promoting per­ sonal growth of diverse teens through artistic expression, community leadership and exchange of ideas (Weiss, 2018). Whether focused on justice in schools or facilitating restorative practices, the Neutral Zone is a youth-driven space which embraces a youth-driven approach. One of the groups that is housed at the Neutral Zone is called Riot Youth, which is an LGBTQ-led youth group working to build an inclusive community of teens and their allies and engage in activism. Riot Youth was particularly concerned with the climate of schools and has more than 80 mem­ bers from 15 different high schools in the region. The youth, allies and adult mentors strive to impact school policy and climate through 1) trainings of administrators, teachers and counselors on creating a safe and respectful climate; 2) youth ally training; 3) a climate survey; 4) theater (combining stories and statistics from the survey) with discussions; and 5) participation in school board and other meetings with decision makers on how to create effective climate change to stop the bullying and harassment. Riot Youth also has been a space for youth to talk and find support about their struggles. It has hosted workshops on a range of topics, such as gender identity/ expression, intersections of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning and allied (LGBTQQA) identity with race and other social identities, LGBTQQA history and writing workshops. It also plays theater games, hosts movie nights, has parties, and hosts a queer prom. PAR has been utilized as a tool for organizing youth in a variety of settings. One particularly fruitful undertaking was a PAR project conducted by Riot Youth. This project was conducted under the leadership of Riot Youth and an adult mentor (Wernick, Woodford, & Siden, 2011). The purpose of the project was linked to Riot Youth’s ongoing campaign that focused on youth empowerment and institutional change in local high schools. The youth surveyed 1,200 students in four high schools about school climate related to safety of LGBTQ youth. With adult assistance, the youth wrote a final report and developed strategies for dissemina­ tion, which included creative performances to convey the findings. In addition to numerous requests for these performances in the area, the Riot Youth Survey received local, statewide, and national media attention. These efforts have resulted in the Ann Arbor School District changing its antidiscrimination policy to include gender identity and expression, including required in-services for school counselors, co-led by Riot Youth.

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The survey development process entailed sharing stories and developing a critical analysis of experiences. The development of the demographics section of the survey, particularly the development of questions about race, created an opportunity to discuss intersectionality and how race influenced people’s experiences with their sexual identity. This experience affirms that each step of the PAR process can be an opportunity for consciousness raising and leadership development. Besides technical support related to survey development and analysis, the adult partners helped youth by providing context and language to politicize their personal struggles, as well as facilitating access to key gatekeepers in positions of power. One of the major tensions in progressive youth organizing generally is that of adult-youth relationships, the question of how in practice adults can act as consultants and mentors rather than directors. In the case of Riot Youth, the adult advisors maintain a “fluid” role, which acknowledges that “youth need various types of support at different points in time” (Wernick, Woodford, & Siden, 2011, p. 172). As such, adults regularly evaluate their power and privilege and receive feedback and direction from the youth.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION 1. What challenges do organizers face when trying to do organizing and transformative change work in social services organizations? 2. Assess an organization in which you are (or have in the past) working in terms of its ability to attend to the guideposts of accountability, empowerment, relationship, and transformation. Consider organizational structure and culture, leadership and decision-making, funding, and healing justice. Identify one specific change goal for the organization. 3. Imagine that you are working as a youth organizer with a focus on empowering teenagers to live healthy lifestyles. You are approached by a tobacco company that wants to fund your work. What do you do, and how do you decide? 4. Assess your personal interest and ability to participate in consensus-oriented decision making. What could you offer to such a process and with what would you struggle? 5. Think about a time in which you felt overwhelmed in an organization. Reflecting on this, what are some healing justice antidotes that would have been helpful to prevent this from happening or to support you when it is happening?

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER INQUIRY Books Hertzberg, M., Smith, R., & Westphal, R. (2013). A Consensus Handbook: Co-operative decision-­ making for activists, co-ops and communities. Seeds for Change Lancaster Co-operative Ltd.. Pyles, L. (2018). Healing justice: Holistic self-care for change makers. New York: Oxford University Press. Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York, NY: Doubleday Currency.

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Web Bolder Advocacy: A Program of Alliance for Justice. https://bolderadvocacy.org Building Movement Project. http://www.buildingmovement.org Californians for Justice. http://www.caljustice.org Center for Community Change. http://www.communitychange.org Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training. https://www.grassrootsfundraising.org/ People and Planet. https://peopleandplanet.org/ The Neutral Zone. http://www.neutral-zone.org The Praxis Project. http://thepraxisproject.org REFERENCES Addams, J. (1910). Twenty years at Hull-House. New York, NY: Penguin. Avery, M., Stribel, B., Auvine, B., & Weiss, L. (1981). Building united judgment: A handbook for consensus decisionmaking. Chicago, IL: Center for Conflict Resolution. Awa, W., Plaumann, M., & Walter, U. (2010). Burnout prevention: A review of intervention programs. Patient Education and Counseling, 78(2), 184–190. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2009.04.008. Black Organization for Leadership and Dignity [BOLD]. (2018). Retrieved from https://boldorganizing.org/who-we-are/ Bloom, S. L. (2013). The sanctuary model. In J.D. Ford & C.A. Courtois (Ed.), Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders in Children and Adolescents: Scientific Foundations and Therapeutic Models, 277−294. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. Bobo, K., & Pabellon, M. C. (2016). The worker center handbook: A practical guide to starting and building the new labor movement. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Bolder Advocacy. (2018, November 20). The Connection. Retrieved from https://bolderadvocacy.org/resource/ the-connection-strategies-for-creating-and-operating-501c3s-501c4s-and-political-organizations/ Bressen, T. (2004). When and why to block consensus. Communities, (122), 14−16. Retrieved from https://searchproquest com.libproxy.albany.edu/docview/222919829?accountid=14166 Brown, A. (2017). Emergent strategy: Shaping change, changing worlds. Chico, CA: AK Press. Californians for Justice. (2018). Explore our work. Retrieved from https://caljustice.org/our-work/. Chambers, E. (2003). Roots for radicals: Organizing for power, action and justice. New York, NY: Continuum. Chambers, E. T. (2018). Roots for radicals: Organizing for power, action, and justice. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing. Cheung, M. (2016). The intersection between mindfulness and human rights:The case of Falun Gong and its implications for social work. Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 35(1–2), 57–75. https:// doi.org/10.1080/15426432.2015.1067586 Cohen, M. B., & Hyde, C. A. (Eds.). (2014). Empowering workers and clients for organizational change. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

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Transformative Organizations Creighton, A., & Kivel, P. (1993). Helping teens stop violence: A practical guide. Alamada, CA: Hunter House. Dailey, M. (2003). Youth organizing is organizing: Case study of Sistas and Brothas United. Social Policy, 34(2–3), 95–100. Edwards, D., Johnson, N. A., & McGillicuddy, K. (2003). An emerging model for working with youth: Community organizing+ youth development= youth organizing. Occasional Papers Series on Youth Organizing, 1, 21. Engler, M., & Engler, P. (2016). This is an uprising: How nonviolent revolt is shaping the twenty-first century. New York, NY: Bold Type Books. Ferree, M. M., & Martin, P. Y. (Eds.) (1995). Feminist organizations: Harvest of the new women’s movement. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. Fisher, R., & Shragge, E. (2000). Challenging community organizing: Facing the 21st century. Journal of Community Practice, 8(3), 1–19. Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, NY: Seabury Press. Gamson, W. A. (1990). The strategy of social protest (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Gelderloos, P. (2006). Consensus: A new handbook for grassroots political, social and environmental groups. Tucson, AZ: See Sharp Press. Giddens, A., Duneier, M., Appelbaum, R. P., & Carr, D. (2018). Introduction to sociology, 11th ed. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co. Giugni, M. (2004). Social protest and policy change: Ecology, antinuclear, and peace movements in comparative perspective. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Guilloud, S., & Cordery, W. (2007). Fundraising is not a dirty word: Community-based economic strategies for the long haul. In Incite! Women of Color Against Violence (Eds.), The revolution will not be funded: Beyond the nonprofit industrial complex (pp. 107–111). Cambridge, MA: South End Press. Halbesleben, J. R., & Buckley, M. R. (2004). Burnout in organizational life. Journal of Management, 30(6), 859–879. Hasenfeld, Y., & Garrow, E. (2012). Nonprofit human-service organizations, social rights, and advocacy in a neoliberal welfare State. Social Service Review, 86(2), 295–322. doi: https://doi.org/10.1086/666391. Highlander Research and Education Center. (n.d.). Highlander Research and Education Center. Retrieved from http://www.highlandercenter.org Hosang, D. (2003). Youth and community organizing today. Social Policy, 34(2–3), 66–70. Iannello, K. (2013). Decisions without hierarchy: Feminist interventions in organization theory and practice. New York, NY: Routledge. Incite! Women of Color Against Violence (2007). The revolution will not be funded: Beyond the nonprofit industrial complex. Cambridge, MA: South End Press. Kang, C., Kim, M., & Lee, J. (2010). The effects of a month-long sabbatical program on helping professionals of nonprofit human service organizations in South Korea: Burnout, general health, organizational commitment, and the sense of well-being. Administration in Social Work, 35(1), 20−45. Katz, H. (2006). Gramsci, hegemony, and global civil society networks. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 17(4), 332–347. Kriesi, H., Koopmans, R., Duyvendak, J. W., & Giugni, M. G. (1992). New social movements and political opportunities in Western Europe. European Journal of Political Research, 22, 219–244.

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TOOLS FOR COMMUNITY ORGANIZING Ledwith, M. (2016). Community development in action: Putting Freire into practice. Bristol, UK: Policy Press. Lynn, R. (2010). Mindfulness in social work education. Social Work Education, 29(3), 289–304. http://dx.doi. org/10.1080/02615470902930351 Maslach, C. (2003). Job burnout: New directions in research and intervention. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12(5), 189–192. McGarrigle, T., & Walsh, C. A. (2011). Mindfulness, self-care, and wellness in social work: Effects of contemplative training. Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 30(3), 212–233. Meyer, M. D. (2004). We’re too afraid of these imaginary tensions: Student organizing in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender campus communities. Communication Studies, 55, 499–514. Minkler, M. (2005). Community organizing with the elderly poor in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District. In M. Minkler (Ed.), Community organizing and community building for health (2nd ed., pp. 240–253). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Mondros, J. B., & Wilson, S. M. (1994). Organizing for power and empowerment. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Mott, A. (2003). Strengthening social change through assessment and organizational learning. Washington, DC: Community Learning Project. Retrieved from http://www.communitylearningproject.org/docs/Gray%20 Rocks%20Conference%20Report.pdf Nikiporets-Takigawa, G. (2017). Leadership and leaders in networked social movements. Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization, 25(1), 7–22. Ohmer, M. (2016). Strategies for preventing youth violence: Facilitating collective efficacy among youth and adults. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 7(4), 681–705. doi: https://doi.org/10.1086/689407. Ohmer, M. L., & Korr, W. S. (2006). The effectiveness of community practice interventions: A review of the literature. Research on Social Work Practice, 16(2), 132–145. Ospina, S., & Foldy, E. G. (2005). Toward a framework of social change leadership. NYU Wagner Research Paper, (2010-05). Padgett, D. L. (2002). Institutionalizing activism: The history of the Sherman Park community association. Journal of Community Practice, 10(4), 67–83. Parton, N. (2007). Constructive social work practice in an age of uncertainty. In S. Witkin, & D. Saleebey (Eds.), Social work dialogues: Transforming the canon in inquiry, practice, and education (pp. 144–166). Alexandria, VA: Council on Social Work Education Press. Pe´rez, A. H. (2007). Between radical theory and community praxis: Reflections on organizing and the non-profit industrial complex. In Incite! Women of Color Against Violence (Eds.), The Revolution will not be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex, (pp. 91−99). Cambridge, MA: South End Press. Perry, E. (2005). Multiple styles of leadership: Increasing the participation of people of color in the nonprofit sector. Retrieved from http://www.leadershiplearning.org/system/files/Final_AECF_Web.pdf Piven, F. F., & Cloward, R. (1979). Poor people’s movements: Why they succeed, how they fail. New York, NY: Vintage Books. Press, A. (2019, October 22). On the origins of the professional managerial class: An interview with Barbara Ehrenreich. Dissent. https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/on-the-origins-of-the-professional-managerialclass-an-interview-with-barbara-ehrenreich Purser, R. E., Ng, E., & Walsh, Z. (2018). The Promise and Perils of Corporate Mindfulness. In C. Mabey, & D. Knights (Eds.), Leadership Matters: Finding Voice, Connection and Meaning in the 21st Century (pp. 47-62). New York, NY: Routledge.

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Transformative Organizations Pyles, L. (2018). Healing justice: Holistic self-care for change makers. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Rathke, W. (2009). Understanding ACORN: Sweat and social change. In R. Fisher (Ed.), The people shall rule: ACORN, community organizing and the struggle for economic justice. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 40–62. Ray, S. L., Wong, C., White, D., & Heaslip, K. (2013). Compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, work life conditions, and burnout among frontline mental health care professionals. Traumatology, 19(4), 255–267. Reisch, M. (2013). Community practice challenges in the global economy. In M. Weil (Ed.), Handbook of community practice (pp. 529–547). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Rodriguez, D. (2007). The political logic of the non-profit industrial complex. In Incite! Women of Color Against Violence (Eds.), The revolution will not be funded: Beyond the non-profit industrial complex (pp. 21–40). Cambridge, MA: South End Press. Rogers, J., & Terriquez, V. (2013). Learning to lead: The impact of youth organizing on the educational and civic trajectories of low-income youth. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA IDEA. Rowe, J. K. (2016). Micropolitics and collective liberation: mind/body practice and left social movements. New Political Science, 38(2), 206–225. Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (2001). Community organizing and development (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence [SPAN]. (2005). Building a multi-ethnic, inclusive and antiracist organization: Tools for liberation packet. Boulder, CO: Author. Scheyett, A. (2006). Silence and surveillance: Mental illness, evidence-based practice and a foucaultian lens. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 17(1), 71–92. Schuller, M. (2009). Gluing globalization: NGOs as intermediaries in Haiti. PoLAR: Political & Legal Anthropology Review, 32(1), 84–104. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.15552934.2009.01025.x. Schwartz, S., & Suyemoto, K. (2012). Creating change from the inside: Youth development within a youth community organizing program. Journal of Community Psychology, 41(3), 341–358. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ jcop.21541. Share, R. A., & Stacks, J. S. (2006). Youth-adult partnership in community organizing: A case study of the my voice counts! Campaign. Journal of Community Practice, 14(4), 113–127. Skovholt, T. M., & Trotter-Mathison, M. (2016). The resilient practitioner: Burnout and compassion fatigue prevention and self-care strategies for the helping professions. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315737447 Smith, A. (2006). Beyond inclusion: Re-centering feminism. Left Turn, 20, 66–69. Specht, H., & Courtney, M. (1994). Unfaithful angels: How social work has abandoned its mission. New York, NY: The Free Press. Staples, L. (2016). Roots to power: A manual for grassroots organizing: A manual for grassroots organizing. ABC-CLIO. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Szakos, K. L., & Szakos, J. (2007). We make change: Community organizers talk about what they do—and why. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press. Tait, V. (2005). Poor workers’ unions: Rebuilding labor from below. Cambridge, MA: South End Press. The Colorado Trust. (2019). A health equity foundation. Retrieved from https://www.coloradotrust.org/strategy/ community-partnerships

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TOOLS FOR COMMUNITY ORGANIZING The neutral zone. (n.d.). riot youth. retrieved from http://www.neutral-zone.org/programs/43/riot-youth Third Wave fund. (n.d.). Youth vision and activism for gender justice. retrieved from https://www.thirdwavefund. org/about.html vivian, P., & Hormann, s. (2013). organizational trauma and healing. Createspace independent Publishing Platform. Weiss, J. K. (2018). involving the stakeholders that matter most: student voice in school reform. JeeL, 199. Wernick, L. J., Woodford, m. r., & siden, J. (2011). Youth-led participatory action research: fostering effective youth-adult partnerships. in L. m. Harter, J. Hamel-Lambert, & J. millesen (eds.), Case studies in communitybased participatory research (pp. 165–186). Dubuque, ia: Kendall Hunt Publishers. zimmerman, K., Pathikonda, n., salgado, B., & James, T. (2010). out of the spiritual closet: organizers transform­ ing the practice of social justice. oakland, Ca: movement strategy Center.

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Chapter 8

Communication For Social Change: Issue Framing, Storytelling, and Social Media “Once upon a time” is a phrase that invites an audience into a story, a realm of shared meaning, humanity, adventure, and possibility. Human beings are storytellers. Children love to hear stories from a very young age. We tell stories all day long—to ourselves and each other. Stories help us frame reality, make meaning, facilitate empathy, and inspire our behaviors. They connect us to the past and orient us to the future. There are personal stories, family stories, and cultural stories. Stories may exist consciously or unconsciously; they may be very detailed and fleshed out, or come in the form of simple images, frames, or poetic phrases. Our stories may serve us well in our lives and communities, or they may not. Stories often contain underlying assumptions about power in society—communicating who has power and who does not. Narratives reinforce stereotypes about groups of people and the assumptions embedded within narratives undergird social policies and practices. Consider the language of “free trade,” “trade rights,” and “open markets” in relation to the global economy. The terms—free, rights, and open beguile listeners, giving the positive impression that unfettered economic growth is congruent with the ideals of freedom and that everyone involved will reap the rewards. And yet, if one investigates the realities of free-trade policies in action, one will find that such policies have resulted in the exact opposite for many people—low wages, unsafe work­ ing environments, lack of access to clean water, poor health care, and, indeed, a lack of freedom, rights, and power. One might argue that the “free” part appears to apply only to the wealthy and powerful. Thus, the exposure of power dynamics and contradictions in social narratives is funda­ mental to social change work. Stories activate organic chemicals in the brain, such as cortisol, dopamine, and oxytocin stimu­ lating feelings of arousal or calm and propel us to act (Rodriguez, 2017). The part of the human brain that is responsive to stories, the limbic brain, is a much older part of mammalian evolution­ ary history than the brain that is responsive to data and logic, the neocortex (Bagozzi, Pozharliev, & Verbeke, 2017). Advertising and marketing experts are well aware of this and utilize strategic narratives to draw people in to buy their products. They leverage digital technology on a global scale, mining personal data and utilize algorithms to create targeted advertisements to hijack peo­ ple’s attention and perceptions. Recent political events and the power that media has to shape minds and to reinforce pre­ existing stories reveal just how formidable the strategic use of narratives can be. Investigations revealed that the 2016 elections in the U.S. and the Brexit vote in the UK were influenced by Cambridge Analytica and other groups who used Facebook to create microtargeted ads to people (Reese, 2019). The whistleblower who exposed this scheme stated: “Cambridge Analytica was trying to identify people who were prone to conspiratorial thinking or paranoid ideation and exacerbate those latent characteristics with those people” (Reese, 2019). This scenario speaks to

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the power that social media and corporate media monopolies have over our lives and how social change interventions must also attend to media justice. It also speaks to how deeply seated and difficult it is to change a person’s worldview. To be sure, stories, perhaps more than anything else, have the potential to reinforce the status quo. Conversely, they have the power to change the status quo. Thus, transformative practice demands that changemakers be willing to disentangle and dismantle stories (both personal and col­ lective) that maintain existing power structures of exclusion and disempowerment. It means that we must make stories that are latent, manifest. Because social policies and practices are grounded in ideologies, paradigms, values, and other social constructions, organizers are tasked with seek­ ing clarity about how language transmits assumptions and implications. From this vantage point, organizers can create their own empowering mythologies and lan­ guage, and can leverage them for social action. They can learn to strategically communicate their messages in ways that tap into human emotions, such as empathy or outrage, and values, such as fairness and belonging. In this chapter, I will address several of these issues related to stories and communication and their importance for organizing, with attention to the topics of issue fram­ ing, story-based strategy, communicating messages through social media and other platforms, and media justice. The chapter concludes with a case study focused on the contemporary Poor People’s Campaign. ISSUE FRAMING Issue framing is intentional messaging crafted by changemakers to meaningfully communicate a social justice issue to their audiences. In order to create new and meaningful frames, old frames, which we are often unconscious of, must be deconstructed. When thinking about any existing story, narrative, belief, or frame, it can be just as important to consider not only what story is being told, but what stories are not being told, and ask—what or who is being silenced? What truths are being masked? What assumptions are at play? What outcomes will this lead to? Who wins and who loses? As an example, consider how the Global South, or “developing world,” has been framed as a place that is backwards, “disease-ridden, poverty-stricken and disaster-prone” (Bankoff, 2001, p. 27) whose dwellers are marked by tendencies toward violence, “powerless­ ness, passivity, ignorance, hunger, illiteracy, neediness, oppression and inertia” (p.23). So, we can ask the important questions about such frames and see that elites benefit from these stereotypes about “the other,” which assumes the worst about human nature and masks the fact that people of the Global South, like all groups of people, are creative, loving, intelligent, hardworking, and resilient. These frames can be difficult to break through because they point to deep frames about the Global South that are wired into our brains. Deep frames, which are the deeply held narratives, associations, and values, are embedded or soft-wired in our neural pathways (Lakoff, 2004). Deep frames are supported historically through cultural practices, educational institutions, media, and families. Historian and activist Howard Zinn (2003) argued for a reframing of history that amplifies the voices of populations who have resisted oppressive social policies and practices, bringing much-needed magnification to the political activities of regular people. History itself is a social construction, and so history books that only tell the stories of white male politicians, army generals, and inventors deny the complexity of the human experience, to say the least. Moreover, these stories often serve to perpetuate structural oppression and may have the effect of targeting and silencing women, LGBTQ people, immigrants, people of color, and individuals

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with disabilities. Unfortunately, such approaches to history have dominated educational sectors and media outlets, thereby skewing the average person’s understanding of social issues. By learn­ ing about the resistance of citizens across the globe, one is reminded that not only are people resilient, but they also possess agency and, through diverse forms of resistance and creative action, are active participants in their own liberation. If the social constructionist position is right, that is, that language constructs reality, then atten­ tion to language and communication may be the most important dimension of organizing (Gold­ berg & Tully, 2006). Language frames issues and communicates messages to constituents, targets, and the public. The mental health consumer/peer-support movement is a good example of the kinds of complex inquiries into the connotations of language that are needed for transformative practice. Many terms have been utilized to describe the movement itself and specifically its con­ stituents (Cohen, 2004). The term consumer has been employed by social workers and other change agents to signify the fact that such individuals are customers of mental health services, emphasizing the subjectivity and individual power that mentally ill people have but that have too often been silenced in professional mental health settings. However, the word consumer has been criticized because it implies freedom of choice that does not necessarily exist and because of its connection with capitalist terminology. Alternatively, the term survivor has been used to emphasize a person’s resiliency and innate capacity for recovery in the face of a devastating condition. Ex-inmate is used to depict the element of incarceration in prisonlike institutionalized hospital environments. Thus, this range of terms communicates diverse political messages, and a variety of factors influence what terms are chosen for particular organizations and coalitions. The mental health peer-support movement is not alone in its ongoing struggle with language. Moreover such framing processes are enduring and evolving (Noakes & Johnston, 2005). According to social movement theorists, “Collective action frames are ways of presenting issues that identify injustices, attribute blame, suggest solutions, and inspire collective action” (Staggen­ borg, 2005, p. 755, emphasis in original). Noakes and Johnston (2005) explain how the idea of the framing perspective in social movement studies came to be. They point out that scholars began to examine the social-psychological processes by which people in controlled settings rejected authoritative explanations of events and constructed alternative understandings of what was occurring. Sub­ jects had to “break the frame” that was officially provided as part of a contrived market research project that was shown to misrepresent its intentions. Once the old frame was broken, partici­ pants constructed new frames to explain events … these “reframing acts” as the first steps in calling attention to injustice and as a prelude to collective action. (p. 3) Frames may also function to advance what Stone (2012) calls causal stories which place blame, responsibility, and accountability for problems. Causal stories are political instruments in that they are intentionally crafted and manipulated by political actors to make their versions of stories the basis of policy choices. Thus, reframing acts work to break the status quo frame and disrupt the existing causal story about a phenomenon, social problem, or policy. In the case of mass incar­ ceration, frame breakers retell the causal story that views the cause of crime and incarceration as criminally minded, violent and/or lazy people. They instead identify the causes as structural oppression, lack of educational and economic opportunity, a school-to-prison pipeline, and a growth-oriented capitalist system that profits from the prison industrial complex.

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Many factors influence the framing process, including the media, organizational capacities, and individual tendencies of impacted communities. Clearly, a person’s or group’s social stand­ point influences how issues are framed. A social standpoint is the complex and intersectional social identities that people hold including race, ethnicity, income, gender, ability, sexual orienta­ tion, and age. Labor organizers, for example, whose primary constituency is immigrant African cisgender women in New York City working in the service industry, may frame issues differently than will a group of primarily Appalachian cisgender men who are coal miners. These groups bring different experiences, needs, strengths, and cultural perspectives to labor issues. Scholars suggest that framing can be considered from three perspectives—the frame makers’ (organizing leaders), the frame receivers’ (potential constituents), and the frame itself. Social movement scholars have added that movement leaders are often the ones who construct the frames (Noakes & Johnston, 2005). This is extremely important for organizers to understand, particularly if organization leaders are people with more social privilege. It is a reminder that when impacted communities are centered in all aspects of organizing and social change work, including framing, the work stays rooted in the philosophies of accountability and empowerment. More light can be shed on framing processes through a historical examination of the domestic violence field. Prior to the 1970s, domestic violence was considered to be a “private matter” that occurred in the seclusion of one’s home, a dispute between a husband and wife that was not a matter of concern to the public. Through the course of the women’s movement, battered women raised their critical consciousness; they were able to “break the frame” that defines what happens in the home as a personal or private matter. These women came to recognize that domestic abuse was happening to many women and that the dynamics looked strikingly similar across their experi­ ences (Schechter, 1982). In addition, they came to identify that patriarchal culture, as exemplified in families and social institutions, such as the criminal justice system, maintained and perpetuated this violence. On coming to the conclusion that personal experiences were political ones as well, they rejected the frames and practices that had previously been asserted by law enforcement offi­ cials. This criminal justice framework had manifested in the common practice of driving husbands and boyfriends around the block to give them some time to “cool down,” rooted in a belief that it ultimately was not the business of the law to intervene in any meaningful way. In response to this indifference, the battered women’s movement would proactively and consciously frame their agenda and organize around the idea that domestic violence is not the fault of the victim but the responsibility of society as a whole, not a private matter, but a public one. They would subse­ quently engage in widespread community education and systems change within police, courts, hospitals, housing, social services, and welfare systems. The initial act of breaking the frame was a necessary condition to propel social change efforts in the battered women’s movement. The movement to end mass incarceration shows how groups working on prisoner and juvenile justice broke the traditional frame that tends to compartmentalize crimes as unique social prob­ lems disconnected from other social problems, systems, values, and assumptions. They recognize that the unjust and punitive economic and educational systems are directly connected to the high rates of incarceration; they rejected a causal story that responsibilizes individuals for a structural problem (Hunter, 2015; Mallett, 2016). Thus, the frame and campaigns which focus on “Ending the School to Prison Pipeline,” affirm that underfunded and punitive school systems set up poor African American youth, especially males, to go to prison by denying them the educational oppor­ tunities that children in well-funded school districts have. This frame emerged out of collective framing practices that broke through the dominant narrative, which was serving the racial and economic status quos of society.

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Another example that can illustrate the linguistically based deconstructive practices that organ­ izers engage with emerges out of the context of U.S. labor laws and the labor movement. Many conservative states which tend to be more hostile to unions have passed what are called “right to work” laws. This means that workers are not required to pay union dues at companies and agen­ cies located in states where such laws are in place even though they often reap the rewards of the union’s presence. By utilizing the language of rights, the law conveys the idea or image that joining a union is an act that is in direct opposition to rights, an oppressive situation. Thus, this language and the sentiment behind it pose significant barriers to union organizing in such states. Organizers must then work to reframe this language so that it coincides with the values that they are trying to promote. They must focus on such frames as worker safety, worker solidarity, benefits for work­ ing families, as well as redefining what workers’ rights really mean to them. In 2004, Linguistics professor George Lakoff (2004) pointed out that since 1970, conservative policy analysts had developed 43 think tanks spending some $2 to $3 billion to figure out how to work together to develop and implement their agenda. This was the beginning of an intentional campaign of the right-wing establishment, in the U.S. and globally, to join socially conservative ideas about marriage, abortion, and social welfare with neoliberal capitalist ideas about unfet­ tered economic growth. It would lead to the Tea Party movement in the early 2000s and contin­ ues today through other populist political movements rooted in such frames as “Make America Great Again.” Lakoff noted that conservatives have tended to frame phenomena in terms of values, especially family values. Frank Luntz, a conservative political strategist and linguist, noticed that although it appears that progressives are winning on an issue such as the environment because science is on their side, he proposed that conservatives could instead win with words and political frames (Lakoff, 2004). Luntz suggested that they take words that people like, such as healthy, clean, and safe, and use them strategically. Thus, the Clear Skies Act of 2003 was proposed, even though it would actually increase pollution. Lakoff warned back in the early 2000s that people should be particularly wary of Orwellian language that means the opposite of what it says. His words could not be more prescient as social media in the hands of unscrupulous people has facilitated the inten­ tional spread of disinformation known as “fake news” creating epistemic and existential crises. Lakoff (2004) points out that unlike conservatives who have learned to leverage frames, pro­ gressives often talk in terms of programs, which he observes actually bore people and do not capture their attention. When discussing framing (language that evokes an image), he gives the example of the word elephant and asks people to try not to think of an elephant when the word is uttered, and, of course, it is impossible to do. This exercise reveals just how powerful language can be in connoting images and ideas. The phrase tax relief is an example of an evocative phrase that has been utilized strategically by conservative politicians. It conjures the idea that there is an affliction to be ended; that is, taxes are a burden from which citizens need relief. The person doing the relieving is, of course, a hero, or a healer who is curing this affliction. What follows from this kind of frame is that if one is against “tax relief,” then that person is a villain. The even greater problem stems from the fact that even if one says one is against tax relief, the frame has still been evoked. If one accepts a particular frame, it cannot be negated by putting “no” in front of it. Lakoff argues that progressive activists should not agree to such unacceptable terms. Instead, they should reframe facts from a different perspective, and shift arguments to their own grounds. For exam­ ple, environmental issues can be framed as a “commons” or an “inheritance”; gay marriage can be framed around the universal values of “love” and “commitment.” Groups may also want to con­ sider framing their issues around human rights or the values embodied in the ten central human

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functioning capabilities as articulated by Nussbaum (2011). For example, a parent-teacher organi­ zation that wants to include more art, music, and physical education in their children’s education may want to affirm the importance of the capability of “play” through their framing practices. Overall, framing acts should be strategic, with an eye toward a larger social change agenda and with attention to potential coalition-building opportunities. This can be facilitated by developing an understanding of social problems as interconnected rather than separate, isolated problems. Identifying Hurricane Katrina evacuees in 2005 as “internally displaced people” (a human rights designation) who were endowed with the right to return to their homes was a good example of a framing act. This framing act rejected many disempowering terms of Hurricane Katrina survi­ vors (“looters,” “refugees,” etc.) and placed them in direct solidarity with people in other regions of the world, such as in the Middle East and parts of Africa, where many people are also dis­ placed internally. When the U.S. government’s levee system failed after Hurricane Katrina and tens of thousands of homes were devastated across the New Orleans area because of flooding, citizens were obvi­ ously devastated and outraged. As community activists reflected on the issues, they recognized that the government was spending more of its resources on the “war on terror” and wars against other nations than on important, lifesaving infrastructure in its own country. These activists broke through the mainstream frame, which holds that the dangers to citizens lie outside of the country’s borders and that solutions should focus on putting resources into the military and other institu­ tions that are designed to protect people from external threats. The new frame they generated, “make levees not war,” a clever riff on the phrase “make love, not war” which originated in the Vietnam antiwar movement, was an important rallying cry as citizens went about advocating for their community’s needs. Arguing that the safety and well-being of citizens should be ensured through investment in public infrastructure from roads and levees to schools and housing, these activists reframed what they perceived to be a damaging social construction. Although crafting catchy phrases is not an end in itself, reframing social issues is fundamental to any kind of social change work. STORY-BASED STRATEGY The Center for Story-Based Strategy (CSBS) supports grassroots groups in utilizing participatory processes to analyze and reimagine narratives of power in order to affect change. They work with partners, such as the National Black Worker Center Project, Right to the City, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, and the Center for Media Justice. Story-based strategy (SBS) takes the idea of framing that is so crucial to social change work and deepens opportunities to break down and recreate frames, drawing from humans’ natural inclination to tell stories. SBS uses the ele­ ments of a story to break down and understand status quo (or “opposition”) stories and uses the same framework to create new stories that will inform a strategy for change (Reinsborough & Canning, 2017). The elements of any story include conflict, characters, imagery, foreshadowing, and underlying assumptions. Figure 8.1 reveals a description of each of the five elements. One outcome of SBS can be the production of a meme. CSBS believes that memes are not just a graphic on social media but they are very powerful forces for change. Barriner (2018) writes: “Memes are any capsule for a story to spread. And every story contains underlying assumptions, the things one must believe in order to believe the story is true. And it’s in those underlying assumptions that the power of a story lies.” Indeed, these underlying assumptions are embedded

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FIGURE 8.1

Elements of a Story

in deep frames. Memes may highlight a particularly powerful character in a social justice struggle, e.g. Greta Thunberg in the climate emergency struggle or Emma Gonzalez in the antigun vio­ lence movement. They may make the invisible visible through a slogan, such as #MeToo, which acknowledges the real lives of survivors of sexual predation or #OneJobShouldBeEnough which brings to light the realities of low-wage work. The slogan #AbolishICE brings attention to conflict and a call to action and the imagery of “AOC and the Squad” (i.e. U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her colleagues) utilizes foreshadowing by bringing attention to women of color politicians who are daily speaking truth to power. They show a future where accountability “shifts away from allegiance to capital and white supremacy, and towards the grassroots of a multira­ cial society.” The SBS process asks groups to “Break Down the Power” meaning that groups first attend to what their goal is and what specific change they would like to see. Next, the audience is the group of people they most want to persuade (it may be an internal or external audience or both). Then, the target is the actual decision-maker who could make the desired change (e.g. Congress, a CEO, etc.). Finally, the constituency is the base and organized groups of impacted people to whom they are accountable. Once power is broken down, then it is time to “Break Down the Opposition’s Power” using the five elements of story asking questions such as—How does the story make existing outcomes possible or inevitable? What foundational myths are being activated by this story? (e.g. American exceptionalism or the “invisible hand” of the market) (Reinsborough & Canning, 2017). In the next phase of SBS work, groups work together to craft their story. This is where people get to use their creative capacities to envision another truth and to dream their world into reality. The story should challenge the underlying assumptions of the opposition’s story, avoid reinforc­ ing their assumptions, and uplift the assumptions and values of their group. Engaging imagery and characters are used to clarify the conflict and move the audience to a clear choice. The story offers clarity on what the consequences or cost could be for not embracing the right side of the conflict at the same time that it uplifts their own assumptions and opens up pathways to the desired outcomes. The Center for Story-Based Strategy offers the acronym “FRAMES” as a method for ensuring that all the elements have been covered. F stands for framing the issue in a way that defines the problem and the solution. R stands for reframing the opponent’s story so that the terms of the

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debate are changed altogether. A stands for accessible so that the story is understandable and appropriate for the audience in mind. M stands for memorable such that the message can be cap­ tured in an image or slogan that sticks. E stands for emotional which means that the frame should resonate with human emotions, such as tragedy, joy, anger, or hope. Finally, S stands for simple and short so that it gets to the heart of the matter for people. Central to this whole process is also thinking about intervention strategy. CSBS offers a framework for thinking about how to take the story and develop an intervention strategy; the development of strategy is the subject of the next chapter. COMMUNICATING MESSAGES As new stories and frames are created, organizers develop strategies for communicating their mes­ sages. It is clear that the mainstream media tend to perpetuate narratives that support the interests of elites who own the majority of media outlets. But, “too often groups use ‘corporate control of the media’ as an excuse for not doing good media work” (Bobo, Kendall, & Max 2001, p. 157). Communication strategies are the lifeblood of any organizing campaign and should be included in the development of strategy from the outset. In the context of organizing, messaging is bound up with processes, such as relationship building, shared power analysis, reframing, issue identifica­ tion, and ongoing praxis that involves reflection. Communication and messaging should be con­ sidered both internally, i.e. amongst impacted people, organization members, and allies, but also externally, in terms of the message that a group wants to send to the public and/or targets. The use of media has been key to both strategy and tactics not only for organizing people, but also for getting a message out. To be sure, internal communications about an issue are likely to differ from the way a message is communicated to an external audience. In the case of the global climate crisis movement, McNern (2019) noted that the initial goal of the group “Extinction Rebellion”, when starting out in 2018, was for their message to reach those people who are likely to become active and engaged participants. Their first action in the UK was to occupy Greenpeace’s offices briefly bringing cake, flowers, and a love letter communicating this message: “Greenpeace, we love you, but we need to talk. There is an emergency and you have a role to play in this” (p. 127). They strategically invited journalists who were embedded in the movement and/or who they thought were ready to hear their messages. Various channels for communicating messages include media, such as print and television jour­ nalism, social media, and other public outlets. Several considerations come into play when think­ ing about using the media to communicate messages. These include not only the framing and message development process discussed already, but also things like identifying media outlets, building relationships with media outlets, preparing spokespeople, holding media events, writing media releases, letters to the editor, and staying on message (Partnership for Working Families and SPIN Project, 2007; Weltman, 2016). These activities are to be carefully crafted and should align with the group’s values and in consideration of things like accountability to impacted com­ munities, leadership development, empowerment, and transformative practice. For example, it would be important to consider who gets to represent the group as a spokesperson. This may be an opportunity for marginalized participants to “take space” while people with privilege “make space.” When developing a media strategy, groups should consider whether the media campaign reinforces the group’s overall agenda, the organizational resources that can be committed, time constraints, and target audiences (MacEachern, 1994).

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A few examples here can illustrate some of these considerations. An immigrant rights group that is interested in advocating for a state-level bill that would allow undocumented immigrant youth to obtain student loans and attend college would need to consider these dimensions as it strategizes their campaign and communications approach. For example, how much money does the group have available to it and how much can it fundraise? When will the vote take place? Who is the group targeting (voters? legislators?), and thus, what media outlets are going to be most appropriate? Perhaps, a public service message on a Spanish language radio station or a let­ ter to the editor in a Spanish language newspaper would be appropriate. On the other hand, the group may be targeting state legislators and their constituents; so, perhaps a radio talk show that has a broader listening audience would be appropriate. Would social media ads be appropriate? What about a media event such as a news conference? If there are any direct actions or marches, protests, or rallies, what media need to be alerted? Does the group have any inclinations or skills around arts-based approaches in public spaces that could capture the public’s attention, such as billboards or flash mobs? What role will youth play in these efforts and what kinds of supports do they need? Strategic communications require planning (SPIN Project, 2005). The SPIN project proposed the image of a pyramid to think about communications planning wherein the bottom of the pyra­ mid, or the base is communications infrastructure. This refers to staff and volunteer time, budget, knowledge and skills, etc. Going upwards, other tiers of the pyramid are forged from that founda­ tion and include attention to goals, audience, and framing. They also discuss disciplining the message, crafting it into sound bites, and capturing those bites in a way that includes the problem, the solu­ tion, and a call to action. Training and supporting spokespeople and engaging in reflective praxis is also ongoing work. At the very top of the pyramid are the actual media tactics, which include media events, letters to the editor, social media campaigns, articles in newsletters, etc. Media tactics might begin with a list of media approaches and outlets and reflect on what is desirable, appropri­ ate, and feasible based on all of the other considerations in the pyramid. There are a plethora of media outlets today from which organizers can choose. Until recently, some options for using the media included getting the media to show up at events and direct actions, writing letters to the editor, holding press conferences, and participating in interviews or talk shows. Digital technol­ ogy has expanded the options to include email blasts, websites, podcasting, and, of course, social media, such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Digital Technology and Social Media Digital technology and social media play influential roles in strengthening organizers’ capabilities to communicate messages and coordinate activities (Satariano & Wong, 2012). Research shows that there is a positive relationship between social media use and civic and political participation, though there is complexity in terms of the actual causes of participation, types of participa­ tion, and outcomes of such participation (Boulianne, 2015). Scholars have developed a set of categories of internet activism that can be a useful touchstone for thinking about communica­ tion and messaging. The four categories are: 1) Brochure-ware; 2) Online facilitation of offline activism; 3) Online participation; and 4) Online organizing (Earl, Kimport, Prieto, Reynoso, & Rush, 2010). The first type “Brochure-ware” relates to the kind of information that would have in the past perhaps been in a physical brochure but is now housed on websites and may not necessarily change

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regularly. The information may be detail-oriented or logistical in nature or may be more along the lines of issue framing, but does not necessarily include a way for viewers to get engaged. One might think about this as a more external form of communication in terms of targeting nonpar­ ticipants but may also contain important information for participants, and thus, is also a form of internal communication. The second type “Online facilitation of offline activism” provides details and supportive net­ working to facilitate offline actions, such as marches, rallies, meetings, and other convergences. This type seeks to scale up and facilitate participation by offering supports, such as ride shares or housing options. Because the approach attempts to draw in new members but also includes practi­ cal interactions amongst participants, it utilizes both internal and external communication. The third type, “Online participation,” offers opportunities for people to participate in change activities online, such as petitions and online letter-writing campaigns, as well as in more highstakes activities, like online disruptions, such as hacking, also known as “hacktivism.” The group MoveOn.org, founded around the time of President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, is an example of a low-stakes form of this kind of activism; they engage in internal communication with existing participants and external communication with potential new members to leverage both online and offline actions including letter-writing and participation in local house parties. The fourth type, “Online organizing,” is fully online organizing with no offline component and may include e-movements through a website or even automated servers. While the first two types have been thought of by scholars as the most dominant forms of Internet activism, research reveals that the third and fourth types are becoming more common. The ability to leverage the low cost of online organizing with the convenience of being able to accomplish organizing tasks when not in the same physical place as others, creates tremendous prospects for participation and change (Earl & Kimport, 2011). This has been an especially useful approach in the context of COVID-19 when social distancing has been necessary. However, some of this activity might better be described as advocacy and activism as opposed to organizing, particularly because of their tendency to lack accountability to impacted communi­ ties. Because of the tendency for online engagement to utilize what have been called “weak ties,” as opposed to the “strong ties” of face-to-face relationships, its impact can be limited (Hwang & Kim, 2015). “Strong ties” motivate people to take the kinds of high risks that are required for significant social change, such as the life-risking actions engaged in by civil rights activists in the 1950s and 1960s, (McAdam, 1986). The four freshmen at the Greensboro lunch counter in 1960 had strong ties in that they were roommates in the same dorm and three of them went to high school together (cited in Gladwell, 2010). After the first day of their sit-in, the next day they were joined by another 27 people, mostly people from their dorm. Conversely, the “weak ties” that we see in much online engagement today has been termed “slacktivism” or “clicktivism.” In this case, online activism has become almost too easy and not that impactful. The internet has made it possible to cheapen certain currencies of activism, such as letters to Congress people (Zuckerman, 2013). Gladwell (2010) explained it this way: “Facebook activism succeeds not by motivating people to make a real sacrifice but by motivating them to do the things that people do when they are not motivated enough to make a real sacrifice” (Gladwell, 2010). But social media can be used by social movements and organizations to strengthen their own base. Mundt, Ross, and Burnett (2018) have identified this phenomenon in relation to the #BlackLivesMatter movement and refer to it as scaling up. They note how social media has strengthened the movement by “facilitating collective meaning-making and the creation of sup­ port networks and expanding the movement, specifically by enabling local BLM groups to form

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coalitions and to amplify and disseminate nondominant discourses about police brutality and Black liberation” (p. 1). The study authors caution, however, that social media poses challenges and risks. Certainly, it can never be a stand-in for face-to-face relationship building. Also, because of the so-called democratization of social media, any user can engage with a movement’s messages therein creat­ ing more opportunity for the messages to be diluted. For example, people can use the hashtag but may not fully understand or align with its assumptions and implications. Social media can also put social change actors at risk through various forms of targeting. In their research, the authors reported on interviews with BLM activists who said that through their engagement with social media (e.g. creating a Facebook event online), they were the victims of institutional surveillance including by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who actually reached out to contact them. Oth­ ers reported “trolling” and a death threat. Overall, the research concluded that the benefits of social media far outweighed the costs. It is important to include these challenges in strategizing and praxis-oriented reflective feedback loops. In terms of the power of language, it is perhaps the framing practices that have emerged on social media that have some of the most power. The concept of hashtag politics (Meisel, n.d.) points to the intentional use of social media to convene conversations about a specific topic through hashtags, dis­ cussion threads, and comments sections. Much like a frame, a hashtag focuses and magnifies atten­ tion in an intentional way. Social media has become so powerful that other forms of media, such as newspapers, television, and radio gather the latest insights from social media as key data sources for their reporting. One of the enduring questions about social media in relation to framing that has been posed by psychologists, neuroscientists, and sociologists, is – does social media framing actu­ ally change people’s minds or does it merely reinforce existing biases? These and other questions about the role of social media in change work continue to perplex both researchers and organizers. Perhaps one of the best ways to communicate messages though is to take it to the streets. Messaging and Art in Public Spaces Whether it is street theater, graffiti, flash mobs, puppetry, chanting, or music in the streets, pub­ lic messaging, particularly through artistic means, is potent in its ability to transmit stories and inspire people. These approaches reflect distinctions and convergences between communication strategies and cultural strategies wherein artists can contribute not necessarily by focusing on a call to action but by shifting images and narratives (Xiao, 2013). Cultural organizing rests at the intersection of art, cultural change, and organizing as a practice that invites humanity and beauty into social change spaces. Playwright Bertolt Brecht wrote, “Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.” Like storytelling, public messaging is an intentional way to touch people’s souls and to help them make meaning of the world. Cultural workers have embraced the claim by Black writer Toni Cade Bambara’s famous quote that “the job of the writer is to make revolution irresistible.” Or, as the social movement support group, Beautiful Trouble, has noted “if you make your art accessible and beautiful enough, people will want to follow where the thought goes” (Bloch, Boyd, & Buckland n.d.). The principle of “show, don’t tell” (Boyd, 2016) is valuable when thinking about this kind of communication in public space, reminding us that visuals and metaphors are, by and large, more effective than preaching or even data when it comes to social change. The story of unemploy­ ment or immigration is best told not by starting with data but by leading with the story of how it

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impacts a person or a family. In the context of a disaster, public messaging can be a critical way to communicate with each other especially when other forms of communication are not possible. In the context of COVID-19 when many communities were practicing social distancing, car parades became a way to come together, display strategic messages with banners, paint and signs, and to capture public attention. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, organizers working on social justice issues utilized a variety of mechanisms to convey their messages. There were multiple purposes of their messaging, includ­ ing reframing social issues, recruiting new members, publicly confronting powerholders, and having an impact on the specific policies. Public-access television became an important mechanism for local individuals and groups to communicate their messages in post-Katrina New Orleans. For example, young African American groups with Katrina-related messages made their own hip-hop videos and created their own talk shows that challenged mainstream frames about their postKatrina world. These shows included video-recorded footage of devastated neighborhoods and conversations with local activists that highlighted their work. During the early days after the flooding that was caused by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers levee failures, one of the most common ways to communicate was through the use of basic signage in neighborhoods. A primitive form of technology by today’s standards, it was extremely effective. Having simple cardboard signs printed and posted around town was a widespread approach that citizens used to communicate with one another. Because so few people had televisions, computer access, and cell phones due to flooding, damaged cable, phone lines, and cell towers, these simple ways of communicating became very powerful. The group levees.org mass-produced signs that said, “Hold the Corps Accountable.” This was one of the first social justice messages that citizens saw, which reframed the causal story and began to galvanize impacted communities, which was actually everyone in the city in some way or another. The group continued to emphasize the significance of levee protection by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers throughout their campaign, including having people show up at actions and media events wearing life-preservers as a form of street theater. Messaging at marches and rallies and forms of direct action, such as strikes and sit-ins, can be com­ plicated as such tactics often embed multiple objectives. Sometimes organizers strategically hold an action in a location where a target is sure to be affected, for example, a state administrative building, outside the headquarters of a corporation, or at the home of a negligent landlord. The goals of such strategic actions are often very explicit, with painted signs and other media explicitly communicat­ ing a demand: “Support Bill X” or “Boycott Company Y” or they may strive to change causal stories and hold someone accountable like “Prosecute Police Sergeant Z.” During marches at the New York State capitol coordinated by Occupy organizers and student activists, sign holders often used the phrase “Governor 1%” to refer to Governor Andrew Cuomo. This frame reflected activists’ commit­ ment to emphasize that the governor’s policies, including tax cuts for the wealthy and student tuition hikes, were being espoused by someone who has the interests of the elite at heart, not the 99%. What is a march, rally or direct action without puppetry, costumes, and giant inflatable figures? Labor organizers have been known to use a giant inflatable rat, known as Scabby, and Fat Cat, an inflatable cat with a cigar and suit coat choking a construction worker with its paw, symbolizing corporate greed and the uses of nonunion labor. These are powerful symbols that communicate clear messages in public spaces. According to organizer, Jerry Gozdyra in New York City, “if you put up a balloon, if you put up something large and visible, then people will wonder what’s going on… And they will ask questions, and I have an opportunity to educate the public” (cited in Gold, 2019). The climate action group “Extinction Rebellion” is supported by the Autonomous Anar­ chist Arts Factory which utilizes recycled and reclaimed materials to create badges, banners, and

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costumes/clothing to tell the stories of their movement. They consider things like color (inclusive and not reflecting left or right politics as the climate crisis affects everyone), font, types of ink and materials, and how these will impact visibility not only in public but in pictures and video on social media and other media. Songs and chants unite people and convey messages to bystanders. Social justice bands and choirs support public movement spaces and invite participants into the shared experience of music. According to the Poor People’s Campaign (2019): Song is one of the most powerful ways we have to unite people across difference, help share the message of a movement and build a collective identity. Movement music can help build confi­ dence and courage in challenging situations, and help shape the atmosphere and set the stage for the spirit to transform our communities and our actions. Following are some sample chants that can be adapted for a variety of issues and occasions. While planning ahead and creating new chants relevant to the group’s message is a good approach, some­ times new and creative chants spontaneously appear in a passionate moment. It may be helpful to provide a handbill to marchers with the chants written out ahead of time so everyone can follow along. Drums, horns, and other musical instruments can be an inspiring and fun addition to a march. Here are some samples: “Ain’t no power like the power of the people because the power of the people don’t stop!” “What do we want?” “Justice!” “When do we want it?” “Now!” “This is what democracy looks like!” “Exploitation ain’t the way, give your workers better pay!” “Get up/Get Down There’s a revolution in this town!” “Hey, hey, ho, ho Poverty wages have got to go!” Media, art, and outreach committees within organizations, coalitions and social movements are charged with balancing art and messaging. Beautiful Trouble asks an engaging question: “If the role of the artist is ‘to deepen the mystery’, what is the role of the political artist?” Members of the Autonomous Anarchist Arts Factory note that the production of movement art should “be a microcosm of the movement” and create space for skill-building, experimentation, and reflection (Glyn & Farrell, 2019). To be sure, the creation of art can be healing and so like other aspects of messaging in transformative organizing, changemakers can attend to the fullness of their humanity as they build community. Moreover, public messaging like other aspects of organizing can and should actually be fun. It draws people in and keeps them engaged. As Adrienne Maree Brown (2019) writes, “Pleasure is the point. Feeling good is not frivolous, it is freedom.”

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MEDIA JUSTICE While the world may be made of stories, it is also the case that knowledge is power. Democratic countries ostensibly value a free press and embrace media pluralism, but in the current context of neoliberal economics in the U.S., most media reflect the social, cultural, and economic agendas of the corporations that own newspapers, magazines, television stations, and digital platforms. In recent years, corporations and billionaires have been buying smaller newspapers and radio and television stations in regional markets. In 2016, Business Insider reported that while in 1983, 50 companies owned most of the media, today, six corporations control 90% of the media— Comcast, News Corp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, and CBS. Just as powerful as these compa­ nies are the “Big Four” Tech companies—Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple—which have a tremendous influence over our personal information, the products we buy, and the kind of infor­ mation we have access to (Lutz, 2012). Programming and content are filtered to suit the agenda of corporations and some have argued that the governmental agenda has become equivalent to corporate agendas (Herman & Chomsky, 2012). The propaganda model explains media behavior as consistently producing news that reflects the interests of power (Enoch, n.d.). The media sells people on the idea that they have agency by “manufacturing consent” and mobilizes their support for the special interests that dominate the government and business sectors. Herman & Chomsky (2012) proposed that the raw material of news passes through five filters: 1. Corporate ownership—concentrated conglomerates have an interest that maintains an eco­ nomic and social climate conducive to corporate profit-making 2. Advertising—content must appease advertisers 3. Expert sources—rather than investigative journalism, the media relies on the use of experts who support their interests 4. Flak—news stories that stray outside the consensus receives negative commentary or flak, which serves to police and discipline real journalism 5. Common enemy—mobilizes the public against a common enemy and demonizes opponents of official policy This model affirms that advertising and the bottom line (rather than the public’s need to know) drive the choices corporate producers and editors make in terms of what the public sees, reads, and hears. Today, the political-media complex, with the help of surveillance capitalism (Zuboff, 2019), has learned to leverage the information that has been accumulated about us using digital technol­ ogy and algorithms to curate advertising and news feeds. The stakes are always higher for mar­ ginalized people as surveillance algorithms bleed into key areas of their lives including vital social welfare services, such as housing and food stamps (Eubanks, 2018). These issues are all relevant to changemakers and point to the need for technological and media justice. Fortunately, there is a tradition of media that holds itself in an adversarial role to power struc­ tures and elites (examples today include Democracy Now! and Al-Jazeera) as well as a tradition of community-based grassroots media both representing important dimensions of the media jus­ tice movement. Media justice is an alternative to corporate-controlled media that seeks to democratize social and economic life through accurate journalism, democratic media ownership grounded in the voices of impacted communities, and big tech accountability.

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Community-rooted media suggests an antidote to dominant approaches to media production at the same time that it plays an important role in community organizing. Grassroots media activists deconstruct the dominant paradigm of media coverage and work toward the democratization of media. Consider that the usual approach of the media involves a reporter following a story (e.g. “spotlight on the homeless”) and then moves on to the next story. An alternative approach involves not only the homeless themselves doing the story, but the reporting itself becomes an integral part of the solution, for example, embarrassing a landlord into ceasing an illegal eviction. Grassroots media producers can be active participants in community organizing campaigns and allies to other social movement actors. This approach presents opportunities for a radical reframing of issues and is situated in direct resistance to the corporate paradigm of media. This practice also disrupts the profession of journalism, affirming that one does not necessarily need a degree to speak the truth. Citizen journalism via writing, videography, and podcasting has democratized media in impor­ tant ways. Activists research, write, produce audio and video, and imagine and implement less costly ways to distribute content. Podcast examples include Solidarity Radio based out of Denver, Colorado which focuses on labor movement issues; Generation Justice which inspires youth to be media makers and social justice activists; and New Jersey Revolution Radio which special­ izes in anticapitalist and revolutionary movement content. In addition to podcasting, community radio and low-power FM stations fill the airwaves with discourse about social justice issues and movement-related matters. The Prometheus Radio Project, whose mission is “to resist corporate media consolidation and radio homogenization,” offers supports for such endeavors. These range of media outlets offer news, analysis, and culture that are driven and funded, not by corporations, but by people power, thereby democratizing the agenda. Support organizations, such as MediaJustice, provide capacity building to community organiza­ tions interested in building power in the digital age and enhancing skills related to media activities. MediaJustice is an organization focused on big tech and platform accountability, digital security and surveillance, hightech policing and prisons, and open and affordable Internet. They describe their work: “Media justice” exists when we are all connected, represented and free; when fundamental communication rights are widely experienced by everyone, regardless of social power and posi­ tion. In the 21st century, universal access to media & technology, democratic media ownership, and meaningful, accurate representation in news & popular culture will drive a new reality of racial, economic and gender justice. They have evolved over 20 years as they began as the Youth Media Council working with youth of color in the late nineties who were concerned with biased media coverage of the criminalization of youth. In the early 2000s, they took on corporate radio giant Clear Channel who at the time owned over 1,200 radio stations around the country. Working around an FCC loophole, they owned 12 radio stations in the Bay Area of California including both a right-wing radio station and a hip-hop radio station. Through organizing, they worked to hold them accountable for: increas­ ing air time for local artists on the hip-hop radio station; balance and bias in reporting; and being responsive and representative of the community. In the late-2000s, they changed their name to Center for Media Justice and began to focus on internet access for communities of color. Their work has focused on prison phone justice, net neutrality, racial bias and censorship on Facebook, and electronic monitoring through the #NoDigitalPrisons project. Today, MediaJustice also serves as a hub that works to strengthen the capacity and coordination of regional media–activist

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organizations, develop the skills and leadership of organizers from under-represented communi­ ties, and increase strategic effectiveness within and across regions, and among media and social justice groups. They work with groups, such as Million Hoodies Movement for Justice, public access TV stations like PhillyCAM and May First Movement Technology. May First Movement Technology is a membership organization that supports movement building by “advancing the strategic use and collective control of technology for local struggles, global transformation, and emancipation without borders.” They help develop new technologies that align with their political vision of free and open Internet, as well as open-source software and networks free of big tech. They host an Internet network that allows activists (individuals and organizations) to host websites, email accounts, mailing lists, databases, and other Internetrelated services. Like many other actors in the movement for media justice, they are wrestling digital technology, information, and stories out of the hands of corporations and into the hands of the people. Community Organizer and social theorist Grace Lee Boggs (2012) believed that it was nec­ essary to go beyond protest organizing and embrace visionary organizing which she says “begins by creating images and stories of the future that help us imagine and create alternatives to the existing system” (p. xxi). This visioning can only happen collectively with people who are most impacted by injustice centered in the process and by reframing the narratives that perpetuate power and privilege for the few into ones that center and empower humanity. These messages are being communicated in creative and impactful ways through both old and new media plat­ forms. Transformative practice means creating a movement that is not only a political revolution but a cultural revolution that points to new ways of being and acting with one another. It is in these ways that organizers work to shape the hearts and minds of themselves and each other, allies, and targets.

Case Study: The Poor People’s Campaign The contemporary Poor People’s Campaign (PPC), based on a campaign of the same name created by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, was launched in 2018 by a group of progressive organizers in North Carolina led by the Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II and the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis. Growing out of the Moral Mondays movement in North Carolina, it is a national but decentralized movement of groups of impacted people in states across the country that seeks to address the interlocking oppressions of: systemic racism, poverty, militarism, and the war economy, and the misguided moral narratives of religious nationalism. Like MLK, they call for a “revolution of values,” a moral change. Grounded in this moral vision, the movement seeks to impact social policies and build last­ ing power for people who are poor and marginalized. The PPC utilizes a coalition model to engage in broadbased, multi-issue organizing, draw­ ing heavily from faith-based communities. One of the anchor institutions of the Poor People’s Campaign is the Repairers of the Breach (2019) whose name comes from Biblical scripture, specifically Isaiah 58:12: “Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.” They seek to repair the social contract that has been broken, the moral covenant in society that has been shattered. Repairers of the Breach and the PPC frame social problems as a moral crisis urging people to move beyond the politics of right and left and to stand the moral ground

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and create a moral fusion movement. The Higher Ground Moral Declaration was published in 2016 and is described in this way: This Higher Ground Moral Declaration provides a moral agenda for our nation on issues including: democracy and voting rights; poverty and economic justice; workers’ rights; education; healthcare; environmental justice; immigrant rights and challenging xenopho­ bia; criminal justice; LGBTQ rights; and war-mongering and the military. For each issue area, an individual moral and constitutional foundation is established. The positions are neither left nor right, nor conservative or liberal. Rather, they are morally defensible, constitutionally consistent, and economically sound. Most importantly, they represent, as Dr. King urged, a revolution in values. An outgrowth of the moral agenda, the PPC has put forth a poor people’s moral budget that identifies key areas of investment: 1) democracy and equal protection under the law; 2) domestic tranquility; 3) peace and the common defense; 4) life and health; 5) the planet; 6) our future; and 7) an equitable economy. They have also produced information, analysis, forums, and direct actions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on protect­ ing the poor and promoting justice and equity in the context of the crisis. With growing silence in U.S. political rhetoric about the plight of poor people since the ending of the War on Poverty of the 1960s, the movement seeks to bring poverty into political conversations and give voice to poor people. The PPC centers the lived experiences of people who are poor and marginalized in their organizing and actions. Rallies, marches and actions feature first-person accounts and storytelling of poor and working-class people trying to survive in a system that is hostile to them. They reframe the issues and utilize strategic frames, such as “Fight Poverty, NOT the Poor.” In 2020, they are using a strategic frame through the name of their campaign—“We Must do MORE (Mobilizing, Organizing, Registering, Education).” Rather than demonizing the poor, they flip the narrative and ques­ tion the morality of public policy and the elected officials who make it (Kaufmann, 2018). They leverage their messages with a concrete media strategy that includes press conferences and media interviews, press releases, and social media. While the PPC understands the importance of stories and creative strategic framing, they also use research and data to back up their claims. They published the “Souls of Poor Folk Audit” (2018), a study of poverty in America over the last 50 years, through a partnership with the Institute for Policy Studies. In New York state, they are engaging low-income people in research on housing and health care as a way to get them talking about their experiences and get them involved in the movement. This research was leveraged into direct action, “People’s Need, Not Corporate Greed” at the New York statehouse in Albany. Their theory of change is grounded in deep study of history which shows that when moral leaders, clergy, and activists band together, change can happen. Their strategy includes hold­ ing leaders accountable, disruption, and arrest. In 2019, the PPC hosted a Poor People’s Forum for 2020 Presidential candidates where they had the opportunity to outline plans for addressing poverty and systemic racism. In 2018, they hosted 40 days of moral actions at statehouses and about 2,000 people were arrested around the country. Each week included a focused theme with actions each day built around the theme—a Mass Meeting (Sunday even­ ing), Moral Monday (nonviolent moral fusion direct action in state capitals and Washington, D.C.), Teaching Tuesday (educational events), Theomusicology Thursday (movement arts

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and cultural events) and Faithful Friday/Saturday/Sunday worship in faith communities. The six weeks of topics were: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Week One: Somebody’s Hurting Our People: Children, Women, and People with Disabili­ ties in Poverty Week Two: Linking Systemic Racism and Poverty: Voting Rights, Immigration, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and the Mistreatment of Indigenous Communities Week Three: The War Economy: Militarism and the Proliferation of Gun Violence Week Four: The Right to Health and a Healthy Planet: Ecological Devastation and Health Care Week Five: Everybody’s Got a Right to Live: Education, Living Wage Jobs, Income, Housing Week Six: A New and Unsettling Force: Confronting the Distorted Moral Narrative

The PPC embraces a broadbased organizing approach which means that they bring together mediating organizations as opposed to just focusing on organizing individuals. These organi­ zations are neighborhood organizations, labor organizations, faith groups, and other groups addressing a range of social justice issues. Their partners are addressing immigration, housing, health care, education, jobs, LGBTQ issues, and more. VOCAL-NY (Voices of Community Activists and Leaders) is an example of one such partner which is a statewide membership organization of low-income people affected by HIV/AIDS, the drug war, mass incarcera­ tion, and homelessness. Their mission is to build grassroots power to create healthy and just communities employing strategies and tactics that include community organizing, leadership development, public education, direct services, participatory research, and direct action. The PPC engages with arts, music, and culture and sees it as “essential for moving people’s hearts and minds” (Poor People’s Campaign, 2019). Old songs and new are sung at marches and other events. They have published a songbook which contains original screen prints about the movement and songs of the Civil Rights era, such as “Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around” and “Everybody’s got a right to live” as well as antiwar songs, songs of South African apartheid, and new songs from the climate justice movement. The artistry of the words of Rev. Dr. Barber on the subject of faith in the face of greed, cruelty and injustice, serve to inspire as well: There’s no mountain that can’t be climbed.There’s no valley that can’t be crossed.There’s no enemy that can’t be defeated.There’s no darkness that can’t be overcome.There’s no pressure that can’t be pushed through.There’s no political power that can’t be overturned.There’s no challenge that can’t be survived.There’s no war of the spirit that can’t be subdued. (Barber, 2018, p. 210)

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION 1. Why is the process of issue framing so important in community organizing? 2. Discuss some recent social welfare policies that pose barriers for marginalized communities. What language is used to describe the policy? Attempt to “break the frame” and come up with some alternative language that describes what the policy really does and offer a new solution. 3. Discuss the ways in which the corporate mainstream media pose barriers to achieving the goals of social change work. 4. Discuss the strengths and limits of social media use for advancing social change campaigns. 5. Provide some examples of effective ways to use social media for advancing social change campaigns.

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SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER INQUIRY Books Barber, W. J. (2018) Revive us again: Vision and action in moral organizing. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Earl, J., & Kimport, K. (2011). Digitally enabled social change: Activism in the internet age. MIT Press. Eubanks, V. (2018). Automating inequality: How high-tech tools profile, police, and punish the poor (First edition.). New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press. Hunter, D. (2015). Building a movement to end the new Jim Crow: An organizing guide. Denver, CO: Veterans of Hope, Hyrax Publishing. Johnston, H., & Noakes, J. A. (Eds.). (2005). Frames of protest: Social movements and the framing perspective. Oxford, England: Rowman & Littlefield. Schechter, S. (1982). Women and male violence: The visions and struggles of the battered women’s move­ ment. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.

Web Beautiful Trouble. https://beautifultrouble.org/

Community Tool Box. http://ctb.ku.edu/

Hyperallergic. https://hyperallergic.com/

Poor News Network. http://www.poormagazine.org

Poor People’s Campaign. https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/

Training for Change. http://trainingforchange.org

REFERENCES Bankoff, G. (2001). Rendering the world unsafe: “Vulnerability” as Western discourse. Disasters, 25(1), 19–35. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7717.00159. Barber, W. J. (2018). Revive Us again: Vision and action in moral organizing (pp. 210). Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Barriner, L. (2018). Changing the story on democracy: Reflections from facing race. Center for Story-Based Strategy. Retrieved from https://www.storybasedstrategy.org/blog-full/2018/11/21/changing-the-story-on-democracy­ reflections-from-facing-race Bobo, K., Kendall, J., & Max, S. (2001). Organizing for social change: Midwest academy manual for activists. Santa Ana, CA: Steven Locks Press. Boggs, G. L. (2012). The next American revolution: Sustainable activism for the twenty-first century. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Boulianne, S. (2015). Social media use and participation: A meta-analysis of current research. Information, com­ munication & society, 18(5), 524–538.

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TOOLS FOR COMMUNITY ORGANIZING Boyd, A. (Eds.). (2016). Beautiful trouble: A toolbox for revolution (pocket edition). New York, NY: OR Books. Brown, A. (2019). Pleasure activism: The politics of feeling good. Chico, CA: AK Press. Buckland, K., Boyd, A., & Block, N. (n.d.). Principle: Balance art and message. Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution. Retrieved from https://beautifultrouble.org/principle/balance-art-and-message/ Cohen, M. B. (2004). Voices from an invisible movement: Mental health consumer/survivor/ex-patient activism. Reflections, 10(4), 50–61. Earl, J., & Kimport, K. (2011). Digitally enabled social change: Activism in the Internet age. MIT Press. Earl, J., Kimport, K., Prieto, G., Rush, C., & Reynoso, K. (2010). Changing the world one webpage at a time: Conceptualizing and explaining internet activism. Mobilization: An International Quarterly, 15(4), 425–446. Enoch, S. (Eds.). (n.d.). Theory: The propaganda model. Beautiful trouble: A toolbox for revolution (pocket edition). OR Books. Retrieved from https://beautifultrouble.org/theory/the-propaganda-model/ Eubanks, V. (2018). Automating inequality: How high-tech tools profile, police, and punish the poor (First edition.). New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press. Gladwell, M. (2010). Small change: Why the revolution will not be tweeted. The New Yorker (October 4, 2010). Glyn, M., & Farrell, C. (2019). Arts factory. In Farrell, C., Green, A., Knights, S., & Skeaping, W. (Eds.), This is not a drill: An extinction rebellion handbook, (pp. 120–125). WF Howes Limited. Gold, M. (2019). Scabby, the giant inflatable union protest rat, faces extermination. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/31/nyregion/rat-balloon-union.html Goldberg, G., & Tully, C. (2006). The structural approach to direct practice in social work: A social constructionist perspective (3rd ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. Herman, E., & Chomsky, N. (2012). A propaganda model. In M.G., Durham & D.M., Kellner (Ed.) Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks, 204. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Hunter, D. (2015). Building a movement to end the new jim crow: An organizing guide. Denver, CO: Veterans of Hope, Hyrax Publishing. Hwang, H., & Kim, K. (2015). Social media as a tool for social movements: The effect of social media use and social capital on intention to participate in social movements. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 39(5), 478–488. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12221. Kaufmann, G. (2018). The Poor People’s campaign is just getting started. The Nation. Retrieved from https://www. thenation.com/article/poor-peoples-campaign-just-getting-started/ Lakoff, G. (2004). Don’t think of an elephant!: Know your values and frame the debate: The essential guide for progressives. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing. Lutz, A. (2012). These 6 corporations’ control 90% of the media in America. Business Insider. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/these-6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media-in-america-2012-6 MacEachern, D. (1994). Enough is enough: How to organize a successful campaign for change. New York: Avon Books. Mallett, C. A. (2016). The school-to-prison pipeline: a critical review of the punitive paradigm shift. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 33(1), 15–24. McAdam, D. (1986). Recruitment to high-risk activism: The case of freedom summer. American Journal of Sociology, 92(1), 64–90.

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COMMUNICATION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE McNern, R. (2019). One by one: A media strategy. In C. Farrell, A. Green, S. Knights, & W. Skeaping (Eds.), This is not a drill: An extinction rebellion handbook (pp. 126–130). London, UK: Penguin Random House. Meisel, D. (n.d.). Theory: Hashtag politics. Beautiful Trouble: A toolbox for revolution. Retrieved from https:// beautifultrouble.org/theory/hashtag-politics/ Moran, G. S. (2018). The mental health consumer movement and peer providers in Israel. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 27(5), 420–426. Mundt, M., Ross, K., & Burnett, C. M. (2018). Scaling social movements through social media: The case of black lives matter. Social Media & Society, 4(4). Noakes, J. A., & Johnston, H. (2005). Frames of protest: A roadmap to a perspective. In H. Johnston, & J. A. Noakes (Eds.), Frames of protest: Social movements and the framing perspective (pp. 1–33)). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Nussbaum, M. (2011). Creating capabilities: The human development approach and its implementation. Hypatia, 24(3), 211−215. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. Partnership for Working Families and SPIN Project. (2007). Words that work: Communications messaging for community benefit agreements. Retrieved from https://www.luminafoundation.org/files/resources/words-that­ work.pdf Poor People’s Campaign. (2019). The souls of poor folk: Auditing America 50 years after the Poor People’s Cam­ paign challenged racism, poverty, the war economy/militarism, and our national morality. Retrieved from https:// www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/PPC-Audit-Full-410835a.pdf Poor People’s Campaign. (2019). We rise: A movement songbook. Retrieved from https://www.poorpeoplescampaign. org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/SON001_Songbook_2019_V2-LR.pdf Poor People’s Campaign. (n.d.). A national call for moral revival: Arts and culture. Retrieved from https://www. poorpeoplescampaign.org/arts-culture/ Pozharliev, R., Verbeke, W. J., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2017). Social consumer neuroscience: Neurophysiological meas­ ures of advertising effectiveness in a social context. Journal of Advertising, 46(3), 351–362. Reese, H. (2019). The Cambridge Analytica whistleblower on how American voters are “primed to be exploited”. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/10/28/20932790/chris-wylie-cambridge-analytica-facebook­ trump-2020 Reinsborough, P., & Canning, D. (2017). Re: Imagining change: How to use story-based strategy to win campaigns, build movements, and change the world. Pm Press. Repairers of the Breach. (2019). Our moral agenda. Retrieved from https://www.breachrepairers.org/moralagenda Rodriguez, G. (2017). This is your brain on storytelling: The chemistry of modern communication. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/giovannirodriguez/2017/07/21/this-is-your-brain-on-storytelling-the-chemistry­ of-modern-communication/#5e75e839c865 Satariano, N. B., & Wong, A. (2012). Creating an online strategy to enhance effective community building and organizing. In M. Minkler (Eds.), Community organizing and community building for health and welfare (pp. 269−287). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Schechter, S. (1982). Women and male violence: The visions and struggles of the battered women’s movement. Cambridge, MA: South End Press. SPIN Project. (2005). Strategic communications planning. Retrieved from http://www.panna.org/sites/default/files/ StrategicCommunicationsSPIN.pdf

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TOOLS FOR COMMUNITY ORGANIZING Staggenborg, S. (2005). Social movement theory. In G. Ritzer (Ed.), Encyclopaedia of social theory (pp. 753–759). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Stone, D. (2012). Policy paradox: The art of political decision making (Third edition.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. Weltman, E. (2016) Media relations. In Staples, L. (Eds.), Roots to power: A manual for grassroots organizing: A manual for grassroots organizing (pp. 381−386). ABC-CLIO. Xiao, A. (2013). Remembering art’s role in social change. Hyperallergic. Hyperallergic Media Inc. Zinn, H. (2003). A people’s history of the United States. New York, NY: Harper Collins. Zuboff, S. (2019). The age of surveillance capitalism: The fight for a human future at the new frontier of power (First edition.). New York: PublicAffairs. Zuckerman, E. (2013). Digital cosmopolitans: Why we think the internet connects us, why it doesn’t, and how to rewire it. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.

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Chapter 9

Strategy and Power Strategy and tactics are the lifeblood of organizing and are the mechanisms through which people come together to exercise their power. Alvin Toffler said, “If you don’t have a strategy, then you are part of someone else’s strategy (Fine J., n.d.).” Strategy in organizing, the subject of this chapter, is the sum total of the development of a vision; analysis of power; assessment of capaci­ ties; identification of issues and targets; and planning to achieve a goal. Tactics, the focus of the next chapter, are specific actions and activities that are carried out to move toward a strategic goal. It has been said that if strategy is the ladder, then tactics are the steps on the ladder (Resident Action Project, 2017). The words strategy and tactics are often used in the context of a community organizing campaign. It is noteworthy that these three highlighted terms have their origins in military discourse and took root in utilitarian organizing traditions in the 20th century. Transformative, feminist, and intersectional movement builders have questioned the assumptions of such approaches to strategy articulating what has been referred to as emergent strategy (Brown, 2017). I will thus trouble the waters with respect to these concepts throughout this chapter and the next, offering perspectives from transformative approaches which point to ways that may be more inclusive, sustainable, and transformational. But to be sure, being intentional, united, and organized is necessary to be effec­ tive at changemaking. Perhaps, as Martin Luther King, Jr. alluded to, if progressive movements could be as organized (and well-funded) as the military, then change would not seem so elusive. An issue campaign is considered by many to be the gold standard in community organizing strat­ egy and an effective and efficient way to channel a group’s energy to achieve goals while, at the same time, building power and momentum over time (Hunter, 2015). Examples of specific cam­ paigns around a problem, such as mass incarceration, are: 1) Drop the Rock Coalition’s campaign in New York City to end Rockefeller Drug Laws, which required long sentences for possession of very small amounts of drugs; and 2) the Minnesota group TakeAction’s three-year campaign to convince the company Target to “ban the box,” demanding that the checkbox for criminal records on applications be removed (Hunter, 2015). Campaigns such as these emerge out of strategic processes engaged in by impacted communities, organizers, leaders, and allies that utilize analysis, framing, and tactics to achieve their goals. Successful organizing campaigns are often dependent on the always changing political opportu­ nities (Noakes & Johnston, 2005) that exist in the sociopolitical landscape. Such political oppor­ tunities may include conflict between elites or between or within political parties, a suddenly vulnerable incumbent politician, the level of repression or social control in a society, or a major crisis, such as a natural disaster, economic recession, or pandemic. It is necessary to have effective strategy and tactics to take advantage of political opportunities that open up because often they open up only briefly. Some would say, for example, that political opportunities for progressive change were more open during the Obama era and have been more closed during the Trump Era. On the other hand, sometimes it is in the context of more repressive political moments when

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actors get most tuned into their power and their movements become more successful (Chenoweth & Stephan, 2013). In the face of the vicissitudes of political opportunities, organizers ultimately tend to emphasize their own agency and their capacities to collectively organize for power, whatever the environ­ mental circumstances. Gene Sharp (2005) wrote: “Some nonviolent struggles have succeeded in very poor circumstances because the struggle group compensated for specific unfavorable condi­ tions by developing their strengths and their skills in how to act under such conditions” (p. 437). The theory of agency in community organizing and social movements is that “you can get it if you work for it, but you have to have good strategy.” Social movement scholar Marshall Ganz captured the essence of strategy: “turning what you have into what you need to get what you want” (cited in McAlevey, 2018 p. 5). In this chapter, I will discuss strategy in more depth, including power analysis, assessment, and issue identification. STRATEGY, POWER, AND ALLIES During the 1917 Russian Revolution, a common question asked by the proletariat organizers was Shto delyat? which translates to “What is to be done?” Although the political, economic, and social problems were clear to these revolutionaries, the solutions were not always so clear. This is arguably true today as well, as many activists and would-be organizers likely have a pretty good understanding of the systemic forces that restrict people’s capabilities to live well and fully. The question of what is to be done, however, is another one altogether and must continually be posed and integrated into organizers’ praxis. The question can only be answered collectively within a larger framework of strategy grounded in an analysis of power. A typical strategy chart includes categories focused on 1) goals; 2) organizational considera­ tions; 3) constituents, allies and opponents; 4) targets; and 5) tactics. Bobo, Kendall, and Max (2001) present a useful framework developed by the Midwest Academy for planning direct-action campaigns. Their strategy chart is valuable because it helps organizers dissect strategy into mean­ ingful components. The first consideration is goals, that is, the goals of the campaign, including long-term, immedi­ ate, and short-term goals. This consideration is absolutely necessary for any campaign and should not be divorced from organizational frames and issue-development processes. Elucidating goals is particularly helpful for those concerned with a formal evaluation of their practices or those consid­ ering the use of a logic model. The second category is organizational considerations. These include many of the resources that groups invest in direct-action campaigns, including money and staff/vol­ unteer time. The third consideration is constituents, allies, and opponents, that is, developing a list of impacted people, potential allies, networks, and people who might oppose your work. Depending on the type of organization (e.g. utilitarian or transformative), the kinds of activities that this entails may vary. In this process, campaign organizers should consider what groups might actively oppose the campaign. The fourth consideration is targets, wherein organizers can consider both primary and secondary targets. This process should include an analysis of the types of power mechanisms that are at play, such as consumer power or strike/disruptive power, keeping in mind that targeting specific individuals can be very effective. So, rather than targeting, for example, the House Ways and Means Committee of the state legislature, target the chair of the committee or specific members. Finally, tactics are the actual activities that the organization or coalition will engage in. This may include media hits, hearings, lobby days, one-on-one accountability sessions, and so on.

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Like other aspects of organizing practice, strategizing is a group process, just as the assessment or issue-identification process is. The articulation of a strategy chart would take place in a process that maximizes participation of key actors, with special attention given to the participation of impacted communities and those who live at the intersections of multiple forms of oppression, such as women of color, queer people with disabilities, and low-income immigrants. While a strategy chart is developed at the outset of a campaign, it should be consulted and revisited as part of regular reflexive processes (praxis) that the group commits to and engages in. Yet even before articulating goals, strategizing should be preceded by visioning, especially when working in a transformative organizing framework. A vision is the way a group believes that the world should be. A vision is “big picture, transformative, compelling, and deep” (Ruckus, n.d.). An example would be: “we envision a world where trans and nonbinary people have the right to bodily autonomy.” Such a vision might already exist in the form of an organizational vision statement but when working with a coalition of partners it may be necessary to seek consensus from the group. But, it is more than just a dry process of agreeing on words, it is the work of tap­ ping into our longings and desires for liberation, a creative process. It has been said that “all organizing work is science fiction” (Imarisha, 2015, p. 3) because a world without prisons or homelessness or poverty is indeed science fiction, at least in this moment. A discussion of strategy would not be complete without conjuring the name, Gene Sharp, a U.S. theorist and strategist of nonviolent resistance who was an influential writer of books and papers on the subject including an underground pamphlet called From Dictatorship to Democracy that has been translated into 31 languages and used by activists, organizers, and revolutionaries all over the world including Burma, Serbia, and Egypt. Steeped in the traditions of nonviolence and pacifism, Sharp ultimately came to believe that many pacifist actions, such as hunger strikes, draft resistance, bearing witness, and speaking truth to power, while perhaps noble, are ultimately ineffective (Engler & Engler, 2016). His study of social movements led him to embrace the power of political calculation and of using nonviolence not necessarily for moral reasons (though he hap­ pened to embrace it as a philosophy of life) but because it worked. Rather than principled nonvio­ lence, he embraced, strategic nonviolence or “militant nonviolence” (p. 28). Embracing militaristic language, Sharp’s study of history revealed that there was a “vast armory of nonviolent weapons” available to organizers (cited in Engler & Engler, 2016, p. 16). He was clear that strategists should be chosen carefully and that most people were not well-suited to think and plan strategically, noting that “not everyone who is eager to participate may be the most wise and skilled” (cited in McBay, 2019, p. 631). This exclusionary attitude (indeed Sharp has been referred to as the “Machiavelli of nonviolence”) raises questions in terms of some of the core val­ ues of organizing such as accountability and leadership development of the base, participation and accountability to the most marginalized, and building human relationships. One has to wonder to what extent this approach overvalues able-bodied white men therein perpetuating existing struc­ tures of exclusion? Power Analysis When discerning strategy, groups must engage with the question of power, consider the various types of power that exist, and vet strategies for confronting and unleashing such power (Kuttner, 2015). The power may be held by various gatekeepers of social systems and institutions and/or by various elites. But power is else held by the people, in the everyday spaces that people naturally

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find themselves, such as workplaces and churches, and also in more intentional convergences like community organizations, neighborhood groups, and unions. A power analysis, considered central to any organizing strategy, is a highly contextualized examination of where power lies in social spaces and what the relationships are among the various forms of power, with the goal of using that knowledge for action. Consider the example of women and queer-identified college students who want to change policies/protocols/practices around how sexual assault cases are handled on campus in an effort to dismantle rape culture. They would convene a process wherein they map out who holds the power to make the change. Is it the Sexual Assault Center on campus? the campus police? the Office of Diversity and Inclusion? the Title IX office? the Dean of students? the President of the university? If it is a public university, could state government be decision makers? Are there any other outside forces at work, including funders? What about parents who are paying tuition? These kinds of questions lead to the identification of allies and intervention strategies (tactics). Bobo, Kendall, and Max (2001) identified four types of power available to achieve reforms: political/legislative power, consumer power, legal/regulatory power, and strike/disruptive power. Political/legislative power is getting legislation passed and programs funded by an elected body. Consumer power is the ability to conduct a boycott of a product or service. Legal/regulatory power is the ability to win in court or in a regulatory process. Strike/disruptive power is cutting profits or income by stopping a company or an agency from functioning. Through critical and reflective dialogue, with attention to framing and resources, organizers can identify the types of power they want to tap into in order to pursue change. As an example, consider a coalition of organizations that is concerned about the health of lowincome, inner-city residents. In this case, obviously many people and systems have an influence on the health of low-income communities. This includes those that contribute to the problem of poor health as well as the strengths of people and systems which support good health. Such actors include federal and state governments, which have the ability to offer publicly subsidized health insurance; employers; private insurance companies; hospitals; doctors; nurses; clinics; and corpo­ rations that may be playing a role in perpetuating poor health in low-income communities as they market unhealthy food, alcohol, and cigarettes to poor people. It is a complex issue, and it can be challenging to nail down how in fact to get to the bottom of it (if it is even possible). Sometimes, issues present themselves explicitly; other times, a group must go through an intentional process of community assessment and discussion and ultimately need to pare down or, “cut” their issue. There will be more discussion about assessment and issue identification later in this chapter. Once the coalition has ascertained what the issue is that they wish to address, they can begin to break down the power mechanisms that perpetuate the problem. This process is not exactly linear, because it is often practical to identify an issue as one is assessing power mechanisms. That is why framing, assessment, issue identification, and tactical development are necessarily so interconnected. If upon assessment it is found that residents are getting sick because of toxic emis­ sions at a local factory, there are a variety of forms of power to take advantage of and ultimately a range of tactics to choose from. For example, igniting consumer power against the company that owns the factory may be effective. In addition, working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a way to leverage legal/regulatory power might also be appropriate. If the issue is a lack of access to health care for low-income people, then tapping into political/legislative power to expand Medicaid programs or secure funding to expand free clinics in the neighborhood for those who cannot afford health insurance would be a reasonable solution. Strike/disruptive power may be ignited against particular companies that refuse to offer low-paid workers health

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insurance. Each of these approaches requires the right constellation of allies so that the power of the people becomes formidable. The Institute for Development Studies offers another way to think about power through what they refer to as the Power Cube (Gaventa, 2009). This approach begins by inviting organizers into a conversation about power, including power over, power to, power within, and power with. Power over, rooted in dominant racist, patriarchal, and capitalist structures, narratives, and practices, is the power that elite actors have “to affect the actions and thoughts” of people who are relatively “powerless” in society (p. 6). Power to, on the other hand, refers to agency and the ability of the so-called powerless to act on their own behalf by exercising their rights. Power within is a numi­ nous kind of power that exists outside of social constructs; it is a kind of confidence that is a source of resilience and a precondition for action. Power with is the synergistic power that emerges from collaboration, alliance building, and solidarity with others. The Power Cube is an analytical tool for considering these different facets of power (over, to, with, and within) in three-dimensions—levels, forms, and spaces of power. Levels of power include global, national, and local. Forms of power are invisible, hidden, and visible. Spaces of power are closed, invited and claimed. Levels of power are pretty straightforward. Global power includes actors such as the United Nations or supranational entities such as the World Trade Organization or the European Union. National power is power that is held by national (state) governments including in parliaments, executive branches, and the courts. Local power is held where local governance makes its decisions (in the United States, this may include states, coun­ ties, and/or municipalities). These levels of power are a kind of power over but the flip side is that there is power to take power at all of these levels whether it is through global social movements, a federated national association, or a local neighborhood coalition demanding participatory budget­ ary processes. Forms of power are the extent to which power manifests itself. Visible power is public, observ­ able decision-making that takes place in legislatures, local assemblies, and other kinds of consul­ tative forums. This also applies to decision-making bodies within public agencies and nonprofit organizations, such as boards of director meetings. While the assumption here is that these spaces are neutral and everyone has equal access, this could not be further from the truth which is why it is important to identify hidden power. Hidden power is used by elites to maintain the existing power structures and is perpetuated by creating barriers to participation through backstage pro­ cesses. Even social movements and NGOs can have hidden forms of power. Invisible power is the internalization of powerlessness. One can think of it in the ways that philosophers like Foucault (1977) and Gramsci (cited in Katz, 2006) did, in the sense that systems such as the educational system, penal system, or mental health system serve to create docile bodies as the hegemony of structures, narratives, and sets of practices become internalized as powerlessness. Interventions here may take the form of healing justice work or cultural work that empowers people, for exam­ ple, through the arts. Spaces of power are potential areas of participation, intervention, and action. They are spaces where power to and power with can be catalyzed. Closed spaces are undemocratic spaces where politicians, business people, management, and others make decisions behind closed doors with little to no input or involvement of less powerful actors. An example of a tactic to open closed spaces in the United States is to use the Freedom of Information Act to gain access to information and create more transparency about a decision or process. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is an organizer’s tool consistent with the belief that people have the “right to know;” it was passed in 1966 and expresses the legal requirement that U.S. government agencies disclose previously

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unreleased information, records, and documents requested. Invited spaces are where govern­ ments, agencies, or organizations invite some kind of participation in decision-making processes whether it is more on a consultative level or something more participatory like participatory budgeting. Recall Arnstein’s (1969) ladder of participation which articulates a range of participa­ tion from the more tokenizing forms to the more empowering forms. For marginalized actors to strengthen their participation in these spaces, they may focus on storytelling, research, or negotia­ tion to help them be more effective. Finally, claimed spaces are “organic” spaces (Cornwall, 2002) that marginalized civil society actors claim and create for themselves to activate their power. Strategy, from the perspective of the power cube, then, is about using these dimensions of power (levels, forms, and spaces) as entry and leverage points and attending to their interactions. Accessing power within might begin with popular education or other similar processes. Moreover, decisions about levels, forms and spaces are always to be made collectively and accountably and in the context of considerations such as framing, resources, allies, as well as local and movement culture. An example of a tactic that drew from a strategy that considered multiple dimensions of power was part of the #40DaysofAction of the Poor People’s Campaign (PPC) in 2018 in New York state. The action in question sought to reveal the ways that decisions are made about the allo­ cation of resources in New York state (Jeffries, 2018). The PPC targeted the Fort Orange Club, which is a private social club in Albany, New York, originally founded in 1880 as a gentleman’s club. It is within walking distance of the state legislative building and multimillion dollar deals are made at the club by politicians and other actors behind closed doors. The PPC created a trail of fake money bags between the two buildings to symbolize where state tax dollars are being fun­ neled. The action resulted in 31 arrests as organizers held their ground in front of the Fort Orange Club which is private property. The strategy behind this action operated at the level of local power to expose where hidden power exists in a closed space. A Spectrum of Allies Part of strategizing includes the identification of allies who are supportive of change goals and methods. The tool, a spectrum of allies, seen in Figure 9.1, is valuable in thinking this through and can help organizers to understand how and why movements succeed (Hunter, 2015). Within this framework, active allies are those people who agree with your position and are engaged in

FIGURE 9.1

Neutral

op Pas po siv sit e io n e Activ n sitio oppo

Acti v allie e s

ve ssi Pa llies a

A Spectrum of Allies

Source: Hunter, 2015; Training for Change, 2015

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your work. On the other end of the spectrum, active opposition, are those people who completely oppose your goals and are working against you. Passive allies and passive opponents agree or disagree with you, respectively, but are not doing anything to support and/or hinder you. Neutrals are “genuinely undecided, completely, uninformed, or truly apathetic” (Hunter, 2015, p. 56). Organizers may spend too much time focusing on getting the active opposition to change and that is probably a waste of time because they may never change. Most people lie somewhere in the middle of the extremes and are the people you must decide if and how to engage with the goal of shifting them one degree in your direction. To move a passive ally into an active one, you might try getting them to sign a petition, attend a march, or show up to an event or meeting. To move a neutral person into a passive ally, you might use storytelling or some kind of imagery about the human lived experience of facing suffering and/or injustice. Engaging with passive opponents may mean taking an empathetic listening approach to hear their views and perhaps offer them new ideas that might offer them new perspectives (Hunter, 2015). The hybrid approach to organizing, discussed in an earlier chapter, takes the best of structurebased organizing and couples it with mass mobilization, and holds the objective to change the minds and hearts of the public at large rather than just the power brokers (Engler & Engler, 2016). Thus, the targets of a campaign or action are perhaps not always key decision makers, the targets may be the general public (who may begin as neutral or passive opposition). When there is popular support of an issue (through both active support and more latent sympathy), elites will be forced to act. The trend toward the legalization of recreational marijuana is perhaps an example of this kind of broad, popular support that is forcing governments to act. The protests around the U.S. that were set off after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis resulted in a series of moves by decision makers to reduce the power of police by cutting funding and changing laws about police tactics such as the use of chokeholds. As a form of transformative change work, hybrid organizing is operating not at the surface level of transactional short-term gains but in the deeper waters of real and lasting change by touching human hearts and actually changing people’s beliefs. During the civil rights movement, while successful smaller-scale actions were critical, it was when the horrors of crackdowns on people in places like Birmingham and Selma inflamed public opinion so much that civil rights legislation was quickened and forthcoming (Engler & Engler, 2016). EMERGENT STRATEGY AND TRANSFORMATIVE APPROACHES While it can be effective to have a strategy and not be swayed from objectives, it is also the case that strategy is a term to be problematized. Brown (2017) has argued that the use of the term strategy or strategic in social movements is “actually not that discerning. Horrible, racist, sex­ ist, ableist, patriarchal, outdated, inflexible plans can be pitched as strategic” (p. 20). Drawing from observations of the way the natural world works as well as inspiration from science fiction author, Octavia Butler, Brown uses the term, “emergent strategy” to describe how movement work is more about learning to be with complexity and to ride the waves of change. The chal­ lenge is to be adaptive but intentional “like migrating birds who know how to get where they’re going even when a storm pushes them a hundred miles off course” (p. 21). She points to Butler who wrote books about characters who were guided by their longings, passions, and visions of another world. Mann (2011), also writing in the transformative organizing tradition, notes that organizers should be “agile” and that they should “unlock the mind from a rigid commitment to any single path” (p. 138).

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Emergent strategy is decidedly nonlinear and has been likened by Brown (2017) to fractals. Go online and look up an image of fractals. You will notice circular and colorful patterns more reflective of the natural world. Fractals are complex infinite patterns that are “self-similar across different scales. They are created by repeating a simple process over and over in an ongoing feed­ back loop” (Brown, 2017, p. 51). Fractals as a metaphor for emergent strategy implies that what we do on a small scale such as communication with colleagues, decision-making, how meetings are facilitated, and how we hold space for others, sets the pattern for the large scale. It brings up important questions around power, relationship, and accountability. The principles of emergent strategy as articulated by Brown (2017) are: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Small is good, small is all (The large is a reflection of the small) Change is constant (Be like water) There is a conversation in the room that only these people at this moment can have; find it Never a failure, always a lesson Trust the people (If you trust the people, they become trustworthy) Move at the speed of trust. Focus on critical connections more than critical mass—build the resilience by building the relationships Less prep, more presence What you pay attention to grows (pp. 41–42)

While the process of the development of a strategy chart in utilitarian organizing models (with a history of such processes being led by white men) can be effective and attempt to be participatory, it is likely that this approach misses a lot of nuance. Transformative approaches to organizing and emergent strategy emphasize presence, process, and relationship, utilizing deliberately inclusive and mindful processes that arguably make movements more responsive and resilient. Attention to the “power within” is something that utilitarian and transformative organizers alike are interested in. When analyzing power, organizers look internally at the kinds of power it holds collectively and individually, articulating where it comes from and how it can best be used (Kuttner, 2015). Transformative organizing traditions go deeper with this inquiry, especially as it relates to internalized oppression and the ways that it gets played out within individuals and groups. This may have implications related to self and collective care, interpersonal dynamics, and decision-making about strategy. In the transformative tradition of organizing, the Theater of the Oppressed has helped organizers tap into their personal and interpersonal power by engaging with internalized forms of oppression through inquiry into its kinetic, emotional, and cognitive dimensions. Through the creative processes of play and acting, theater becomes a “rehearsal for the revolution” (cited in Kuttner, 2015; Boal, 2002). The use of generative somatics or other forms of social justice embodied work helps activists and organizers to engage in inquiry with the body, noting places of tightness, constriction, or resistance as well as places of freedom, openness, or flow (e.g. Haines, 2019). By making what is usually unconscious conscious, changemakers are better able to tune into personal pain, implicit bias, and other blind spots that would otherwise have unnecessary power in strategic processes. It provides an opportunity to relearn how to connect with personal and collective power that people might otherwise be disconnected from. In the case of the example of campus organizing around sexual violence, organizers could work with an outside facilitator or develop their own capacities for facilitating processes that might use expressive arts, African dance, yoga, or another form of

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movement practice that could serve as a source of wisdom and touchstone in their intentional plan­ ning processes. Utilizing somatic or arts-based inquiry, group processing, and other reflective pro­ cesses throughout the implementation of their campaign or interventions could function as a source of resilience and wisdom as the group implements and reflects on strategies and tactics. It could also serve the purpose of strengthening relationships and solidarity amongst the group, bring nuance to their interactions, and foster tools for responding to challenges in generative and creative ways. COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT AND ISSUE IDENTIFICATION It is impossible to engage in strategic processes, analyze sources of power, and implement tac­ tics without having an understanding of the context and community and the key issues that have been identified by impacted communities. Many applied academic disciplines such as social work, urban planning, community development, and public health have well-developed techniques for community assessment (Community Tool Box, 2019). Examples include focus groups, surveys, needs assessments, public forums, windshield and walking surveys, and community report cards. Traditionally, these forms of assessment engage an outsider-expert and do not have the goal of people-led action in mind. Instead, the objective of such assessments is usually an intervention led by outsiders to the community, which may result in social services, humanitarian aid, or a com­ munity development project. These are not necessarily inherently bad things and indeed can play an important role in keeping communities afloat. Some of these approaches to community assess­ ment though may include some elements that acknowledge the strengths of people, that value par­ ticipation and accountability, build in ways to cultivate local leadership, and connect assessment to social action. Utilizing a critical lens and weighing the pros and cons, I will discuss several tech­ niques in this section including participatory rural appraisal (PRA), participatory action research (PAR), and asset-based community development (ABCD). Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) PRA is a tool that can be used to simultaneously assess a situation and context and to help develop the capacities of individuals to organize based on the findings of the appraisal. Having its origins in international humanitarian relief and social development contexts, the purpose of a PRA is to learn about a community and to find out what is of most value to the people living in it. Local community members have the opportunity to map and diagram their communities through par­ ticipatory, visual techniques. Chambers (1994), in his critique of the status quo of international development, pointed out the tendency of humanitarian and development professionals to base decisions on abstract, decontextualized information. This information often comes from second­ ary data or survey questionnaires. In response to such top-down approaches, PRA is a method that is more grounded in the voices, wisdom, and experiences of people (rural or urban) living in low-income and/or marginalized communities. With an expert-initiated questionnaire or survey approach, information is appropriated by and then owned by the interviewer. Such approaches arguably perpetuate hegemonic and colonialist practices with the effect of further excluding peo­ ple in the community. However, PRA seeks to resist such practices through genuine dialogue led by people in the community.

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PRA values visual sharing of a map or diagram using units such as stones or seeds, which are used for ranking or quantifying. According to Chambers (1994), all who are present can see, point to, discuss, manipulate and alter physical objects or repre­ sentations.Triangulation takes place with people crosschecking and correcting each other.The learning is progressive.The information is visible, semipermanent, and public, and is checked, verified, amended, added to, and owned by the participants. (p. 1257) The PRA can be viewed as attitudes and behaviors based on the values of trust and relevance. Trust must be cultivated between community members and the facilitator such that people believe that the efforts and results are relevant and useful to the situation. This work should come from a perspective of sharing and partnership with an open and nonpossessive spirit. One of the shortcomings of the PRA is that, although it attempts to hand over power to local people, the activities are primarily initiated by outsiders. This may not necessarily be an inherent flaw in PRA itself, but because progressive organizers strive for centering impacted leadership, this approach should be amended to involve local leadership in the development and implementa­ tion of the assessment. Participatory action research (PAR), on the other hand, is an example of an approach that embraces the participation of those most impacted in the development and imple­ mentation of the assessment. In addition, some authors have criticized PRA for its overemphasis on localism and lack of recognition of global and systemic forces that work against people espe­ cially in terms of their economic well-being (Hickey & Mohan, 2004). Moreover, outsiders may miss the power imbalances that exist locally. In my own work in Haiti, I learned firsthand about the ways that my engagement with local communities actually perpetuated existing hierarchies in terms of reinforcing the power of male leaders as well as NGOs that had more power and were more connected than many of the more grassroots ones.

Participatory Action Research One way to alleviate some of the concerns with assessment efforts that may marginalize impacted people is through a research method known as participatory action research (PAR). PAR can be used in groups and organizations as a way to actually strengthen participation and leadership, thus the activity of assessment serves to build capacity and momentum and advance a movement or campaign. Assessment practices that are able to unearth subjugated and situated knowledge can be empowering for constituents as well as be informative for the development of strategy. Participatory research can be considered in contrast to some traditional research approaches that may be exploitative or colonizing. Critical and postmodern scholars have identified that marginalization may be inherent to the production of knowledge as taken for granted narratives and power dynamics are perpetuated through traditional processes of knowledge production (Stringer, 1999; Ledwith, 2016; Bozlak, Caringi, Jurkowski, Lawson, & Pyles, 2015). Gram­ sci used the term “rearticulation” to describe the disentanglement of hegemonic stories that can result in the creation of counternarratives that reproduce new possibilities (cited in Ledwith, 2016). PAR attempts to dismantle such power dynamics and narratives by engaging participants in research design, data collection, and analysis wherein research becomes a part of organizing strategy. Conceptualizing PAR as organizing rather than just as another form of research can be

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challenging as people “work from the dominant scripts for changemaking that they are exposed to” (Wernick, Woodford, & Siden, 2011, p. 180). Traditional approaches to applied research in community organizations tend to utilize a service or transactional model—a university, organization, or individual conducts an assessment or evaluation as a service to the organization, either as a hired consultant or as an in-kind donation. Such approaches may represent the best option available to busy organizations that prioritize organizing over research. PAR, however, offers an alternative that is possibly more empowering, participatory, and sustainable for an organizing campaign. Proponents of participatory action research believe that the development of research skills should be in the hands of organizers themselves. There are differing perspectives on PAR, but some argue that the overall goal is to create community researchers and to advance the self-determination of communities to do research, such that impacted communities and organizers are producers of knowledge. Traditionally, researchers in the academy and the private sector have been thought of as the “experts,” and thus there is a tendency to believe that only those with such skills are able to produce “real” knowledge or data. PAR counters this belief by putting the development and implementation of the research agenda into the hands of impacted communities and community organizers. Powerful change for social justice stems from the intersections of different types of knowledge. This knowledge includes knowledge from experience, community knowledge (cultural wisdom), and mainstream knowledge (DataCenter, 2019). Research can be democratized by making data and data analysis tools available to community groups as universities, think tanks, and communitybased research organizations share their technical skills and create synergies that can take place at different sites of knowledge production. Traditional approaches to research, grounded in the philosophy of positivism, attempt to apply the principles of the physical sciences to the social world. Within this approach, the researcher/ expert observes, queries, or otherwise studies the “subject.” The often-linear questions can lead to answers that can mask the real issues. With its roots in popular education, PAR may employ a variety of methods including interviews, surveys, the arts, and other forms of qualitative inquiry along with structural and systemic thinking for change. Indeed, the processes of participatory research may be as important as the outcomes of the research. According to Stringer (1999), the purpose of this type of research is “to change the social and personal dynamics of the research situation so that it is noncompetitive and nonexploitative and enhances the lives of all those who participate” (p. 21). The Public Science Project (2018a) is a coalition of researchers, activists, youth, older adults, people who are incarcerated, educators, and others who are engaged in participatory action research to address issues impacting urban youth such as mass incarceration, surveillance, and education in communities under siege. One group that is part of this collective, Researchers for Fair Policing, a collaboration between the Public Science Project and Make the Road New York, collected young people’s stories about their interactions with the New York Police Department. These brief videos are first-person accounts of the youth of color and undocumented youth who talk about their fear of the police based on being stopped by police when they were as young as 13 years old for just walking to the store as well as many experiences of being harassed, bullied, and abused by police throughout their youth. Another allied research project collected data and resulted in the creation of an interactive infographic called “The Cost of Broken Windows Policing in New York City” (Public Science Project, 2018b). These projects are making substantial contributions to community organizing campaigns including “Communities United for Police Reform” which is addressing specific policy and practice issues on policing. One example is a campaign

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for the passage of the Safer NY Act, which would increase police transparency and accountability across the state of New York. Past successful campaigns have included the passage of the Commu­ nity Safety Act in 2013 which sought to end discriminatory practices within the NYPD. Overall, it should be clear that not only can PAR be of support in terms of the assessment of a community problem or context, it can also support framing practices, issue identification, and, even be a tactic in itself. Asset-Based Community Development In their influential book Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobiliz­ ing a Community’s Assets, Kretzmann and McKnight (1997) argue for what they call asset-based or capacity-focused development. Asset-based community development (ABCD) is a strengths-based community assessment and development approach that begins by identifying local individuals, associations, and institutions that already exist in the community; through storytell­ ing, relationship-building, and networking, the community identifies and implements community development projects. The approach is significant because it rejects the traditional deficit-oriented approach to change and intervention. While certainly ABCD is a specific type of intervention, I emphasize it here because of its unique orientation to community assessment and strategy. ABCD emphasizes the process of locating available local assets in a community, including indi­ viduals, associations, and institutions, and connecting them with one another so that they can multiply their power and effectiveness. The authors argue that the traditional path of community development is a “needs-driven dead end.” Community issues are presented as needs or problems such as unemployment, school dropout, child abuse, and inadequate housing, among others. These needs assessments determine how problems are to be addressed through deficiency-oriented poli­ cies and programs. They point out that the intervention community, including the international development community as exemplified through the work of some NGOs, teaches people the nature and extent of their problems and the value of services as the answer to their problems. As a result, many lower income neighborhoods and rural communities are now environments of service where a sense of personal and collective agency is constricted because residents come to internalize the belief that their well-being depends on being clients rather than as agents of change. The people in these communities begin to see themselves as people with special needs that can only be met by outsiders. This deficiency orientation, that is, seeing the community as an endless list of problems and needs, leads to fragmentation of efforts and denies the basic community wis­ dom that recognizes that social problems (e.g. education, jobs, housing, and health) are all tightly intertwined and mutually causal. This orientation targets funds toward service providers, not to residents, and can have negative effects on the nature of local leadership. Kretzmann and McK­ night (1997) believe communities have been invaded and colonized by professionalized services that have disempowered citizens and interfered with ways they could actually be engaging with one another and building communities in their own image. The alternative path, asset-based or capacity-focused community development, can lead toward the development of policies, activities, and practices based on the capacities, skills, and assets of lower-income people and the organizations they are connected to. Significant community development happens only when local community people are committed to investing themselves in the effort. For example, connecting a local leader who is passionate about summer jobs for lowincome youth with existing associations and institutions in the community such as Scout troops,

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churches, the local library, and local businesses could create a foundation for a youth summer jobs program. It may still be necessary to reach outside of the community for resources such as state-level funds for youth programs or subsidies from businesses to offer youth stipends. But the community is being built from the “inside out” and local assets are being harnessed for a greater good. It is important to remember that engaging in asset-based community development does not imply that the community does not need additional resources from the outside. It means that outside resources will be used more effectively if the community is fully invested and if it can define the agendas for which additional resources must be obtained. Some basic principles to keep in mind are the following: 1. To start with what is present in the community, not with what is absent or what is problematic 2. To be internally focused, centering on the agenda-building and problem-solving capacities 3. To be relationship-driven—to constantly build and rebuild the relationships between and among local residents, local associations, and institutions It should be clear that the asset-based approach to community development is philosophically com­ mensurate with a strengths perspective (Saleebey, 1997). The strengths perspective was devel­ oped from a similar critique of deficiency-oriented interventions to individual problems. Rather than understanding a person as their problems or diagnoses, the strengths perspective emphasizes the resilience and resources that people naturally have within and around them. Similarly, ABCD dismantles the narrative of communities and populations as a laundry list of problems. The Broadway United Methodist Church in Indianapolis pioneered a form of ABCD which innovated what they called the “roving listener.” They came to reject the traditional role of the church as providing charity, which McKnight (cited in King, 2015) referred to as “a one-way com­ pensatory activity that never changes anything.” The Church realized that the charities they were offering—an after school tutoring program and food pantry—were not actually improving peo­ ple’s lives in the community. In fact, dropout rates were up as were obesity rates. So, the roving listener went around the neighborhood and sat on people’s porches and in their living rooms and listened to what they cared about, and paid attention to their gifts and talents. One question that was often asked was: “What three things do you do well enough that you could teach others how to do it?” (King, 2015). Before long, the church became a network of people who could repair cars, make quilts, paint, and cook. The roving listeners identified 45 backyard gardens in the neighborhood and convened the gardeners for a meal which led to a monthly gathering and even­ tually to the development of a farmer’s market. Young people were eventually brought on board to be roving listeners. The church has become a space for small businesses, artists, and gamers. Using similar participatory techniques in a social development context after Hurricane Katrina, community organizers at the New Orleans Food and Farm Network were faced with the task of needing to assess the strengths and needs of particular neighborhoods. Many of these neighbor­ hoods had flooded and had few grocery stores, restaurants, or community gardens available to access healthy food. In addition, public transportation to access food sources was extremely limited. Because there were so many issues to address, only an assessment process could help them determine what the most pressing issues were. Two methods that they utilized to assess the neighborhood contexts were community food mapping and youth-led neighborhood story projects. The food maps engaged community members to map their neighborhood to determine strengths and gaps; this included locations of grocery stores, emergency food banks, operational community garden space, and potential community garden space. The other method—the Food

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Talk Project—engaged high school health students to interview community members, particu­ larly older adults who were contributing something positive to the local food system. The students sought to learn how food had been traditionally grown and prepared before an era of fast food and soft-drink machines. These folks were local growers, cooks, and food-buying-club leaders. Learning about the local assets and wisdom facilitated the development of new programs as well as served to inform a community organizing campaign to adopt a food charter at the citywide level. While a powerful method for assessment and community building, ABCD is not a panacea. As a community development strategy, it fails to do something that is usually deemed essential in com­ munity organizing, namely the development of a power analysis. Traditional approaches to assess­ ment and organizing tend to use community conversations as an opportunity to talk about power with the ultimate goal of taking back power from elites. In the ABCD approach, there is not necessarily a discussion about the capitalist and racist structures that marginalize groups of people, neighbor­ hoods, and communities in the first place. As Marx would say, people may continue to labor under a sense of false consciousness. Moreover, the ABCD approach, like the social capital framework, embraces the language of capitalism identifying people and their associations as resources, or assets, that are commodities to be leveraged. Although the approach appropriately reframes disempower­ ing narratives about poor and marginalized people, assessment processes for organizing is limited in terms of real social change if it fails to include consciousness-raising and critiques about oppressive social structures that might otherwise reclaim power and/or transform the existing structures. Overall, any assessment process, whether it is PRA, PAR, ABCD, or something altogether dif­ ferent, should engage impacted people and develop their leadership skills, at the same time that it reveals problems, strengths, resources, and potential solutions. Other approaches to assessment include a SWOT analysis, which identifies Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats or a force field analysis, which identifies driving and resisting forces for change (Minkler & Coombe, 2012). Ultimately, any kind of mapping, survey, or assessment efforts can be a mechanism for producing new knowledge, building relationships, testing out a spectrum of allies, talking about power, and taking more action. Issue Identification Once an assessment of the landscape has been conducted (whether it is local, national or global), the information must be meaningfully translated such that a group can select a specific issue or issues that it is willing to take action on. By focusing on an issue that is deeply felt by a broad cross-section of people (Staples, 2016), the strategy process can be more specifically developed so that people can move forward toward action. Assessment, issue selection, and framing are all inti­ mately related and are not necessarily linear or discrete. Nonetheless, framing is more focused on communicating a message or telling a new story based on the issue selected, while issue identifica­ tion is carried out after analyzing information about a particular situation or context that has been assessed. Issue identification is a key component of a campaign development strategy or another specific plan of action engaged in by organizations and coalitions. Issue identification means mak­ ing critical choices and setting priorities balancing what is most salient with what is most feasible (Kahn, 1994). For example, if an antipoverty organization needs to decide the focus of its next campaign, it must explore the needs and strengths of the community, assess the resources avail­ able to the organization, and evaluate the political opportunity structures that exist. This process may result in choosing from several possible issues to focus on and goals to pursue such as securing

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a job development program, increasing childcare subsidies for low-income mothers, or embarking on a local living-wage campaign. Determining what issues are most worthy of pursuit for a group, organization, or coalition should be grounded in the needs and desires of impacted communities. For paid organizers or other professionals to make such decisions in isolation of impacted communities is contrary to the principles of participation, accountability, empowerment, and relationship. Such isolated decision making perpetuates power imbalances in the community and tends to sequester the most vulner­ able members of society from the organizing process, and from each other. Community leaders, social service providers, clergy, academics, and organizers may also be appropriate people to include. Sometimes organizers mistakenly believe that bringing service providers to the table is enough to represent the community though. Service providers may definitely have important and relevant things to say about their perceived understanding of needs, but ultimately only impacted people can speak for themselves. Addressing barriers such as transportation and child care that low-income or other vulnerable community members may face can enhance constituent partici­ pation in the issue identification process. These considerations are also equally as relevant for any part of the organizing process including strategy development and reflective/evaluative processes. Taking intersectional and transformative approaches to issue identification means that mecha­ nisms are in place that allow everyone’s voice to be heard. This means utilizing principles and processes focused on communication (e.g. take space, make space), conscious listening, con­ sensus building, or some kind of voting. In some cases, the sticky dot method is appropriate, wherein everyone votes by putting a sticky dot on a board or flip chart next to their top choices. From an emergent strategy and transformative perspective, it is important that conversations and engagement not be shut down too soon or that conflict that may be in the room is not avoided. Ultimately, pursuing issues that do not stem from the community’s desires is not likely to be sus­ tainable and can produce questionable results. Ideally, constituencies are the driving force behind any organizing campaign, and this includes the practice of issue identification. Determining who the best people are to lead and facilitate the issue identification process is equally as crucial as who is at the table. A team of facilitators can be a good approach finding a balance amongst factors such as diversity, as it relates to class, gender, race/ethnicity, ability, etc. and skill, in terms of experi­ ence and capability to hold space, listen, stay on task, and work with conflict. The Zapatismo philosophy of mandar obedeciendo, which translates to “leading by obeying,” reflects a belief in direct accountability to the people, a kind of horizontal representation. It would be absurd for a professional organizer to presume to know what issues represent someone else’s best interests. As an organizer in post-Katrina New Orleans told me years ago: You organize people around their own issues. Let me just give you a quick story. It was during the hurricane in an area and it had just rained and I had to slosh through mud and water to get to this man’s house. I get to this man’s door and I’m thinking I know when I go in there when I ask him what his issue is, I know what his issue is—he’s going to be talking about that water out there and the fact that he had no drains or sidewalk out there. I knock on the man’s door and [introduce myself], “I want to know what your issues are.”The first thing he says is, “Damn people, loitering at the grocery store and I’m trying to go to the grocery store.” His issue was not what my issue was, and that one thing taught me something very valuable.You don’t tell people what their issues are.You don’t descend into somebody’s community and say, “I know what the issues are and this is what I’m going to do.” You cannot get people mobilized around something they’re not passionate about. He wouldn’t have been passionate about getting that

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fixed. I would have because I’m thinking, “This is ridiculous. How can you go home every day like this?” His issue was “I need to go to the grocery store in peace and I don’t like to be harassed every time I go.” His issue was important to him and that’s the bottom line. Sometimes the process of issue identification may be highly dependent on the networks and coali­ tions to which an organization may be connected. It may be important to consider how “cutting an issue” might be effective for an organization, particularly if it is trying to gain a broad base of sup­ port. Though a group working on low-income housing may be primarily concerned with housing for poor people, they may find that talking about “affordable” housing would be a better way to cut the issue, as it would draw in support from middle-class people rather than just low-income people (Bobo, Kendall, & Max, 2001). The Midwest Academy is a leading progressive training institute based in Chicago. This influ­ ential capacity-building support organization offers a checklist for organizers to consider when choosing an issue. The list includes 16 factors that a group might consider (Bobo et al., 2001), the top three of which are considered by them to be most central: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

Result in a real improvement in people’s lives Give people a sense of their own power Alter the relations of power Be worthwhile Be winnable Be widely felt Be deeply felt Be easy to understand Have a clear target—decision Have a clear time frame that works for you Be nondivisive Build leadership Set up your organization for the next campaign Have a pocketbook angle Raise money Be consistent with your values and vision

It is important that all of these factors be weighed by the organization or coalition. A potential campaign may be deeply felt and appear to have the potential to alter power relations, but it may divide members of the coalition in ways that would be too damaging to the group’s solidarity. Though it may not be possible for all of these considerations to be met, it is crucial for groups to vet each of them and to be clear about which ones are being met and which ones are not. Strategy can be thought of as “strategic intentions” and such strategic intentions can be thought of as a “north star” (Brown, 2017, p. 236). They are maps through territory that may become quickly out of date as social landscapes shift. Thus, strategic intentions can help keep groups going in the right direction, and by using tools of transformative practice and healing justice, including mindfulness, group reflection, somatics, and expressive arts, organizers can cue into messages that can let people know when it might be time to change course. By intentionally and inclusively engaging in power analysis, assessment, issue identification, and the articulation of goals, organi­ zational considerations, allies, and targets, groups can begin to creatively imagine what particular actions and tactics will serve them well. To be sure, by engaging in a process of setting strategic

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intentions with attention to participation, accountability, relationship, and empowerment, the process itself will support the building of organizations, leadership, and trust that will help to sustain groups over time.

Case Study: Organizing with Older Adults Political commentators and scholars have long noted the power of older adults at the vot­ ing polls, representing the highest age demographic turnout in the United States (McBride, 2007). In the 2016 presidential election, 71% of Americans over 65 voted, compared with 46% among 18- to 29-year-olds (cited in Bunis, 2018). Yet, when it comes to other forms of civic engagement, scholars have noted a decline. Theories of “disengagement” of older adults, which state that aging adults tend to discontinue activities that have high demands, have per­ petuated the notion that older adults are “unorganizable” (Minkler, 2005). In contrast, organ­ izers and scholars have noted that older adults, particularly the so-called able elderly, are a “sleeping giant” in terms of their power to create change (Andel & Liebig, 2002, p. 92). Resisting social constructions of “frailty” (Grenier & Hanley, 2007) and other negative stereo­ types, older adults represent a constituency which possesses strengths and gifts for significant social change work. While much of the literature on older adults focuses on them as social services recipients, there is little focus on them as agents of change. Working on issues such as housing, health care, and community development, older adults bring important strengths, such as leadership, knowledge, and strong social networks. Maggie Kuhn was the founder of the Gray Panthers, an organization that mobilized around many issues affecting older adults, including ageism and nursing home reform. Reframing the idea that old people were to be treated like children, Kuhn (1991) believed older Americans are an untapped resource. The Gray Panthers movement went beyond issues related to older adults and viewed many social problems as interconnected focusing on broadbased issues. They organized around poverty, civil liberties, and the Vietnam War. Older activists have also sometimes used stereotypes of the elderly as “frail” to their advan­ tage. According to Grenier and Hanley (2007), while older women often contest the image of seniors as “frail” or powerless, they are will­ ing to make strategic use of stereotypes to serve their interests. It was not uncommon for senior members to bring canes or walkers to demonstrations to gain sympathy from politi­ cians and the media. In some cases, preparations for demonstrations came to include the advice: “Don’t forget your walkers!” (p. 221) A group of activists that started in Montreal, Quebec, called The Raging Grannies, often use subversive strategies of parody of the granny image and note that authorities tend to avoid retaliatory action against them (Grenier & Hanley, 2007). Strategically adopting the “granny” identity, they change the words of traditional songs as a framing strategy to communicate messages of change. Research reveals that identity adoption serves as a protective factor and enhances movement efficacy (Sawchuk, 2009). The so-called gray participation hypothesis states that as the baby boom generation approaches old age, the generation’s activism will increase. Older adults tend to be more informed about politics, and interest and political knowledge seem to grow with age (Andel & Liebig, 2002). When organizing with older adults, it is important to understand that they

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are not by any means a homogeneous group. Indeed, they may have their age in common, but beyond that, political beliefs may vary widely. Like any other group of people organizing together, there will be a diversity of educational backgrounds, incomes, gender identities, sexual orientations, abilities, and race/ethnicities for these groups. “Senior political participa­ tion, although extensive, may lack the political substance and direction commonly generated by shared goals, interests, and attitudes” (Andel & Liebig, 2002, p. 89). The positive outcomes of organizing with older adults are varied and go beyond policy change and new program development. Indeed, social support and personal and collective empowerment that can come from engaging in an organizing campaign can be very potent in themselves. Elderly individuals who may otherwise be isolated or depressed may become connected and thriving when engaged in a community organizing campaign (Minkler, 2005). Mutual aid programs among older adults have been a very useful strategy to engage this popu­ lation because they can address real and specific needs. However, there can be a danger that mutual aid eclipses organizing because the positive effects of mutual aid can be felt more quickly (Minkler, 2005). Other positive outcomes of organizing with older adults have been health-related. For example, an older adult who was struggling with mental health issues that left her disabled often did not take medications that would help her function better. After participating in a community organizing effort, she reported that she took her medication regularly because several of the group’s activities relied on her leadership skills (Minkler, 2005). It is clear that developing the capacities of this “sleeping giant” promises rewards of empowerment and social change.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION 1. Compare and contrast traditional utilitarian approaches to strategy with transformative and emergent strategies. Notice areas of resonance and areas of friction as you relate to both. 2. Consider different aspects of power—power over, power to, power within, and power with. How do they play out in your own life? How do they play out in the life of any organi­ zations you are a part of? 3. Discuss the opportunities that exist for growing your base through the course of the develop­ ment of strategy. 4. Provide an example of an asset-based approach to community development. What are the benefits of this approach? 5. Using the chart from “Training for Change,” provide examples for each type of ally related to a specific social issue you are interested in. Think about why it would be important to be mindful of where these allies fall on this spectrum.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER INQUIRY Books Bobo, K., Kendall, J., & Max, S. (2001). Organizing for social change: Midwest Academy. Hunter, D. (2015). Building a movement to end the new Jim Crow: An organizing guide. Denver, CO: Veterans of Hope, Hyrax Publishing.

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Sharp, G. (2012). From dictatorship to democracy: A conceptual framework for liberation. New York: The New Press. Strega, S. & Brown, L. (Eds.) (2015). Research as resistance: Revisiting critical, indigenous and antiop­ pressive approaches, 2nd Ed. Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholars Press.

Web The Community Tool Box. http://ctb.ku.edu/

Consensus Organizing Institute. http://organizerscollaborative.org/

Industrial Area Foundations. http://www.industrialareasfoundation.org

Movement Strategy Center. http://www.movementstrategy.org

Resident Action Project. https://residentactionproject.org/

REFERENCES Andel, R., & Liebig, P. S. (2002). The city of Laguna Woods: A case of senior power in local politics. Research on Aging, 24(1), 87–105. Arnstein, R. (1969). A ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35, 216–224. Boal, A. (2002). Games for actors and non-actors (2nd ed.). London, UK: Routledge. Bobo, K., Kendall, J., & Max, S. (2001). Organizing for social change: Midwest academy manual for activists (4th ed). Santa Ana, CA: The Forum Press. Brown, A. M. (2017). Emergent strategy: Shaping change, changing worlds (Reprint edition). Chico, CA: AK Press. Bunis, D. (2018, April 30). The immense power of the older voter in the election. AARP. https://www.aarp.org/ politics-society/government-elections/info-2018/power-role-older-voters.html Chambers, R. (1994). Participatory rural appraisal (PRA): Analysis of experience. World Development, 22(9), 1253–1268. Chenoweth, E., & Stephan, M. (2013). Why civil resistance works: The strategic logic of nonviolent conflict. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Community Tool Box. (2019). Assessing Community Needs and Resources. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/ assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources Cornwall, A. (2002, October). Making spaces, changing places: Situating participation in development. https://www. powercube.net/wpcontent/uploads/2009/11/making_spaces_changing_places.pdf DataCenter. (2019). Mission & Values. http://www.datacenter.org/who-we-are/our-mission-and-vision/ Engler, M., & Engler, P. (2016). This is an uprising: How nonviolent revolt is shaping the twenty-first century. New York, NY: Nation Books. Fine, J. (n.d.). Choose tactics that support your strategy. https://beautifultrouble.org/principle/choose-tactics­ that-support-your-strategy/#choose-tactics-that-support-your-strategy-n-1

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TOOLS FOR COMMUNITY ORGANIZING Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. New York, NY: Pantheon Books. Gaventa, J. (2009). Power pack: Understanding power for social change. https://www.powercube.net/wp-content/ uploads/2011/04/powerpack-web-version-2011.pdf Grenier, A., & Hanley, J. (2007). Older women and “frailty:” Aged, gendered and embodied resistance. Current Sociology, 55(2), 211–228. Haines, S. (2019). The politics of trauma: somatics, healing, and social justice. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books. Hickey, S., & Mohan, G. (Eds.) (2004). Participation: From tyranny to transformation? London, UK: Zed Books. Hunter, D. (2015). Building a movement to end the new Jim Crow: An organizing guide. Denver, CO: Veterans of Hope, Hyrax Publishing. Imarisha, W. (Ed.). (2015). Octavia’s brood: Science fiction stories from social justice movements. Chico, CA: AK Press. Jeffries, D. (2018, June 12). 31 arrested as Poor People’s Campaign creates money bag trail from NY legislative building to private social club, bills state for $168 billion. Medium. https://medium.com/@TheDJJeffries/ 31-arrested-as-poor-peoples-campaign-creates-money-bag-trail-from-ny-legislative-building-to-ca41d63cb5ec Katz, H. (2006). Gramsci, hegemony, and global civil society networks. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 4, 333. Kahn, S. (1994). How people get power: Revised edition (Revised edition). NASW Press. King, R. (2015). Death and resurrection of an urban church. Faith and Leadership. http://faithandleadership.com/ death-and-resurrection-urban-church Kretzmann, J. P., & McKnight, J. (1997). Building communities from the inside out: A path toward finding and mobilizing a community’s assets. Stokie, IL: ACTA Publications. Kuhn, M. (1991). No stone unturned: The life and times of Maggie Kuhn. New York, NY: Ballantine. Kuttner. (2015). Power Analysis. Cultural Organizing. https://culturalorganizing.org/tag/power-analysis/ Lawson, H. A., Caringi, J., Pyles, L., Jurkowski, J., & Bozlak, C. (2015). Participatory action research. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Ledwith, M. (2016). Community development in action: Putting Freire into practice. Bristol, UK: Policy Press. Mann, E. (2011). Playbook for progressives: 16 qualities of the successful organizer. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. McAlevey, J. (2018). No shortcuts: Organizing for power in the New gilded age. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. McBay, A. (2019). Full-spectrum resistance, Volume Two: Actions and strategies for change. New York, NY: Seven Stories Press. McBride, A. M. (2007). Civic engagement, older adults, and inclusion. American Society on Aging, 4, 66–71. Minkler, M. (2005). Community organizing with the elderly poor in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District. In Com­ munity organizing and community building for health (2nd ed., pp. 240–253). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Minkler, M., & Coombe, C. (2012). Community organizing and Community building for health and welfare. In Com­ munity organizing and Community building for health and welfare (pp. 449–453). New Brunsick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

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STRATEGY AND POWER Noakes, J. A., & Johnston, H. (2005). Frames of protest: Social movements and the framing perspective. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Public Science Project. (2018a). Public Science Project. The Public Science Project. https://publicscienceproject. org/about/ Public Science Project. (2018b). The cost of broken windows policing in New York City. The Public Science Project. https://publicscienceproject.org/the-costs-of-broken-windows-policing/ Resident Action Project. (2017). Toolkit for organizing: Community organizing 101. https://residentactionproject. files.wordpress.com/2017/05/community-organizing-101-tookit-for-organizing.pdf Saleebey, D. (1997). The strengths perspective in social work practice (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Longman. Sawchuk, D. (2009). The raging grannies: Defying stereotypes and embracing aging through activism. Journal of Women & Aging, 21(3). Sharp, G. (2005). Waging nonviolent struggle: 20th century practice and 21st century potential. Boston, MA: Porter Sargent Publishers, Inc. Staples, L. (2016). Roots to power: A manual for grassroots organizing (3rd ed.). Praeger. Stringer, E. T. (1999). Action research. Santa Barbara, CA: Sage. Wernick, L. J., Woodford, M. R., & Siden, J. (2011). Youth-led participatory action research: Fostering effective youth-adult partnerships. In L. M. Harter, J. Hamel-Lambert, & J.

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Chapter 10

Tactics For Change Nonviolent resistance activist and theorist Gene Sharp was known for cataloging tactics in nonvio­ lent social movements. His famous book “Politics of Nonviolent Action” documented 198 different tactics that activists and organizers have employed. In addition to strikes and boycotts, he identi­ fied many approaches—“vigils, fasting, land occupations, ‘protest disrobings,’ display of flags and symbolic colors, mock funerals, humorous skits and pranks, deliberate bureaucratic inefficiency, and civil disobedience” (Engler & Engler, 2016, p. 14). Scholars and commentators have con­ tended that this kind of tactical innovation occurs when there is strong diversity and breadth of participation in movements and organizing (Mumm, 2020). Because innovation tends to happen in the peripheries, larger numbers are critical because there are wider margins from which inno­ vation can materialize (Chenoweth & Stephan, 2013). To be sure, creativity and innovation have always been hallmarks of direct action and other forms of organizing. One way to think about tactics is in terms of potential points of intervention (Boyd, 2016). Story-based Strategy argues that there are multiple types of intervention sites to choose from when seeking to create change. This is true whether talking about intervening on a narrative or on a policy or practice. The five types of intervention points are: 1) point of production (e.g. strikes at factories or schools); 2) point of consumption (e.g. boycotts or market campaigns against stores, online spaces, films, etc.); 3) point of destruction (stopping clearcut forests, environmental degra­ dation in mines, or the destruction of humans in jails); 4) point of decision (confronting decision makers in public offices, corporations, etc.); and 5) point of assumption (challenging underlying beliefs and assumptions of cultural trends through protest or offering alternatives). A strategy or campaign may engage with one or multiple points of intervention. The choice of tactics and intervention points emerges out of strategic planning and is informed by and ought to match context, organizational capacities, power analysis, values, framing, and resources available. For example, a youth of color environmental justice organization concerned with hazardous waste disposal near a local playground may clearly frame a company’s illegal dump­ ing as a public health problem or a violation of their human rights. As they develop a strategy and analyze power, they will have to consider what actual tactics would be appropriate to address the issue and at what point it is best to use them. Odds are that it will not be appropriate for the group to file a lawsuit against the company because they probably would not have the capacities (e.g. pro-bono attorneys or money to pay them) for such an action, unless they were highly networked with a coalition of appropriate partners. Rather than intervening at the point of decision (through the courts), this group of youth environmental organizers may be better situated to intervene at the point of assumption by challenging beliefs that families of color are disposable and/or at the point of destruction, by holding court in the very dumping ground/playground in question. For example, they may choose to intervene by engaging in an arts-based action which could reveal the impacts of the dumping on the lived experiences of the youth perhaps performing street theatre in the playground as a way to educate (change the consciousness of) the public and lawmakers.

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The young people could use their creative abilities to reveal the physical, emotional, and spiritual impact that the dumping is having on their development and overall quality of life. With an effec­ tive media strategy, this could bring media attention to the issue at the same time it bolsters the resilience and empowers the youth. Organizers work to unravel broad and entrenched social inequities and oppression. Such oppressions exist at the economic, political, social, and cultural levels. Thus, tactics ought to be as diverse as many types of oppressive institutions, policies, narratives, and practices. Katsiaficas (2004), in a discussion about the global justice movement, reminded activists not to underesti­ mate the efficacy of “tactical diversity” (p. 3). For example, addressing cultural oppressions may require the use of cultural tactics, or cultural organizing (Kuttner, 2016). The Midwest Academy, a national training institute for grassroots social change, has noted that in choosing tactics, they should be 1) in context; 2) flexible and creative; 3) directed at a specific target; 4) make sense to the membership; and 5) be backed up by a specific form of power (Midwest Academy, n.d.). Staples (2016) writes that whatever tactics are chosen, they should help participants to experience their own power, take ownership of change processes, and achieve some level of success, and at the same time, participants should have some fun! This last point is an important one to explore further. Having fun can build community, sup­ port the healing of trauma and internalized oppression, and create a positive feedback loop keep­ ing people coming back for more. It builds hope and dignity and creates movement cultures that reflect individual and collective longing (Goodwyn, 1978; Mumm, 2020). In her book, Pleasure Activism, Adrienne Maree Brown (2019) affirms that pleasure is the point, that “pleasure activism is us learning to make justice and liberation the most pleasurable experiences we can have on this planet” (p. 13). Transformative organizing seeks to upend and transmute systems built on the repression of our full humanity. Organizing work and the actions we engage in ought to be an expression of pleasure, desire, and beauty. While there are at least 198 tactics, as Sharp noted, and one can imagine the possibilities to be endless, I choose several to hone in on in more detail in this chapter. These tactics are negotiation and conflict transformation, direct action, resilience-based organizing, and cultural organizing. NEGOTIATION, NONVIOLENT COMMUNICATION, AND CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION Tactics might be thought of on a continuum ranging from no or low levels of confrontation to high levels of confrontation. Negotiation is a low-risk tactic that may be tried before scaling up to a higher-risk approach, drawing from the principle of least contest. However, negotiation is a tactic that also may be called for after a direct action has impacted targets and they have said that they are willing to discuss a group’s demands. Students on a university campus who are concerned about the university’s handling of hate crimes and racial bias may attempt to engage in discussions with appropriate leaders on campus, such as the Dean of Students, Provost, or President. If that tactic does not produce the results they want to see, they then may consider scaling up and staging a rally, protest, fast, or sit-in with specific demands (e.g. resignation of particular university leaders or mandatory anti-racism training for university employees). By leveraging tension, such directaction tactics could force the administration to “cry uncle” and make them willing to go to the negotiation table. It seems clear that effective organizers will likely at some point need to engage in negotiation and/or conflict transformation.

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One area of community organizing practice where there is rich insight about negotiations is in the field of labor organizing and collective bargaining. Collective bargaining is the process of negotiating the terms of employment, such as wages, hours, leave, and health and safety condi­ tions, between an employer (management) and workers (or their representatives). Some organ­ izers and advocates utilize a win–win approach to collective bargaining; these are also referred to as integrative or interest-based bargaining, and can be juxtaposed to positional bargaining (Spangler, 2003). The former approach emphasizes the needs, values and concerns of both sides such that they can be integrated to create mutual value, whereas the latter approach focuses on fixed/oppos­ ing views and tends to result in compromises which split the differences of both sides. Decisions about employing such tactics will depend on the values and context of the groups in question. Similar to win–win or integrative organizing, consensus organizing emphasizes common ground and shared needs of all parties and focuses on finding areas of mutual self-interest among multiple stakeholders. The literature on conflict resolution, win–win approaches to negotia­ tion and nonviolent communication (Rosenberg, 2015) provide some guidelines about how to attend to relationships that are in conflict and need to find common ground. For example, Eichler (2007) has argued for a consensus approach to organizing, building on the mutual self-interest that diverse individuals share. Too often, organizers may fail to see the humanity in their opposition or “targets” and forget that who one is negotiating with is worthy of attention to their dignity. Every­ one has equal value and worth, every action is connected, and the attention one takes to listen and to heal can be mutually beneficial. The act of listening to another’s position who we “just know is wrong” is an act that can transform consciousness while simultaneously resulting in real changes in policy and practice. Most organizers are constantly faced with contradictions between their positions on issues and the positions of policy makers, corporate executives, landlords, or bosses. Faced with contradic­ tions between “my” position and “their” position, organizers may become befuddled and angry, and either retreat or try to impose one’s position, a classic “fight or flight” response. Progressive community organizers, who nurture their own self and collective awareness and growth through inquiry, have the unique opportunity to see these paradoxes and strive for synthesis. McLaughlin and Davidson (1994) have observed that compromise is distinct from synthesis. It usually includes some of this position and some of that and can be seen as the midway point on a line between two polarities. But true synthesis is different. In synthesis, we have to go to a higher level and transcend the polarities…. Just as hydrogen and oxygen need a spark to create water, so two opposites require the spark of higher consciousness to create synthesis of the best of both at a higher level. (p. 88) Marshall Rosenberg (2015) developed a practice known as Nonviolent Communication (NVC) that is relevant to negotiation and consensus building. NVC is grounded in the understanding that conflict occurs when individuals are not having their basic needs met. Through compassionate listen­ ing and dialogue, conflict can be transformed into understanding. Finding a common ground where everyone’s needs can be met is the goal. Such approaches are challenging and not always possible for groups that have been historically marginalized by systems and other political actors. Trust will always be a challenge in these situations, and if it is not present on both sides, then these approaches are not appropriate. The next chapter which focuses on identity politics and solidarity explains NVC in a bit more detail with attention to it as a strategy for antiracist conversations amongst white people.

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The insights of the restorative justice movement can be useful to this conversation as well (Davis, 2019; Lederach, 2003). Conflict transformation and restorative justice accept that conflict is part of life and that creative processes can help groups grow and acquire more selfunderstanding. Through listening and healing and leaning into the dialectic, groups can move beyond the fixation on punitive and “winner take all” approaches of the retributive criminal jus­ tice system. In the context of racialized injustice in public schools, Fania Davis (2019) notes that taking a holistic relational approach amongst students, teachers, parents, and others is necessary, but that the work cannot be race-neutral. For any kind of conflict transformation to truly be transformational, the parties must acknowledge oppression in its structural, interpersonal, and internalized forms. The ability to be successful with any of these approaches is dependent on the culture and values of the organization, the skills of the organizers, and the context. This last factor, context, includes the political opportunity structures and the organizational climate and character of the people one is negotiating with. Thus, context is largely out of the control of the organizer, and for that rea­ son, consensus organizing and conflict transformation approaches are not always feasible. Direct Action Depending on the person, the idea of engaging in direct action may conjure thoughts and feelings of exciting and energizing human drama or a frightening and angry mob of chaos, or anywhere in between. It can be important for an organizer to get a sense of where they might stand on this spectrum. Thinking about direct action may invoke images of civil disobedience engaged in by heroes, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr, or Cesar Chavez. In many minds, these are the actions of special people in extreme circumstances. On the other hand, because direct action tends to go against the grain of everyday society, many people find direct action distasteful and feel threatened by direct-action organizers. Activists who engage in direct action may be ini­ tially ostracized by society and only later appreciated. Rosa Parks, for example, who deliberately broke laws by sitting at the front of the bus in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama and was arrested for her act of civil disobedience, is on a postage stamp now. But most actors who are involved in direct actions, like any kind of organizing tactic, are people we never hear about. Direct action is planned and collective activity that seeks to create change outside established institutional mechanisms by disrupting the normal flow of society at a specific intervention point. Direct action can take place at the points of production, consumption, destruction, decision, or assumption. While engaging with electoral politics or holding accountability sessions with public officials are often good strategies for needed reform, direct action scales up tactics and is used when these other mechanisms are not working. Frances Fox-Piven, a political scientist and activ­ ist, and her husband, Richard Cloward, a social worker and activist (1978), embraced direct action, disruptive protest, and mass defiance as the only viable avenues for real social change. They worked in the welfare rights movement in the 1960s and 1970s mobilizing welfare recipients to take over welfare offices and flood the rolls and demand benefits. Rather than building consensus, Fox-Piven argues for “dissensus” and notes that people need to be “noisy, difficult and ungovern­ able” (cited in Traub, 2019). Because the purpose of direct action is to create interference with the status quo, disruption may involve shaking up entrenched ways of thinking about issues (point of assumption) or creat­ ing problems in the operations of an institution, including a business or governmental institution.

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In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote: “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored” (cited in Kauffman, 2017, p. xi). Key here is the importance of escalating crisis, tension, and drama when negotiation fails to work. Direct action was a key tactic of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s as well as the anti-Vietnam War movement in the 1960s and 1970s. One of these early tactics utilized in the civil rights movement was the sit-in, a practice pioneered by the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE), which combined Gandhian nonviolence with the sit-down strikes of the United Auto Workers (Eskew, 1997). During the civil rights movement, the sit-in was a peaceful tactic through which African Americans entered traditionally segregated public places, such as parks, restrooms, and restaurants in direct defiance of what they perceived to be unjust laws. A powerful action during the Vietnam War in 1971 was one of the largest direct actions in U.S. history (Kauffman, 2017). It came on the heels of weeks of intense protest in Washington, D.C. which included marches and sit-ins at government agencies, such as Selective Service and the Justice Department. The organizers, 25,000 young people of the New Left calling themselves the Mayday Tribe, sought to scale up their efforts by disrupting the functioning of the federal govern­ ment. They used the frame, “if the government won’t stop the war, we’ll stop the government” (Kauffman, 2017, p. 2). The organizers distributed a tactical manual in advance (which unfortu­ nately tipped off the government and foiled some of their efforts) which described key bridges and traffic points to blockade using cars, barricades, and their own bodies. President Nixon and his staff were said to be “shaken” as they called in the military and ended up making what is believed to be the largest number of mass arrests (7,000 people) in U.S. history. The objective of the action was to prevent government employees from being able to get to work and create a chaotic scene, with the hopes that the public would be sympathetic. Though they certainly uprooted business as usual, many of the blocks did not hold and people found ways to get to work. Though some described it as a “failed” action, scholars have argued that it played a role in speeding up the end of the war (Kauffman, 2017). There are no bounds when it comes to creativity in direct action tactics. Saul Alinsky (1971) and his cohorts famously helped plan what he called a “shit-in,” where activists would occupy every single bathroom at Chicago’s O’Hare airport to pressure the mayor. The mayor was attempt­ ing to renege on promises he had made to The Woodlawn Organization (TWO), a community organization devoted to addressing injustices in Chicago’s South Side. The airport represented the city’s commitment to building the infrastructure of a global airport at the expense of provid­ ing infrastructure and support for the very people who actually lived in the city (Forbes, 2017). TWO decided to wreak havoc at O’Hare, Mayor Richard Daley’s pride and joy accomplishment. Organizers mapped out the airport and recruited 2,500 people to occupy every single stall in the airport with the goal of disrupting the entire functioning of the airport. Daley’s staff got wind of the action and intervened, knowing that Alinsky would most certainly follow through, and thus conceded to all of TWO’s demands. Participating in a direct action, including marches and protests, can be exhilarating and excit­ ing. L. A. Kaufman (2017) writes that it is a “profoundly embodied and often personally transformative experience” (p. xiii). It can be a huge morale booster to be around so many people committed to the same cause. Feelings of anger, apathy, or burnout can be transformed, leading to feelings of hope, creating a positive feedback loop for participation. Moreover, the sense of aligning one’s values with actions can be deeply satisfying.

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Capacity-building and proper training for direct action tactics is perhaps more important than for any other tactic. The Ruckus Society convenes skill sharing, training and support to organiza­ tions interested in carrying out direct actions. The Ruckus Society, which has become aligned with the BlackOUT Collective, describes itself as: a multiracial network of trainers dedicated to providing the necessary tools, preparation, and support to build direct action capacity for ecological justice and social change movements.We work with Indigenous communities and other communities of color working to preserve their homes and environments and for climate justice. Similarly, the BlackOUT Collective (n.d.) states: BlackOUT Collective is a radical full service direct action organization.We build organizations’ capacity to execute creative and effective direct actions in service of their organizing and advo­ cacy work.We do this through providing personalized direct action trainings and on the ground action support.We see ourselves as a “Liberation Lab”—a container for experimentation, deep space visioning and learning. Their theory of change is grounded in the belief that diverse tactics are needed and that direct action can be viewed through four lenses or intervention types. First, rapid response interven­ tions are actions that immediately respond to or intervene on an injustice. An example would be an action initiated in response to the killing of unarmed African American people by police, such as Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri or George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Second, reform interventions are actions that put pressure on a decision maker to meet demands often within the context of a grassroots campaign. An example would be a coalition of advo­ cates for affordable higher education demanding more funding in the budget from the governor for low-income students. Third, rebellion is an action that questions the validity of the system by creating a ruckus on the system. An example would be environmental activists engaging in monkeywrenching on the system and its technologies that exploit the Earth, such as cutting fish nets where there is illegal fishing. Fourth, resilience based actions are ones that assert people’s fundamental rights to something. For example, people coming together to assert their rights to health and health care start a health care cooperative using mutual aid and making health care accessible. In their studies of the efficacy of social movements, scholars have found that civil resistance and disruptive tactics in general are correlated with successful outcomes (Gamson, 1990; Chenoweth & Stephan, 2013). Gamson (1990) reported that a subtype of disruptive tactics—violent action— is also correlated with success. Other studies have reached the opposite finding, that is, that vio­ lence tends to be counterproductive to social movement ends (Taft & Ross, 1969; Chenoweth & Stephan, 2013). Many people associate the actions of the civil rights movement with nonviolence; however, this is somewhat of a myth because there was successful and significant organizing in the context of the movement that utilized violence as evidenced by the Deacons for Defense and Justice who were armed activists successful in neutralizing the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) in the Deep South (Hill, 2004). Of course, groups and individuals have to reflect on the ethics of such tactics to determine if the ends do indeed justify the means. From a transformative organizing perspective, the means are always as important as the final goal, and thus such change makers strive to operate in ways that are commensurate with the kind of world they are trying to create.

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Digital Forms of Direct Action While we often think of direct action as taking place in the streets or other public spaces, a growing form of direct action transpires on the tech and digital fronts. Digital spaces are sites for government, commerce, and culture, and organizers and activists make use of those spaces to disrupt the status quo or influence outcomes. This is happening out of creative necessity and engaging a new group of participants with the appropriate technological skills into organizing and activism (Bloch, 2019). Creativity in organizing continues to be an important theme in this book as organizers by necessity must continually respond innovatively to new and ongoing forms of marginalization and repres­ sion that people are experiencing. While some forms of what have been called—electronic civil disobedience, cyber disobedience, “hacktivism” or tactical media (Boler, 2008)—are isolated actions of lone rebels, there is an impressive body of work emerging from participatory organizations that use strategy and power analysis to engage in deliberate digital actions to disrupt the status quo. Electronic forms of disobedience are sourced by beliefs in human rights and agency; fairness, accessibility and transparency; and the power of the human imagination. They often operate in the realm of symbolic power, which is always tied up with other forms of power. Bourdieu said sym­ bolic power was the power of “making people see and believe” (cited in Meikle, 2008, p. 3). Thus, people engaged in these kinds of tactics are exercising symbolic power. There are countless and ever-emerging forms of digital disobedience (both legal and illegal) but a few examples are: virtual sit-ins where protesters visit a targeted website to overwhelm and shut down the site with net­ work traffic; information leaks—information is leaked from an inside source; doxing—documents and records are hacked into and made public (Meikle, 2008; Sorell, 2015). Some forms of tacti­ cal media, which often draw from absurd and surrealist sensibilities, and link art with activism, may include the creation of websites, online film, and video games to create subversive messages. Culture jamming is a form of “subvertising” that often uses mass media, social media, and memes to expose the underlying assumptions of capitalist values and practices. Adbusters is perhaps one of the most notable and impactful groups to engage in this kind of work utilizing spoof ads which take well-known corporate images and distort them to chal­ lenge assumptions about consumption. For example, one of their images is an American flag that replaces the stars with tiny corporate logos (e.g. Apple, McDonald’s, Nike). Their “Fuckitall Manifesto” reveals their strategic thinking, including vision, goals, power analysis, and targets behind their tactics: We clean up the toxic areas of our mental environment … make the price of every product tell the ecological truth … reverse the upward flow of wealth … punish every corporation that betrays the public trust … make secrecy taboo … bend the straight line in a wobbly new direction … discover new ways to live, love and think (Adbusters, 2020) A final example that can illustrate these kinds of tactics is the group, Electronic Disturbance Theater 2.0, which is a collective of digital activists whose goals are “the disturbance of borders: national, gender, genre, disciplinary, fiction/non through the exploitation and re/performance of technology, poetry and the imaginaries of each.” One of their projects is the Transborder Immi­ grant Tool in which they buy used cell phones and install a software they wrote which allows the

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user to access the GPS signal without having cell service. They link people with safety sites on the U.S./Mexico border including notifications of roads and water caches left by humanitarian groups. Users also have the option of hearing poetry that uplifts as well as desert survival information. The power of digital direct action should not be underestimated. Indeed, it should be clear that tactics, such as microtargeting (advertising targeted to specific groups of people based on available data about them), can be and are being used for very sinister ends. Because of the surge in screen time, people of all ages can be extremely vulnerable to the kinds of information and narratives they are exposed to. Thus, when choosing these tactics for social justice ends, it is important to reflect on whether the ends justify the means. RESILIENCE-BASED ORGANIZING In the current context, wherein individuals, families, and communities may not be getting their basic needs for food, housing, and health care met, communities are forced to fill in the gaps and fashion something from the materials and resources available, compost the old and create some­ thing usable. This is the resilience that poor and marginalized people have always demonstrated through sharing, cooperation, and bartering (Stack, 1974). When done with the intentionality of building social movements led by impacted people, it is called resilience-based organizing. Resilience-based organizing is organizing by groups and communities to meet their human needs by cooperating, sharing resources, and utilizing democratic self-governance. Rather than re­ enforcing the existing structures that conflict tactics tend to do (focusing on “us” versus “them”), the focus is on forging innovative economies and ways of doing things that regenerate ecologies and strengthen the power of communities (focusing on “us”). Rather than trying to wrestle power from or demand that an institution or elite actor act, people use their own labor “to survive and thrive.” These approaches may be rooted in ecological consciousness and/or steeped in ances­ tral wisdom. The mission statement of Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project (n.d.-a) states that it “inspires and engages in transformative action towards the liberation and restoration of land, labor, and culture.” Resisting corporate profitmaking and ecological devastation, it is aligned with social movements led by low-income communities and communities of color who are working toward “healthy, resilient and life-affirming local economies.” They embrace a resilience-based organizing (RBO) model and note that there are three core ingredients that make it effective: 1) “Building a Transformative Narrative: People will not go someplace we have not first traveled to in our minds;” 2) “Restoring our labor: What the hands do, the heart learns;” and 3) “Contesting for Power: If it’s the right thing to do, we have every right to do it” (Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project, n.d.-b). In other words, it is necessary to envision a different way of doing things with our hearts and minds, but we must also use our own hands by reclaiming our labor and assert our rights for creating our vision for the future. Resilience-based organizing has been embraced by indigenous people, feminists, environ­ mentalists, anarchists, mental health consumers, global justice activists, the Occupy movement, and many others. Although confronting power and redistributing power within the system is an important dimension of social-change work, another dimension is to resist oppressive structures through the creation of new ways of doing things both socially and culturally. Consumer-run homeless drop-in centers in Philadelphia, people of color led time-banking in St. Louis, the use of local currency in western Massachusetts, organic farms in India, anarchist mutual aid after

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Hurricane Sandy in New York, and peer-led support for battered women in Thailand are all examples. Organizers involved in such efforts seek to create spaces where regular people come together in their communities in a way that resists traditional capitalist and social services models and cultures of control, creating what Armstrong (1996) has called “communities of the heart.” This approach to organizing may also embrace the theory of horizontalism, or horizontalidad (Stirin, 2012), an approach that rejects representative democracy. From this perspective, repre­ sentative democracy only serves to empower others to make decisions on our behalf and thus rein­ forces vertical hierarchies of power. Instead, adherents of horizontalism take matters into their own hands and seek to create more participatory and liberatory spaces through direct democracy and self-management. The term emerged out of social movements that arose after the economic crisis in Argentina in 2001 wherein governments were forced out, neighborhood assemblies emerged, and factories were taken over to become worker-owned cooperatives. Ten years later, the Occupy movement embraced horizontalism as people occupied public spaces and forged new communities built on equitable relationships and created alternative structures to provide for food, medical care, and legal assistance. Some have referred to such spaces as a form of prefigurative politics wherein the goal is to practice and embody norms of social relationships, decision making, and culture now that are envisioned for the future (Boggs, 1977). Cooperative economics, also known as the solidarity economy, is a way to engage in such resilience-based approaches, resisting the marginalizing structures of mainstream capitalist eco­ nomics and development, emphasizing a more equitable and sustainable, economic and social life. The theories underlying such approaches can be found in the work of thinkers like David Korten (2006) who believes that we are moving from an industrial growth society to a life-sustaining society. Such a view embraces local, sustainable economics and the idea that “small is beautiful” (Schumacher, 2010). This kind of work is rooted in indigenous gift economies (Kimmerer, 2015) and also has been referred to as sacred economics (Eisenstein, 2011). Cooperatives may be consumer-owned, producer-owned, or worker-owned, or some combination (Nembhard, 2014). They encompass a range of economic activity, including producer- and worker-owned creations of products, such as food, clothing, or solar panels; the cultivation of peer lending groups and land trusts; consumer-owned buying clubs or grocery stores; and the provision of services, such as worker-owned housecleaning services or elder care. The legacy of African and African American collective economic activity continues to be a vital thread in cooperative economic movements and resilience-based organizing (Nembhard, 2014). It was a key part of the theories and organizing of famous Black leaders, such as W. E. B. DuBois, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Jo Baker, and John Lewis, which focused on land-based collective farm­ ing and mutual aid. Refugees and immigrants represent another important thread in cooperative approaches to economics, as they draw from their traditional cultures in order to survive within a capitalist economic landscape. For example, Somali Bantu refugees in Lewiston, Maine draw from their traditional form of cooperation around farming and work that they call iskashito. The group formed the Isuken Co-op growing their own vegetables and working cooperatively on a food truck that sells their farm-to-table foods, such as sambusas, which are fried pastries filled with vegetables and meat. The work provides them with a way to make a living and share profits inside the belly of an economy that marginalizes them, while also preserving their culture. Cooperatives promote equality among workers, thereby eliminating management and the time and money excesses that hierarchical companies require; thus, there is less discrepancy across worker wages. There are certainly challenges with cooperatives though, including an arguably steep learning curve in relation to the skill and art of collective decision making. Many people have

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lost touch with their innate capability to share in collective decision-making activities, but organ­ izers and other capacity builders can support the work of cooperatives by organizing members and building the capacities of cooperatives in the areas of group process and business-related supports. The group, Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (n.d.), provides such support as they work to help groups embody the principles of cooperatives which are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Voluntary and open membership Democratic member control Member economic participation Autonomy and independence Education, training and information Cooperation among cooperatives Concern for community

With commitments to horizontal structures and processes, resilience-based organizing captures the spirit of transformative organizing. Though there can be a range of commitments in doing the internal and interpersonal work that are hallmarks of transformative organizing, what has been called “eliminating the smog inside us,” (Hunter, 2015, p. 36), successful cooperatives tend to embrace these challenges and view such work as necessary. Cultural Organizing Much of the culture that people in the developed world, and now increasingly, the developing world, are exposed to is what can be termed “mass culture,” a form of culture imposed from above, intended for mass consumption, and driven by technology (Mannathukkaren, 2009). This mass culture has been expressed as the “McDonaldization of society,” the process in which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are dominating multiple sectors of global society (Ritzer, 2018). Some of the dominant values that are promoted through McDonaldization are that of efficiency, doing things quickly and with the least resources possible (e.g. the drive-up window, ATMs, etc.), and predictability, the attempt to structure the environment so that change and diver­ sity do not encroach upon one’s “sensibilities” (e.g. a Big Mac should taste the same in Hong Kong as it does in Kansas City). Intentional efforts to affirm cultural practices that are decidedly unique from those of mass culture can be considered a form of resistance to this kind of homogenization. Thus, cultural organizing is a strategic organizing tactic that is a form of resistance to dominant cultural mes­ sages operating at the intersections of art, culture, and activism. This type of activism often includes the arts, such as performance art, including theater or singing, the literary arts, such as poetry, and the visual arts, such as painting or drawing. These activities may have a political mes­ sage of resistance and serve as ends in themselves or they may be part of a larger strategy and used to enhance or support another kind of organizing tactic. The cultural organizing (or cultural work) framework draws from important historical lega­ cies. The political art of the 1930s, for example, engaged the social and economic issues of the Depression, particularly the painting genre that was known as social realism. In the 1950s and 1960s, artists and musicians supported the organizing work of the civil rights and black liberation movements. For instance, Emory Douglas was the artist behind the Black Panther Party as his

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work was featured in posters, pamphlets, and their newsletter. In the 1980s’ AIDS movement, poster-making was an important tactic that sent important messages (for example, the iconic 1986 poster of a pink triangle that read “Silence = Death”) (Kuttner, 2015). Also, the HIV/AIDS activ­ ist group known as ACT UP held their first demonstration on Wall Street, utilizing a combination of media work, civil disobedience, and guerilla theater (Shepard & Hayduk, 2002). In more contemporary examples, cultural organizing takes many forms. Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues is feminist art that attempts to question fundamental assumptions about femi­ ninity, resist violence against women, and create solidarity among women. Ensler has questioned why vagina was a word that is whispered and why euphemisms are often used in its place (Baum­ gardner & Richards, 2005). The Vagina Monologues phenomenon has facilitated the empowerment of women to reclaim their bodies, which have been objectified and abused throughout patriarchal history. Another example comes from Bay Area activist and artist Favianna Rodriguez, who has contributed to the immigrant rights movement through her series of prints that feature a butterfly and the phrase “migration is beautiful,” as immigrant rights groups have utilized her images for their actions and campaigns (Kuttner, 2015). Utilizing a cultural integration approach, the Main Street Project’s Raices program works with rural Latinx communities and utilizes community engage­ ment and storytelling to build community and identify common issues. They focus on developing community and shared identity through food, music, language, and dance (Kuttner, 2015). Music has been one of the foremost forms of protest and cultural work across the globe. Union songs in the United States in the 1930s later influenced the folk music of the 1950s and 1960s dur­ ing the time of the civil rights movements. Songs of protest played an important role in the strug­ gle against apartheid in South Africa. Beginning in the late 1990s, musicians, such as Rage Against the Machine, Ani Di Franco, and Michael Franti used music as a form of activism. Examples of contemporary protest music include Beyonce’s “Freedom” (featuring Kendrick Lamar), which honors Black women, and “We the People,” by a Tribe Called Quest which called upon marginal­ ized people targeted after the 2016 election. Music, like other forms of cultural organizing, raises consciousness, builds solidarity, and provides a call to action. For many groups, cultural organizing is a form of resistance to mainstream forms of culture that perpetuate oppression. According to Shepard (2005), while organizers emphasize a model of education that depends on analysis, challenging systems requires emotional as well as intellectual shifts in attitude. Cultural production, from music to poetry to storytelling, makes social breakthroughs possible … public performance, dance, and ritual provide the transformative ingredients that unleash “cognitive liberation” necessary to view the world from alternate perspective. (p. 448) Cultural work emphasizes the socially conscious nature of the work, affirming that the artist is a cultural worker; making art is not viewed as a frivolous occupation but rather as important labor (Adams & Goldbard, 2005). Other activities, such as participatory arts and community arts, are also relevant here. Because of the tendency for people in our society to think of art as a one-way transmission of mass-produced cultural products, cultural work represents more of a multidirec­ tional opportunity where people from all walks of life have an opportunity to participate (Adams & Goldbard, 2005). Another type of cultural organizing, referred to as creative placemaking, marries cultural organ­ izing with community development (Zabel, 2017). It focuses on the unique skills that artists bring

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to a community that can help nurture a sense of place; at the same time, they can address real community problems and needs. Not only do these activities create beauty but they give regular people and artists a voice, create a space to ask questions and find new answers, and build rela­ tionships. Examples of such efforts include a group of young people creating colorful murals on abandoned buildings or indigenous people preserving their heritage by investing in cultural infra­ structure (e.g. studio spaces, pow wow grounds) (Evans, 2016). Overall, practitioners of community cultural development and cultural organizing have come to adopt a set of principles guiding their work. Adams and Goldbard (2005) have articulated seven points that reflect key principles: 1. Active participation in cultural life is an essential goal of community cultural development. 2. All cultures are essentially equal, and society should not promote any one as superior to the others. 3. Diversity is a social asset, part of the cultural commonwealth, requiring protection and nourishment. 4. Culture is an effective crucible for social transformation, one that can be less polarizing and create deeper connections than do other social-change arenas. 5. Cultural expression is a means of emancipation, not the primary end in itself; the process is as important as the product. 6. Culture is a dynamic, protean whole, and there is no value in creating artificial boundaries within it. 7. Artists have roles as agents of transformation that are more socially valuable than mainstream art-world roles—and certainly equal in legitimacy. In sum, cultural organizing represents an opportunity to actualize material and nonmaterial capabili­ ties of participants by developing affiliation with others, engaging the imagination, and expressing our human desire for play. From a transformative approach to organizing, cultural organizing activi­ ties, such as participatory arts projects, can raise the consciousness of both participants and observers of the art, in addition to empowering participants. Although from a utilitarian organizing perspective it might appear that art and cultural development is irrelevant, such projects can develop leaders among participants and create new alliances that may be leveraged in future organizing campaigns. REFLECTIONS ON TACTICS Determining which organizing tactic to use in a given context is a perennial challenge for organizers and something that can only be understood in the context of strategy, framing, power analysis, points of intervention, organizational resources, and other considerations. Clearly, some organiza­ tions are better situated to engage in a particular tactic over others. How a group goes about decid­ ing what tactic is appropriate is equally critical. Determining what tactics to employ should be made through the lens of the same values as any other aspect of organizing, emphasizing empowerment, participation, and accountability. It is also relevant to consider not only the practical outcomes of a tactic, but also the moral effects on all people involved—organizers, targets, and bystanders. Identifying, defining, and setting boundaries around what constitutes a given tactic can cer­ tainly be useful to: scholars who try to make meaning of social movement and change work; organizers who are trying to get clear on their objectives in order to be successful; and students/ organizers in training who are learning about the utility of various tactics. But, like music or art,

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organizing tactics can also be genre-defying in that they may not fit into a precise category or they may span multiple categories, such as the use of the arts in direct actions. How does one know if a particular tactic was effective? Utilizing praxis and reflexivity, organ­ izers engage in assessment of their activities, and ultimately, they get to decide what was effective. The outcomes of organizing tactics are complex and social movements exist on a wide spectrum ranging from radical to more moderate. Embracing a wide ideological spectrum opens up more space for creativity and brings complexity to questions about “success” and outcomes. Sociologists have argued that a radical-flank effect may benefit moderate sectors of a broad social movement. McAdam (1982) describes it in this way: A movement tends to benefit when there is a wide ideological spectrum among its adherents. The basic reason for this seems to be that the existence of radicals makes moderate groups in the movement more attractive negotiating partners to the movement opponents. Radicalness provides strong incentives to the state to get to the bargaining table with the moderates in order to avoid dealing with the radicals. (p. 3) When groups understand their own strengths, such as whether they are prepared to negotiate or whether they are more suited to engage in direct actions, they are better able to determine where they can be most effective. While strategy charts and logic models certainly have their place, deep change requires a subtler kind of discernment. Sometimes, successful outcomes may look more like getting the right people at the table, having the difficult conversation, and building commu­ nity than “getting the win.” Ultimately, a “successful” tactic changes participants; it moves them and inspires them, and, at the same time, it keeps them hungry for more. The Oakland, California based group, Moms 4 Housing, is an example of a group that used mul­ tiple tactics to achieve successful outcomes (Moms 4 Housing, n.d.). This group of four homeless and housing insecure working women with children got tired of waiting for housing institutions to provide them with housing. So, they intervened at the point of destruction, and all moved into a house in Oakland that had been sitting vacant for two years. Together, they fixed it up and created a home for themselves and their families asserting their basic human rights to housing by reclaim­ ing unoccupied housing from real estate speculators and banks. By taking over the property, they leveraged both direct action tactics and resilience-based organizing tactics. The situation eventu­ ally came to a head when the real estate investment group who owned the property, Wedgewood, had them evicted. But, the group was organized, and with coalition partners, fought back. Using negotiation tactics, the city of Oakland was able to broker a deal between Wedgewood and the nonprofit, Oakland Community Land Trust, who would go on to purchase the property and con­ vert it to affordable housing so the women could move back in. The case has galvanized the city to pursue a “right of refusal policy” which would “give tenants or affordable housing nonprofits first dibs to buy certain residential properties for market value” (Kendall, 2020). With their willingness to engage in direct action and assert their rights, coupled with strong partnerships with key stakeholders, Moms 4 Housing were not only able to achieve a positive outcome for themselves but potentially for others in the region. When interviewed about the home they had secured, one of the young preteen daughters of the organizers said that what was most remarkable about the house was the trees outside. She noted how deep their roots were, how beautiful their brown bark was, and how resilient they were, having survived so much. The insight, and perhaps a “successful outcome,” was that she affirmed her own strengths, and was able to embody a sense of place and belonging.

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Case Study: The Tactical Diversity of Jane Addams During the Progressive Era (roughly 1890–1920), future Nobel Prize winner Jane Addams was an activist and social worker who sought to address numerous issues, including war, pov­ erty, public education, and labor issues (Addams, 1910). Not only did she and her colleagues take on many issues, but they also embraced multiple tactics to alleviate injustices. Many of her organizing activities were based out of Hull House, the settlement house in Chicago that she helped found in 1889. While not without its own problems and appropriately critiqued as a form of noblesse oblige, the settlement movement is an important one in the history of social welfare interventions as it sought to address urban poverty through a unique kind of housing approach for low-income people. The settlement house model was founded on the idea that middle-class workers would live together in homes with low-income people providing services, such as childcare, education, and health care, while also engaging in the arts and cultural development. In terms of organiz­ ing tactics, it is part resilience-based organizing, place-based development, and cultural organ­ izing. Settlement house workers chose to intervene at the point of destruction by living in late 19th-century urban slums similar to the ones described by Upton Sinclair (1906) in the famous book The Jungle, which portrayed the exploitation of and brutality in the lives of immigrants in Chicago. Addams’ tireless work on labor issues serves as an example of one of the many ways she and her colleagues advocated to change public policy and improve the lives of immigrants. Her first encounter with labor issues came through anecdotal experiences with the children of Hull House. These children of immigrants worked in sweatshops and told her stories about long hours and unsafe conditions. She also came to understand how the families of these children depended on the wages they earned. Hearing more and more stories, her group chose to inter­ vene at the point of decision and approached the Illinois State Bureau of Labor and suggested they investigate the issue of child labor in a more systematic way. The report produced by the bureau was presented to the legislature, which then appointed a special committee to investigate the matter further. On investigation, the special committee would recommend to the legislature provisions for significant factory legislation. Before its passage, Addams (1910) and her colleagues educated groups and mobilized people to ensure its passage. She recalled that “it was necessary to appeal to all elements of the community, and a little group of us addressed the open meetings of trades-union and of benefit societies, church organizations, and social clubs literally every evening for three months” (p. 135). Her group engaged and organized the residents of Hull House, and they worked in coalition with the Trades and Labor Assembly as well as the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. She attempted to make clear to her allies and constituents the exact purpose of the law as well as the benefit to themselves and their children. The biggest opposition to this came from the large glass-manufacturing companies who depended on child labor for their production. Eventually, the bill passed, and it became the first factory law in Illinois; it would regulate sanitary conditions and fix 14 years as the minimum age for factory laborers. Besides such policy change work, Addams engaged in classical labor organizing, focusing on organizing women garment workers. At the time, the only women’s union in Chicago was that of the bookbinders. Inviting the head of this union to Hull House, the union leader was at first skeptical of whether Addams and her cohort could be allies of working-class women. Eventually, the union leader was won over by the sincerity of Addams’ group. Through Hull

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House, the women shirt makers and the women cloak makers were organized. One of the women workers living at Hull House also organized the Dorcas Federal Labor Union, which was composed of women members of all the unions in the city. Strikes are a traditional form of direct action in labor struggles, and Jane Addams and her colleagues chose to intervene at the point of production and became involved in many of them. She struggled morally with the immediate effects of strikes, such as what the lack of transportation for a day during the Pullman strike would mean for people who needed trans­ portation or the fact that the strikes could potentially incite violence. She was aware of how difficult strikes were to sustain as a tactic for union leaders as well as workers. Moreover, she understood that their success was dependent on the changing flavor of public opinion and the everchanging personal will of the employer. Addams had a good understanding of strategy, including politics, capitalism, community organizations, networks, and relationship building. She seemed to be comfortable employing a variety of organizing tactics geared toward social change. Although she had some awareness of her own privilege as a leader and definitely encouraged working-class people to get involved, some of the complex issues around class, race/ethnicity, and power in community organizing were likely not at the forefront of her mind. Activists had not yet created concepts like intersec­ tionality and identity politics. Nonetheless, her work at Hull House revealed that she did have an understanding of empowerment of poor and marginalized people and devoted her life to it.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION 1. Discuss a recent public organizing tactic in your community that you or others participated in and evaluate it. What was the goal and was it achieved? What could have been done differently? 2. Consider each of the main types of tactics discussed in this chapter—negotiation, direct action, resilience-based organizing, and cultural organizing. What strengths would you bring to each? What would you find challenging about it? 3. Why might progressive community organizers be resistant to using art as an organizing tac­ tic? Consider this from both a utilitarian and a transformative organizing perspective. 4. Discuss some examples of ways you or others have engaged in digital direct action? What were some of the strengths and challenges? 5. What are the benefits and challenges of tactical diversity in social movements? SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER INQUIRY Books Bracey, J. Sanchez, S., & Smethurst, J. (2014). SOS—Calling all black people: A black arts movement reader. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press. Davis, F. (2019). The little book of race and restorative justice: Black lives, healing, and US social trans­ formation. Good Books. McBay, A. (2019). Full-spectrum resistance: Actions and strategies for change, Volume two. New York: Seven Stories Press.

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Rosenberg, M. B. (1999). Nonviolent communication: A language of compassion. Encinitas, CA: Pud­ dleDancer Press. Shepard, B. (2011). Play, creativity, and social movements: If I can’t dance, it’s not my revolution. New York, NY: Routledge. Web Adbusters. https://www.adbusters.org BlackOUT Collective. https://blackoutcollective.org Copac Coop. http://www.copac.coop/ Moms 4 Housing. https://moms4housing.org The Ruckus Society. http://www.ruckus.org REFERENCES Adams, D., & Goldbard, A. (2005). Creative community: The art of cultural development. Richmond, CA: Rockefeller Foundation. Adbusters. (2020). FUCKITALL manifesto. Adbusters. https://www.adbusters.org/manifesto Addams, J. (1910). Twenty years at Hull House. New York, NY: Penguin. Alinsky, S. D. (1971). Rules for radicals: A practical primer for realistic radicals. New York, NY: Random House. Armstrong, J. (1996). Sharing one skin: Okanagan community. In J. Mander & E. Goldsmith (Eds.), The case against the global economy (pp. 460-470). San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books. Baumgardner, J., & Richards, A. (2005). A field guide for feminist activism. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. BlackOUT Collective. (n.d.). BlackOUT collective: About. BlackOut Collective. Retrieved March 2, 2020, from https://blackoutcollective.org/about/ Bloch, N. (2019). How technology is shaping creative activism in the 21st century. Waging Nonviolence. https:// wagingnonviolence.org/2019/03/how-technology-is-shaping-creative-activism-in-the-21st-century/ Boggs, C. (1977). Marxism, prefigurative communism, and the problem of workers’ control. Radical America, 11(6), 99–122. Boler, M. (2008). Digital media and democracy: Tactics in Hard times. MIT Press. Boyd, A. (Eds.). (2016). Beautiful trouble: A toolbox for revolution (Pocket Edition). OR Books. Brown, A. M. (2019). Pleasure activism: The politics of feeling good. Chico, CA: AK Press. Chenoweth, E., & Stephan, M. (2013). Why civil resistance works: The strategic logic of nonviolent conflict. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Davis, F. (2019). The little book of race and restorative justice: Black lives, healing, and US social transformation. Good Books. Eichler, M. P. (2007). Consensus organizing: Building communities of mutual self-interest. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

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TaCTiCs For Change eisenstein, C. (2011). sacred economics: Money, gift, and society in the age of transition. Berkeley, Ca: north atlantic Books. engler, M., & engler, P. (2016). This is an uprising: how nonviolent revolt is shaping the twenty-first century. nation Books. eskew, g. T. (1997). Civil rights movement. in r. s. Powers, & W. B. Vogele (eds.), Protest. power and change: an encyclopaedia of nonviolent action from aCT-UP to women’s suffrage (pp. 86–99). new York, nY: garland Publishing. evans, a. (2016). an artist’s way of seeing: Community engagement in creative Pplacemaking. shelterforce. retrieved from https://shelterforce.org/2016/06/17/an-artists-way-of-seeing-community-engagement-in-creative­ placemaking/ Forbes. (2017, october 3). The o’hare shit-in: airports, occupied infrastructures, and excremental politics. https:// www.societyandspace.org/articles/the-ohare-shit-in-airports-occupied-infrastructures-and-excremental-politics gamson, W. (1990). The strategy of social protest (2nd ed the new jim crow: an organizing guide. Denver, Co: Veterans of hope, hyrax Publishing. Katsiaficas, g. (2004). seattle was not the beginning. in D. Burton-rose, e. Yuen, & g. Katsiaficas (eds.), Confronting capitalism: Dispatches from a global movement (2nd ed., pp. 3–10). new York, nY: soft skull Press. Kendall, M. (2020, February). Moms 4 housing policy could shake up oakland real estate market. The Mercury news. retrieved from https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/09/new-policies-could-shake-up-some-bay-area­ housing-markets/ Kimmerer, r. (2015). Braiding sweetgrass: indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants. Milkweed Wadsworth. goodwyn, L. (1978). The populist moment: a short history of the agragian revolt in america. oxford University Press. hill, L. (2004). The deacons for defense: armed resistance and the civil rights movement. Chapel hill, nC: University of north Carolina Press. hunter, D. (2015). Building a movement to end the new Jim Crow: an organizing guide. Denver, Co: Veterans of hope, hyrax Publishing. Korten, D. C. (2006). The great turning: From empire to earth community. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kuttner, P. (2015).What is cultural organizing?. Cultural organizing. https://culturalorganizing.org/what-is­ cultural-organizing/ Lederach, J. (2003). Little book of conflict transformation: Clear articulation of the guiding princicples. good Books. Mannathukkaren, n. (2009). Culture and development. in P. Beaudet, P. haslam, & J. schafer (eds.), introduction to international development: approaches, actors and issues (pp. 463–484). Dons Mills, ontario, Canada: oxford University Press. Mcadam, D. (1982). Political processes and the development of Black insurgency. Chicago, iL: University of Chicago Press. McLaughlin, C., & Davidson, g. (1994). spiritual politics. new York, nY: Ballantine Books. Meikle, g. (2008). electronic civil disobedience and symbolic power. in Cyber conflict and global politics. routledge. Moms 4 housing. (n.d.). Moms 4 housing. Moms 4 housing. retrieved March 6, 2020, from https://moms4housing.org Movement generation Justice & ecology Project. (n.d.-a). Mission and history. retrieved March 2, 2020, from https://movementgeneration.org/about/mission-and-history/

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TOOLS FOR COMMUNITY ORGANIZING Movement generation Justice & ecology Project. (n.d.-b). resilience-based organizing. retrieved March 2, 2020, from https://movementgeneration.org/resources/key-concepts/resiliencebasedorganizing/ Mumm, J. (2020). You say you want a revolution: Well, you know, there is a recipe. https://medium.com/just-books/ you-say-you-want-a-revolution-d583977c5c77 nembhard, J. (2014). Collective courage: a history of african american cooperative economic thought and practice. state College, Pa: Penn state Press. Piven, F. F., & Cloward, r. (1979). Poor people’s movements: Why they succeed, how they fail. new York, nY: Vintage Books. ritzer, g. (2018). The McDonaldization of society: into the digital age (9th ed.). sage Publications, inc. rosenberg, M. B. (2015). nonviolent communication: a language of life (3rd ed.). encinitas, Ca: PuddleDancer Press. schumacher, e. F. (2010). small is beautiful: economics as if people mattered. new York, nY: harperCollins. shepard, B. (2005). The use of joyfulness as a community organizing strategy. Peace & Change, 30(4), 435–468. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0130.2005.00328.x shepard, B., & hayduk, r. (2002). Urban protest and community building in the ear of globalization. in aCT-UP to the WTo: Urban protest and community building in the era of globalization (pp. 1–9). new York, nY: Verso. sinclair, U. (1906). The jungle. new York, nY: grosset & Dunlap. sorell, T. (2015). human rights and hacktivism: The cases of wikileaks and anonymous. Journal of human rights Practice, 7(3), 391–410. spangler, B. (2003). integrative or interest-based bargaining. Beyond intractability. retrieved from, https://www. beyondintractability.org/essay/interest-based_bargaining stack, C. B. (1974). all our kin: strategies for survival in a Black community. harper & row.

staples, L. (2016). roots to power: a manual for grassroots organizing (3rd ed.). Praeger.

stirin, M. (2012). horizontalism and the occupy Movements. Dissent Magazine. https://www.dissentmagazine.org/

article/horizontalism-and-the-occupy-movements Taft, P., & ross, P. (1969). american labor violence: its causes, character, and outcome. in h. D. graham, & T. r. gurr (eds.), Violence in america (pp. 281–395). new York, nY: Bantam Books. The ruckus society. (n.d.). about Us. The ruckus society. retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://ruckus.org/ about-us/ Traub, a. (2019). This 86-Year-old radical May save (or sink) the Democrats—The new York Times. The new York Times. retrieved from, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/nyregion/frances-fox-piven-democratic-socialism. html?fbclid=iwar1x-rYqZ5Jv_k0mxro35dPaiW4U3ULMzPPewka5VW3o80D6bJu8indiK7Y Zabel, L. (2017, november). artists as organizers. shelterforce. https://shelterforce.org/2017/11/28/artists-as­ organizers/

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Part III Enduring and Emerging Issues in Organizing

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Chapter 11

Intersectionality, Solidarity, And Liberation The term “identity politics” was coined in 1977 by a group of Black socialist feminists who called themselves the Combahee River Collective. Identity politics refers to an analytical approach to activism, teaching, and scholarship that recognizes the interlocking oppressions of race, class, and gender (Jones & Eubanks, 2014; Smith, 2020; Taylor, 2017). Unfortunately, the phrase is some­ times used pejoratively invoking negative ideas about political correctness and images of diverse groups of people battling against one another over who is the most oppressed. Rhoads (1998) has made a case that because of this impression, a counterinterpretation of the term is necessary. One may wish to think of identity politics, instead, as diverse groups of people who have been excluded from society’s institutions forging a place for themselves in the public sphere, embodying democracy, and healing the wounds of colonialist-imperialist patriarchy. These groups are participating in fora where political, economic, and cultural rights are fleshed out and materialized. Because oppression is so painful, complex, and embodied, this process can appear to be dis­ tasteful to the outsider, especially to people who are blind to their own privilege. Privilege is the unearned advantage that some people in society have by virtue of their gender, race/ethnic­ ity, class, ability, and/or other social locations and identities. Privilege allows a person occupy­ ing dominant social locations greater access to social institutions; privilege shields a person from the lived realities of others who have less access. To be sure, identity politics work is necessary in order to undo the ugly histories and experiences of marginalization, colonization, violence, genocide, and slavery. Identity politics encompasses a range of political activity and theorizing founded in the shared injustices that members of certain racial, ethnic, gender, and other social groups experience. Rather than organizing solely around geography/place, ideology, or party affiliation, identity poli­ tics typically concerns the liberation of a specific self-identified constituency marginalized within the larger societal context. Members of that constituency assert or reclaim ways of understanding their distinctiveness that challenge dominant oppressive characterizations, with the goal of greater self-determination and material and nonmaterial opportunities. Such impacted communities may include indigenous people, people of African origin whose ancestors were enslaved, LGBTQ peo­ ple, immigrants, and people with disabilities, among others. Importantly though, identity tends to be complicated as people occupy multiple social locations, possessing both privileged selves and marginalized selves, and/or stand at the intersections of multiple forms of oppression. Intersectionality is a term attributed to legal scholar Kimberlee Crenshaw (2018) but can be traced to the work of Combahee River Collective (CRC) statement in 1977. This statement reflected their unique positionality as Black, lesbian women, and included anticapitalist and socialist analyses. No organizing group at that time, whether it was the National Organization for Women (NOW) which centered White women’s experiences or the National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO) which failed to incorporate the lived realities of poor Black women and the ways that sex­ ism and racism impacted people’s economic well-being, had centered their real lived experiences.

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Thus, this term “intersectionality” emerged from Black feminist socialist writers who noticed the ways that their experiences were not validated in the civil rights movement, nor in White feminist circles, nor in middle-class Black feminist circles. Members of the CRC have noted that their politics “evolve[d] from a healthy love for ourselves, our sisters, and our community which allows us to continue our struggle and work…” (Taylor, 2017, p. 18). They utilized the term “interlocking oppressions” to explain this unique intersection at which they stood and about which nobody else was speaking. While the term “identity politics” may be used in a derogatory way, they introduced it to affirm their unique location and to articulate specific needs that they had. It was self-preservation. But, their politics was never exclusionary. Truly coalition builders, CRC member Barbara Smith stated, “We worked with anyone who we could work with, whoever it was viable to work with” (Taylor, p. 53). As a white woman who “came up” in movements to end gender-based violence and economic injustice, working with issues of my own power, privilege, and subjugation has always been cen­ tral to social justice work for me. It has been an enlightening, painful, growth-oriented, and never-ending journey. When I was working in a feminist collective, we identified ourselves in solidarity with each other as cisgender women and trans and queer people. Living in a patriarchal culture that privileges the experiences and qualities of heterosexual cisgender men, we knew this to be true from our own experiences and analyses. And yet I had power within the organization based on my own social standpoint—having white skin, being in a heterosexual intimate rela­ tionship, and having a formal education. Our collective was very diverse, consisting of African American women, Asian women, Native American women, lesbian women, bisexual women, trans-people, and women with disabilities, as well as people who held multiple identities. It was during that time that I began to learn about how power and privilege manifested itself not only in society, but also within social movements and organizations. I was beginning to learn what being an ally to individuals who were members of marginalized groups meant. At the same time, I struggled to make sense of the challenges I had faced in my own family of origin, including with economic insecurity, substance abuse, and mental illness. Although through my words and actions, I attempted to demonstrate solidarity with my “sisters” in the many struggles for social justice, the reality was that I had a great deal of baggage that needed unpacking, whether it was the internalization of heteronormative patriarchy, white supremacy, or the unhealthy communication patterns I had internalized from childhood. In practice, it meant and continues to mean attending to my own intentions, the multiple meanings of verbal and body language, and constant critical inquiry into the policies and practices of the organization and the larger context we were working in. It meant being willing to engage with conflict as something generative. Although it was not easy, with the support of others within the collective, I was able to work at being accountable, forging the trust and attention that are necessary for solidarity, albeit imperfectly. Ultimately, this kind of work requires not only the building of trust and reciprocity within a group, but heavy doses of compassion and grace, for each other and for ourselves. OPPRESSION AND LIBERATION Philosopher Iris Marion Young (1990) has identified “five faces of oppression”: exploitation, mar­ ginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence. This oppression happens to peo­ ple who are perceived to be “other,” and thus are excluded from the dominant paradigm and its institutions and resources. One may be inclined to think that the solution to this problem would

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be to erase such differences, an argument for a sort of “colorblind” society. Young has critiqued a narrative and ideal of justice that conceptualizes liberation as the transcendence of difference, or the ideal of assimilation. Instead, the idea of democratic cultural pluralism affirms equality among differentiated groups, who respect one another and affirm differences. Feminist thinker Patricia Hill Collins (1999) and others have noted that these oppressions often take on an interlocking form, meaning that for women of color, for example, the issues they may face as a result of their gender is never separate from those which they face because of their race or ethnicity, and vice versa. Not only do the hegemonic mechanisms of sexism and racism oper­ ate similarly, but their interactions are intersectional and create new problems and the need for unique intervention strategies. The concept of internalized oppression can be useful for understanding how oppression mate­ rializes within individuals and across groups (Banks & Stephens, 2018; Dominelli, 2002; Pharr, 1996). Internalized oppression is the manifestation of systemic oppression as negative societal messages are turned inward and reflected in somatic and emotional life, impacting self-perception as well as interpersonal and social functioning. Accepting the names and negative ascriptions that dominant groups place on marginalized groups can result in internalized oppression impacting a person’s personal, family, and organizational life. For example, for a nonbinary person who has been abused, excluded, called names, and/or told that they were “less than” or weird or deviant their whole life, the possibility that they will internalize this on some level is likely. Coping with this kind of trauma and marginalization can result in a variety of problems, including mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, or addiction. From a transformative organizing perspec­ tive, actively attending to internalized oppression is undertaken through healing and generative actions that affirm individual and collective agency. Dominelli (2002) articulates how these issues can be addressed by groups organizing themselves for social change: Moreover, by constructing alternative discourses around their identity attributes, oppressed groups have been able to tackle the internalization of oppressive relations among their own members who have accepted the “naming” of their traits as inferior by the dominant group…. Self-affirming activities reauthor dominant discourses by challenging the view that it is not pos­ sible for oppressed people to ameliorate their situation. Placing affirming role models in the public domain, developing individual self-confidence, promoting positive images of the group and endorsing self-directed programs of action for part of the repertoire for building confi­ dence in who they are. Through this process, individuals who have previously been excluded and are unable to participate in expressions of citizenship in public arenas have found their voice and capacity to act in accordance with their own interests. (p. 113)

Understanding the Divisions Activists and scholars have discussed the notion of horizontal hostility which manifests as the infight­ ing that sometimes occurs between and amongst oppressed groups (Pharr, 1996). Rather than see their commonalities and work in solidarity, sometimes marginalized groups may perceive each other as the enemy and work to distance themselves from one another (White & Langer, 1999). Horizontal hostility occurs when one marginalized group turns against another marginal­ ized group. In other words, internalized oppression is projected onto other people of similar social

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status, resulting in this horizontal hostility. This can happen through competition for political acknowledgment and resources and is perpetuated by social structures, the media, educational institutions, and funders. One of the obvious negative consequences of these phenomena is that it has the effect of “divide and conquer” and pits people against themselves and one another, weaken­ ing their political strength. This issue is especially problematic when engaging in coalition build­ ing, wherein subtle and not-so-subtle hostilities can seep into the work and undermine efforts. Divisions are also maintained through subtle assaults rooted in and that perpetuate stereo­ types, a phenomenon known as microaggressions. Nadal (2008) has described “microaggressions” as “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative slights and insults toward members of oppressed groups” (p. 23). These can happen to people who pos­ sess nondominant identities, such as to people of color, people with disabilities, and gendernonconforming people. For example, a Black person hears “you don’t act Black” or a biracial person who is part Chinese is told that they are “not really Asian” or someone with a disability is asked “have you tried [a particular treatment/medicine/diet] to cure you?” Whether or not the speaker intends or does not intend harm is less important than the effect this can have for the recipient of the message. This kind of implicit bias that a privileged person is unconscious of can have painful consequences for a subjugated person who bears the brunt of these everyday assaults. In fact, research shows that the repetition of microaggressions can elicit symptoms similar to trauma (Nadal, 2018). In the context of organizing, unaddressed microaggressions perpetuate divisions and weaken solidarity. Corporations and politicians often have worked to divide and conquer the working class by emphasizing racial differences, often nurturing feelings of resentment against immigrants that they are “taking our resources.” Many activists have argued that these narratives divide the working class and that the most important conflict to transform is between the owners/management and the workers, emphasizing the unity that all workers from different backgrounds have in common (Kaufman, 2003). While the U.S. labor movement has been historically dominated by white men, a new wave of union organizers is attending to some of the “isms” within the movement. In 2016, for example, SEIU members voted to pass a resolution that committed the organization to build­ ing leadership and capacities to disrupt racism and to build power in Black and Brown communi­ ties. Reflecting on the wage disparities that exist between Black and Latinx workers and white workers, their resolution reads: This is no coincidence and no one understood that better than the women of color who pro­ vided home care to older people and people with disabilities despite the fact that discrimi­ natory labor laws denied them basic legal protections and even minimum wage—because these “domestic” jobs had traditionally been performed by Black women in the South.These women stood up to the racism that singled out their work as unequal and had been codified into our labor laws—and formed unions—paving the way for the thousands of other home care providers to join SEIU and improve their lives and the lives of the people they care for every day. (SEIU, 2016) It is clear that deepening awareness of oppression through attention to intersectionality and iden­ tity politics leaves organizers better situated to engage in multi-issue organizing and attend to mul­ tiple forms of injustice that are interconnected, such as the way that the Poor People’s Campaign

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is bringing attention to multiple issues that affect poor people (e.g. housing, jobs, health, environ­ mental damage, etc.) at the same time they point to root causes, such as capitalist extractavism, the war economy, and racism. Without attention to the structural conditions that create these real divisions, people with marginalized identities may become bitter and suspicious of dominant groups because of the ways in which they have been excluded in organizations and social movements by people with more power. Unfortunately, terms, such as “diversity,” “tolerance,” and “multiculturalism,” can become watered-down attempts to do social justice work. “Inclusivity has therefore come to mean that we start with an organizing model developed with white, middle-class people in mind, and then simply add a multicultural component to it” (Smith, 2006, p. 68). Building on this point, one might also argue that identity politics actually reinforces the current system as it continues to focus on individual subjects and the binaries of inclusion/exclusion into or out of a system that in and of itself is oppressive. A transformative approach to organizing might actually be more about creating spaces of refuge where people create something else altogether rather than trying to get access to the burning building. Poet, philosopher and climate activist Bayo Akomolafe (2019) calls for postactivist inquiries and unsettling the model of activists as independent agents of change. He notes that in the context of climate crisis “things fall apart and the centre cannot hold.” We may find that the human actor is being “deprivilege[d]” and “that how we see our problems is often a part of the problem: that our solutions, thoughts, contributions and ideas are secretions of the assemblages we intra-act with.” There is much more complex­ ity to transformation than meets the eye and our conceptual structures are so deeply steeped in imperialist-white supremacist-capitalist patriarchy that we do not realize what we don’t know. Moreover, the conflict and differences that arise within the milieu of identity politics may be considered a good thing. According to Gutierrez and Lewis (1994), conflicts will inevitably arise within those organizations that have been successful in reaching a diverse group, as well as between the organization and a larger community which may be threatened by the absence of expected boundaries. In some respects, the emergence of conflict is an indication that meaningful cross-cultural work is taking place. (p. 39) Collins (1999) wrote that “in a system of interlocking race, gender, class and sexual oppression, there are few pure oppressors or victims” (p. 194). This is an important point as many people hold both privileged selves and subjugated selves. It is true both within social movements and social justice organizations as well as in relation to those outside of organizing work. The idea that “the system” or “the man” somehow consists of people who are the ultimate embodiment of oppres­ sion is misguided. For example, consider an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, whom organizers may view as “the enemy” or “the oppressor.” While the agent carries some forms of privilege such as their own citizenship status or race or their position of power, they may also be experiencing subjugation themselves, in terms of their disability status, gender identity, or religious affiliation. bell hooks (2012) similarly notes that conflict is actually necessary for growth in communities. She writes: “The truth is that you cannot build community without conflict.The issue is not to be without conflict, but to be able to resolve conflict, and the commitment to community is what gives us the inspiration to come up with ways to resolve conflict.” (p.76)

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Not only are there divisions within social movements that need attention, but there are also more explicit divisions between “us” and “them” more generally that need unpacking. While the divisions certainly have a reality to them and have very real consequences in people’s lives, the tendency to reify these differences is rooted not only in utilitarian organizing traditions but also in the modernist philosophical paradigm that rigidly divides the world into black and white; male and female; material and spiritual, etc. Transformative change work implies that we work at the level of embodied human consciousness to unravel socially constructed categories that may not serve humanity and the planet in the long run. To be sure, though, we cannot jump-start our movements into a kind of indolent false harmony. According to one of the #BlackLivesMatter founders, Alicia Garza (2015): Progressive movements in the United States have made some unfortunate errors when they push for unity at the expense of really understanding the concrete differences in context, expe­ rience and oppression. In other words, some want unity without struggle. As people who have our minds stayed on freedom, we can learn to fight anti-Black racism by examining the ways in which we participate in it, even unintentionally, instead of the worn-out and sloppy practice of drawing lazy parallels of unity between peoples with vastly different experiences and histories. The practices of recentering, allyship, and solidarity building are vital pathways for learning to understand more deeply structural oppression, difference, conflict, and divisions. Such work is not possible without staying grounded in our interconnectedness, shared humanity, and collective rights to liberation. These are growth-oriented pathways, vital to transformative change work. As we develop these more nuanced skills, we open to more complexity, and indeed possibility.

RECENTERING AND ALLYSHIP Nieto and Boyer (2007) have written about social justice recentering and allyship as developmental and holarchical journeys of growing antioppressive consciousness and skill-building. For people who have been subjugated by larger systems of oppression (who they refer to as targets), their first experience in the system will be one of Survival, a way of behaving that allows people to stay alive by conforming to the expectations of systems of oppression. At some point though, they will start to question the dynamics of a system that ranks people into categories. This stage is referred to as Confusion, where there is questioning, anger, and disorientation. The next stage is Empowerment, which comes about through shared caucus-like space with other targeted members. People at this stage are learning about the historical roots of oppression and social conditioning. They begin to confront oppression head-on. Eventually though, it proves to be exhausting. The next stage is Strat­ egy, where targets begin to learn to choose their battles. They begin to appreciate people beyond their rank membership. They are growing in their understanding of how to conserve energy and maximize effectiveness in their antioppression work. The final stage is Recentering, which gives peo­ ple more ready access to their authentic core power that exists beyond social conditioning. They are able to work with others to change systems in humanized ways and become leaders in social change work. Because structural oppression is so deeply engrained, the earlier skills are still with them but they can work to use more inclusive skills as they overcome their social conditioning. For people who have more privilege in the dominant social system (who Nieto and Boyer refer to as agents), they will begin life either not being aware that they have privilege at all, like a fish in water, or have some awareness but be unconcerned with it. They refer to this first stage

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as Indifference, wherein the agent has the privilege to not notice the system of rank and targets. This stage requires the least amount of energy. If this stage were to be embodied, one might think of it as a shrug of the shoulders. The next stage, Distancing, happens when the agent works to keep target members away by noting how “they are not like us.” It is a distancing out, down, and up and contributes to marginalization and appropriation. One might think of the physical expression of it as a pushing away with arms out. In the third stage, known as Inclusion, the agent focuses on similarities between the target group members and agent group members. They are unaware of the system that categorizes difference and overvalues agents and undervalues targets. They may welcome targets but expect them to conform to socially dominant norms. The physi­ cal expression of this stage might be arms wide open. In the context of racial injustice and white supremacy, one might think of these first three stages as forms of what have been called “white fragility” (DiAngelo, 2018). Because of the expectation of racial comfort, white people at this stage will have a diminished ability to tolerate racial stress, especially in the context of conversa­ tions about racism which might manifest for white people as defensiveness, argumentation, and/ or avoidance. A shift happens at the fourth stage, Awareness, when the agent begins to see the reality of the rank system and understand their privilege, how agents are overvalued and targets undervalued. They listen and learn from the lived experiences of targets. However, at this stage, they may feel paralyzed and full of guilt and/or shame. The physical embodiment of this stage might be an immobile/frozen position. Finally, Allyship happens when the agent recognizes the negative impacts of the rank system on everyone and yet are able to think and act effectively. While chal­ lenging, they welcome the opportunity to become more aware of their own privilege and how their words and actions may contribute to the marginalization of others. The concept of allyship has also been problematized as focusing too much on individual acts of resistance rather than changing systems, which has been referred to as being an accomplice. In addition, the notion of being an ally still centers privileged people in the narrative and perpetuates “white savior” and hero narratives. Whatever terms are used, solidarity building requires inten­ tional spaces that attend to safety while also creating opportunities for courageous conversations, what have been called “brave spaces” (Ali, 2017). It is a journey that requires accountability to people who are most marginalized, steeped in humility and care. Calling in One of the innovations of social justice education in recent years has been the appeal for more attention to participatory processes in educational and social justice settings. Setting parameters around how to engage in transformative social justice conversation and action is necessary because of the inevitable discomforts including pain and conflict. These “brave” spaces commit to: 1) main­ taining civility even when there is controversy; 2) owning one’s intentions and attending to the emotional impacts that one’s words might have on others; 3) challenging by choice where partici­ pants monitor their own well-being in order to determine whether stepping into a conversation at any given moment is right for them; 4) respecting basic personhood; and 5) not attacking others (Arao & Clemens, 2013). By adhering to these commitments, participants cocreate conditions for risk-taking which are necessary to undo deeply entrenched structural conditioning. Another social justice commitment in these brave spaces includes the exhortation to “step up, step back” or “take space, make space.” This is the idea that people who are prone to talk a lot or dominate

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in group settings, especially people who have more privilege, should consider making space for those who are socially situated more marginally, or who may just tend to hold back. By attending to these nuances in social movement settings, there is greater opportunity to hear more voices. At the same time, it is an opportunity for others to take up space and let their voices be heard. Without these kinds of commitments, we may just continue to perpetuate cycles of inter-group trauma and marginalization. This can be seen in the social justice “call-out” culture which has a ten­ dency to dismiss, shun, shame, “ghost,” and exclude people who reveal their ignorance or make mistakes and mis-steps. It is especially visible in online and social media spaces. Instead of calling out, some activists have urged calling people in (Ross, 2019). According to Mariposa (2016): I’ve found problems with Calling Out: it isn’t a conversation, it tends to be a one-sided decla­ ration; it critiques the person, and does not offer hope for them to change their behaviour; it too often comes from such a place of anger and reactivity that the act itself is one I’ve found to be oppressive, and leads to compounding a cycle of trauma where no one gets to find healing. We can still be accountable to each other, but we don’t have to use “the master’s tools to disman­ tle the master’s house” by rendering each other disposable. Instead, we can invite each other into a conversation that is premised on our shared humanity and belief in our ability to learn and grow as we unravel the fabric of oppression together. Healing justice is crucial here. Using culturally appropriate contemplative practices and other creative ways of engaging with the whole self can leverage our abilities to go deeper in our collective spaces, disentangle internalized oppression, make peace with discomfort, and explore new possibilities (Berila, 2015). I continue to learn about how to have healing, accountable, and productive social justice con­ versations and I have been heavily influenced by activists of color and queer women (Mariposa, 2016; Penniman, 2018; Ross, 2019). I am learning that getting myself grounded through mindful­ ness or other practices, being willing to be vulnerable, offering empathy and support, and sharing resources are all useful tools in social justice conversations. Before engaging in such conversations, it is important to clarify intentions and the goals that one hopes to achieve and to consider too whether you are the right person to have the conversation, as well as to get clear about what kinds of supports are available for everyone involved. When following up after a conversation, consider what boundaries may need to be set, what kinds of resources people may need, and continue to stay engaged in conversation. My personal commitment lies in staying in relationship with people even though this can be difficult in a culture built on exclusion.

Nonviolent Communication People with privilege have ethical duties to talk to other privileged people about oppression. For example, antiracist white people should be educating other white people about racism. The tech­ nique of nonviolent communication is one that has multiple applications in social justice settings, but can be especially useful in white antiracism work (Blau, 2015). Marshall Rosenberg (2004) developed Nonviolent Communication (NVC) which is a technique grounded in the understand­ ing that conflict occurs when individuals are not having their basic needs met. Through compas­ sionate listening and dialogue, conflict can be transformed into understanding. Finding a common ground where everyone’s needs can be met is the goal. Such approaches are challenging for groups that have been historically marginalized by systems and other political actors. Trust will always be

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a challenge in these situations, and if it is not present on both sides, then these approaches are not likely to be effective. Rosenberg’s (2005) approach to communication is premised on his belief that human nature is fundamentally compassionate and that we fundamentally desire “mutual giving from the heart” (p. 1). The NVC process entails four components: 1) observations, 2) feelings, 3) needs, and 4) requests. The first step in communicating nonviolently is to state what is happening, specifi­ cally what we like or do not like about what people are saying or doing. The goal is to do this without judgment or evaluation. The next step is to articulate how a person feels when he or she observes the action or situation. This involves naming specific emotions, such as gratified, calm, eager or exasperated, resentful, or sad. The third part of the process involves saying what needs are connected to the feelings a person has identified. This part may look something like this: “I feel anxious about this situation because I have a need for security, a need which is not being met in this situation.” The final part of the NVC approach is to make a request of someone, one that explains what a person wants that would make their life more enriched. Anyone who is willing to engage in such a process, honestly expressing the four components, must also be willing to “receive empathically” through the four components from another person. Such approaches are not a panacea, but they point to a way of relating that moves beyond reactionary, trauma-based communication that seems endemic in the dominant culture and can get played out in social movement spaces.

A PATH TO SOLIDARITY In feminist literature, Roman (1993) argues for a shift from identity politics to a “politics of coalition,” that is, a unity that is grounded in difference, rather than sameness, advocating for a relational politics of dialogue. This vision attends to problems of individual and group oppression without the fragmentation that has often been associated with it. Standing in solidarity comes from “the deep recognition of our most expansive self-interest” (Morales, 1998, p. 125). Poet and activist Audre Lorde (1981) was concerned with precisely this idea, of “learning how to take our differences and make them strengths” (p. 99). Hartsock (1996) has argued that it is necessary for theorists to construct theoretical bases for coalition building and that, while they are no substitute for action, are necessary conditions for action. Some activists have argued for a politics of recenter­ ing rather than of inclusion: It is not enough to be sensitive to difference; we must ask what difference the difference makes. Instead of saying how can we include women of color, women with disabilities, etc., we must ask what our analysis and organizing practice would look like if we centered them in it. By fol­ lowing a politics of recentering rather than inclusion, we often find that we see the issue differ­ ently, not just for the group in question, but for everyone. (A. Smith, 2006, p. 69) The idea of “strategic essentialism” (Spivak, 1995) or “tactical fixedness” (Dominelli, 2002) affirms that while identity is obviously socially constructed and fluid, it can be tactically fixed to achieve specific aims. Even though a group has many differences among the members, such as class or sexual orientation, the group recognizes that there is wisdom in allying themselves together. The term women of color, for example, was coined by diverse women, including African American,

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Native American, Latina, and Asian women, in 1977 at the National Women’s Conference in Houston (Fried, Gutiérrez, Ross, & Silliman, 2004) and has been an organizing framework ever since. Globalization makes visible the common interests of “third-world women” that has served as the basis for organizing across racial/ethnic differences and national boundaries. There is a real benefit to publicly presenting themselves as a group with commonalities and similar interests. Though privately there may be differences, publicly the group chooses to present themselves as similar. This expression of solidarity can boost the morale and power of individuals to forge change initiatives in the public sphere. An example of the strategic use of group identity as moth­ ers is the CO-MADRES in El Salvador (Stephen, 2005). According to Stephen, being a “mother” and “motherhood” were constantly changing concepts which were expan­ sive in the sense that being a mother came to represent a wide range of issues within the organization—bearing and rearing children, defending them and oneself against state repres­ sion, having the right to free speech and being heard as a full citizen, having control over one’s body and its physical integrity within marriage, within families, in prison, and in any state institution, and recognizing and controlling one’s sexuality.This range of meanings of mother­ hood was not equally experienced or shared by all women in the CO-MADRES but was the discursive field within which motherhood came to be represented and contested. (p. 69) One thing that is clear is that building solidarity will not happen on its own. Organizers need the right environment, theories, processes, and skills to be able to engage in this kind of community building. Some democratic organizational structures provide the environment and procedures to engage in the difficult dialogue that it takes to build on common ground while acknowledg­ ing structural differences. In the following, I discuss some venues where promising practices are taking place in terms of working with the complexities of race, class, gender, and other issues of identity, specifically focusing on campus organizing and the movement for reproductive justice.

Campus Organizing Social-change work has a prodigious history on university and college campuses. Indeed, some of the most impactful organizing work during the civil rights and antiwar movements was spear­ headed by college students and flourished on college campuses. A recent example was in 2018 when the Howard University student group, HU Resist, occupied the university administration building for nine days in response to discoveries of financial fraud by the administration. After days of occupation and negotiation, their demands were met, including freezing undergraduate tuition, changing the school’s sexual assault policy, the creation of a food bank, and a review of policies allowing campus police to carry weapons. Through negotiations, the student group and the Board of Trustees agreed upon these policies, among others (Romo, 2018). While social movements of the past, such as the civil rights movement, failed to address inter­ locking oppressions and the power imbalances within their own movements, there is promising evidence that college students today are willing to grapple with some of these difficult issues. In the diverse environments of college campuses, where increasing numbers of students of color, international and immigrant students, queer, trans and nonbinary students, and students of diverse abilities are attending universities, students are confronting racism and other isms, embracing

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more nuanced understandings of intersectionality, and grappling with identity politics within the work that they do. With the influence of third-wave feminism and global justice movements, students in the 1990s engaged in organizing around global justice, violence against women, immigration, and LGBTQ issues and began confronting, sometimes reluctantly, the challenges of doing antioppression work as an integral dimension of organizing. For example, a group known as the Sexual Assault Task Force (SATF) at a small liberal arts college confronted issues of sexism in their organizing work. However, they found it difficult to discuss the connections between sexism and racism (Martell & Avitabile, 1998). Researchers studying this group wrote: the group members were resistant to the discussion of diversity, stating that consciousness rais­ ing related to their own racial, cultural, and sexual diversity was not a priority for them…. This attitude created a barrier to the involvement of many women students of color and inter­ national student in SATF. (p. 407) Another study of LGBTQ organizing on a college campus identified tensions in their organiz­ ing practices. The study authors articulated these tensions as unity and difference, commitment and apathy, and empowerment and disempowerment (Meyer, 2004). The first tension is most relevant to the discussion on identity politics. On this particular campus, there were three dif­ ferent organizations addressing LGBTQ issues with varying goals and practices. Sisters of Dissent focused on lesbian issues and engaged in more radical actions on campus. Out Daily was less of a political organization and more of a space for students who are coming out. INC focused explicitly on issues of oppression and attempted to build alliances with other groups on campus to contest homophobia, sexism, and racism. Tensions ensued within and across the groups related to identity and the levels of attention brought to oppression. Because people with a variety of identities were also working from a range of ideological viewpoints, uniting as a group was challenging. One leader of Out Daily stated that in a community that celebrates diversity to the extent that the LGBT community does, it’s very difficult at times to respect that diversity and cherish it and yet try to pull everyone into a group and move forward. Because so many times what’s good for this particular gay man or lesbian woman isn’t necessarily wonderful for a transgender or bisexual individual.The concerns of a Caucasian lesbian woman are not going to be the same concern as an African American bisexual man. And how do we pull all that stuff together and say this is good for all of us? (Meyer, 2004, p. 504) One bisexual woman on campus noted that she sometimes thinks that maybe bisexual women need their own organization, and yet, she reflects that, when there are so many difficulties coordi­ nating the existing organizations already, it would not be the right solution either. Rhoads (1998) discussed how student protest and multicultural causes played out in higher education in the 1990s, citing several examples. At Pennsylvania State University in 1992, gay, lesbian, and bisexual students held a variety of forums and other events to forge a public identity. These tactics were a way to pressure the university to add a clause concerning sexual orienta­ tion to its official nondiscrimination statement. The movement to elevate the Chicano Studies program to departmental status at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) was also a

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significant event. The marginalization of the Chicano Studies program was seen as a dismissal of the history, culture, and issues facing the people of the city of Los Angeles, which has the largest Mexican American population in the United States. After a student sit-in and a 14-day hunger strike, the university eventually granted the program what was in effect departmental status. Other protests were at Michigan State University by Native American students against a proposi­ tion by the governor of the state to end the state’s tuition program for Native American students. This program had emerged from the Comstock Agreement of 1934, which exchanged indigenous land for free education. Students protested by chanting “Give us the waiver or give us the land.” These students were successful in their efforts to stave off the removal of the program. The pro­ tests also served as a catalyst for identity bonding for Native American students, citing the experi­ ence as a way to preserve their cultural heritage. The challenges with oppression on campuses continue today as students carry on the legacy of organizing, resisting, and the use of diverse tactics, such as direct action and negotiation to achieve their goals. In 2019, a series of actions at Syracuse University exposed the marginaliza­ tion that many students of color feel today on college campuses. After incidents that included a physical attack on black students, racial slurs used by professors, and the discovery of campus graffiti with racial slurs, the university’s response was deemed inadequate. Black, Latinx, Asian American, Jewish, Muslim, Indigenous, and international students engaged in a sit-in under the name #NotAgainSU (Randle, 2019). These racist and anti-Semitic incidents are best understood in the context of a rise in white supremacist propaganda and violence on college campuses since 2016, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL, 2019). The 15 days of protest had broad support including the campus student Republicans, the Syracuse basketball team, and across the country, even in the face of backlash and new incidents that occurred throughout the protest including the appearance of swastikas on campus and a report of the issuance of a racist manifesto. #NotAgainSU had 19 demands most of which were eventually agreed to by the university chancellor. Economic Justice Organizing on College Campuses Labor and other economic justice-oriented organizing on college campuses are other contexts where organizers have been addressing diversity and marginalization within their organizing work. For exam­ ple, the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) was founded in the early 2000s, and held the belief that intentional leadership development of students of color was one of the keys to effective antiracism work. SLAP leaders worked at making their leadership development strategies sustainable, including making sure that students-of-color organizations get resources within their universities. Ross (2004) surmised the reasons for this when talking about the work of the United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), which was founded in 1998 to address global and local economic justice issues: Perhaps as a result of the influence of a kind of seasoned feminism, USAS meetings are char­ acterized by teaching and emulation of fairly sophisticated techniques of group discussion and leadership. Repeated observation of USAS meetings at local and regional levels demonstrated their painstaking efforts to include all participants in discussion and active care to ensure that women were selected as discussion leaders or representatives and spokespersons. This is reflected substantively in USAS Code of Conduct campaigns and WRC [Worker Rights Con­ sortium] inspections: treatment of women workers is specifically focused upon (in an industry in which the vast majority of workers are female). (p. 307)

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The social standpoint of student activists is an important subject of concern when grappling with identity politics. Recent cohorts of students entering colleges and universities hail from working-class and immigrant families. Students of color and working-class students are often busy working extra jobs and have a deeper understanding of the problems faced by people struggling to make ends meet or facing some other form of oppression; hence, there is tre­ mendous opportunity to pursue solidarity with people across the globe in transnational organ­ izing endeavors. The shared experiences of students of color can be nurtured and leveraged into powerful action. Making connections with their own families’ experiences and discussing manipulative advertising strategies (that perpetuate the demand for products that are produced in ways that alienate global and local laborers) may resonate with diverse student populations. Organizing strategies in such situations include one-on-one work, such as visiting student homes, taking them to lunch, and creating opportunities for students of color to connect with one another. Personalizing talking points rather than replicating points is important; framing the issues in a way that is engaging and accessible can also attract more students of color. To sustain the empowerment that is achieved on campus, many students also identify that there is a critical need to foster a community that is committed to social justice work after students grad­ uate. Some students have participated in summer internship training programs with unions, sparking an interest in carrying on economic justice organizing beyond the college years. The use of caucuses within organizations has been a mechanism for creating safe spaces for organ­ izers to strategize with other like members. USAS has caucuses for women, people of color, LGBTQ people, and working-class people. People of color are often the first workers to lose union jobs. And so, when a student group on a college campus could not achieve recognition by the student senate, it built alliances with staff of color. In solidarity, the staff let the students into the building to have their meetings anyway. Finally, one of the major difficulties of organizing on college campuses is the fact that student organizations experience continual turnover (Meyer, 2004). This means leadership can change every year, thus posing challenges to sustaining the values, climate, and accomplishments over time. As an antidote to this problem, groups like USAS and SLAP create policies, procedures, and practices that affirm the voices of students of color and other marginalized groups. The Student/Farmworker (SF) alliance is a decentralized national network that works in soli­ darity with farmworkers to eliminate sweatshop conditions in the fields while engaging in cam­ paigns for fair food. One of their early victories was providing support in the securitization of an agreement between the Coalition of Immokalee workers and Burger King to improve the wages and working conditions of Florida tomato pickers. SF seeks to continue to understand how racism operates in capitalist systems as well as how it can manifest in community organizations. Thus, its members work to address these issues by integrating antiracism and antisexism strategies into their work and organizational structures. This intentional approach includes a steering commit­ tee that consists of a majority of people of color and women and gender-nonconforming people, in order to acknowledge and remedy the reality that their voices are often marginalized in social change work. This structure is not in and of itself enough to address these issues. However, other mechanisms, such as consensus decision-making, are utilized within the steering commit­ tee, with important attention given to issues of identity. SF has a heightened understanding of group process that models the use of empowering language and a willingness to hold each other accountable. Utilizing the encuentro practice of the Zapatistas and other Latin American organizers, SF also holds a strategy camp with Immokalee workers, with whom they work in solidarity. The encuentro focuses on analyzing targets and strategies as well as making connections to larger social

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movements, learning about the history of the Immokalee movement as well as the indigenous roots of Immokalee. In the context of austerity-oriented policies, movements for economic justice on college and university campuses endure, including efforts to address tuition hikes, disinvestment in state uni­ versity systems, student loan debt, unfair fee structures, the use of contingent (adjunct) labor, and unjust treatment of graduate student workers (Peterous, 2019; Savard, 2016). With attention to how such economic injustices disproportionately impact women, queer students, students of color, undocumented students, and working-class students, and those who stand at the intersections of these identities, economic justice movements continue to grapple with various forms of oppression as they balance these concerns with the material gains they are trying to accomplish for people. A case study in these challenges has taken place within the University of California system. A wave of organizing started on the UC-Santa Cruz campus in late 2019 when graduate student work­ ers who carry significant teaching and research loads at the university engaged in a wildcat strike demanding a cost of living adjustment (COLA). Given the California housing crisis, these gradu­ ate student workers, who are paid very poorly, demanded a $1412 per month increase to cover high housing costs. There was far-reaching support for their campaign, including by professors and undergraduate students on campus, allies across the UC system, and by higher education unions nationally. The COLA group engaged in direct action, including withholding grades, work stop­ pages, and shutting down the campus. The university responded with hostility by using police force and firing approximately 50 graduate assistants for the work stoppage. The group’s COLA cam­ paign (Pay us More UCSC, 2020) also spawned a UC-Santa Cruz undergraduate student movement called COLA4ALL facilitated by The People’s Coalition. COLA4ALL supports the raise demanded by COLA but critiques their narrow focus on one specific demand of a housing raise. COLA4ALL articulates the many systems of oppression on which the entire functioning of the university rests. Their statements about the social injustices on their own and other campuses begin with a land acknowledgement of indigenous people and the exploitation on which the university is built: Before we begin, we would like to acknowledge that we are on Uypi (Yu Pi) territory; on stolen and unceded Land. We begin with this because as students, workers, faculty, staff, and people who have no affiliation to this University other than living on or near campus, we are complicit in the ongoing genocide of the Indigenous Folx of this land.We begin with a land acknowledgment because today we will make it very clear that what must always follow recognition of war crimes is not only condemnation, but action against the institutions and systems that were built at the expense of pre-existing sustainable modes of living. In other words, it is never enough to recognize the theft of the land, we must always work collectively to decolonize this landscape in both a physi­ cal and nonphysical sense (i.e. the literal creation and recreation of alternate lifestyles accompa­ nied by the reframing of learning and teaching models).We open up with this because there is no People’s Coalition and no People’s University without the most marginalized and brutalized at the center of the movement; there is no Liberation without recognition of our complicates in geno­ cide and white supremacy; there is no Liberation without an intent to dismantle, deconstruct, and decolonize (all acts that involve and entail the abolition of our current systems and institutions). (The People’s Coalition, 2020) Their work is grounded in a radical analysis of the neoliberal university as a colonized space rec­ ognizing that sources of oppression are entangled. They strive to center marginalized people, acknowledge the work being done on campus already by Black and brown people, scale up the

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movement for a raise, and “to encompass all forms of resistance against the modern university.” They are concerned with such issues as food justice on campus, child care, and alternatives to campus policing and have utilized various tactics, including a dining hall takeover. Drawing from a transformative and intersectional organizing approach, they acknowledge their ancestors and their collective pain as well as their collective power and the need for body– mind–soul–spirit engagement. They identify two different approaches at play wherein the COLA movement focuses on “immediate material interests” and the COLA4ALL movement addresses “timeless structural injustices.” COLA4ALL argued that COLA co-opted their analysis. Other observers have believed that by excluding other marginalized workers on campus and in the com­ munity that COLA undercut their power. It is perhaps worth acknowledging that decades of organizing for graduate student worker rights has resulted in some significant victories at both public and private universities recently as universities are in need of their labor and have not wanted to appear callous in the midst of a pandemic and economic recession. Thus, in August 2020, UC-Santa Cruz reinstated many of the workers that they had earlier fired. These tensions exemplify old struggles in new clothes in social movements, whether it is between single-issue organizing and multi-issue organizing; reform-oriented approaches versus radical approaches; utilitarian versus transformative; or inclusion and exclusion in coalition build­ ing. As the student economic justice movement grows throughout California and beyond, one might consider that rather than undercutting the power of the movement, perhaps the tensions that might be narrowly identified as “identity politics,” are actually strengthening it. Reproductive Justice The ongoing struggle for reproductive justice can serve as another example of the inner workings of intersectional organizing. Descriptions of the struggle for reproductive rights in the United States have been centered primarily on the efforts of White women to defend the legal right to abortion (Fried, Gutiérrez, Ross, & Silliman, 2004). However, framing the issues as the right to choose an abortion limits the discussion for women of color, who historically have confronted many constraints to reproduction. These constraints have included “population control, sterilization, abuse, unsafe contraceptives, welfare reform, the criminalization of women who use drugs and alcohol during pregnancy, and coercive and intrusive family planning programs and policies” (Fried, Gutiérrez, Ross, & Silliman, 2004, p. 2). Women of color activists introduced an intersectional framework with the use of the term “reproductive justice” rather than “prochoice” or “reproductive rights,” stressing the relationship between women’s reproductive health and human rights and economic justice. Analyzing the White-biased language of “choice” which has historically been embodied in the work of organizations, such as NARAL, NOW and Planned Parenthood, one can consider that a woman living in poverty, for example, who decides to have an abortion for economic reasons does not experience the situation as a “choice.” Moreover, for women who experience systemic rac­ ism, justice within the health care system is essential in terms of the opportunity to have and raise healthy children. As more awareness is raised in recent years about disparities in maternal and infant mortality between African American women and their white counterparts, the importance of employing an intersectional lens in achieving reproductive and birthing justice has become even more apparent (Owens & Fett, 2019). The National Black Women’s Health Project (NBWHP) was the first-ever women-of-color reproductive justice organization to address these discrepancies in approaches (Fried, Gutiérrez,

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Ross, & Silliman, 2004). Because the voices and issues of women of color were silenced by White prochoice organizations, it became necessary for women of color to establish their own organiza­ tions, develop their own leadership, and implement their own organizing strategies. These organi­ zations would reflect the fact that the fertility of women of color had been continually undermined by U.S. policies (Fried, Gutiérrez, Ross, & Silliman, 2004). In response to the question of whether this race/ethnic-based organizing approach creates unnecessary divisions, Silliman et al. wrote that: to the contrary, all social movements, whether organized for the rights of people of color or gay people or workers or whomever, use identity politics in the sense that they are working on behalf of their constituencies who share an identity. Heterosexual white people have not rec­ ognized themselves as an identity group because they assumed their identity to be the universal norm. Consequently, many white women organizing for reproductive rights assume that their agenda includes all women. (p. 16) Attention to other dimensions of identity have become salient in the reproductive justice move­ ment, including attending to the needs of LGBTQ people. Price (2018) identified ways in which reproductive justice movement building has been “queered” noting how various LGBTQ groups are infusing reproductive justice into their analysis, organizing, and advocacy at the same time that reproductive justice groups are incorporating LGBTQ issues into their agendas. For example, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health and Forward Together (formerly known as Asian Communities Reproductive Justice) has embraced LGBTQ issues and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in New York created the “Causes in Common Project” which brought together LGBTQ groups, reproductive rights and reproductive justice groups. Price (2018) argues that the authoritarian power of the Trump Administration may have had a “unifying effect” in more recent years on the willingness of such groups to build crossmovement alliances. Solidarity and Healing Justice When building alliances across group differences, there are several strategies that emerge based on the lessons learned by those doing this challenging yet rewarding work (Martinez, 2006). If soli­ darity is to be forged, healing justice must be centered. Building on the wisdom of cultural organ­ izers, connecting across cultures can be an excellent starting point. Sharing food, dress, music, and theater can “liberate our alliance-building energy and talents” (Martinez, 2006, p. 194). Youth, for example, have shown this to be the case by building bridges through hip-hop, spoken word, and other performances (Martinez, 2006). While large, public forums are often not the place to have ongoing difficult conversations, smaller, more intimate settings can meet this need. Martinez offers some words from her work doing multiracial organizing with women: Don’t be in a hurry, too impatient to listen….We also say, stick to dialogue. Don’t give up, even if it becomes difficult. It’s normal.There can be enormous resistance to speaking openly about one group’s issues with another. And women are often especially afraid of hurting someone’s feelings, stepping on toes, or sounding racist by bringing up feelings that might sound like ste­ reotypes…. Silences can feed the cancer of unaddressed conflict, and this has destroyed more

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than one project, group, or organization.This is a matter of organizational integrity: we cannot righteously continue our struggle, any struggle, without facing it…. Women of color need to act with integrity, speak with honesty, and reject any fear of our differences and conflicts. To transform the goal of unity into a reason for denying conflict, as we sometimes do, is selfdefeating…. Let us create a stubborn, imaginative, honest, powerful insurgency. Let us counter the enemy forces of divide and conquer with our strategy of unite and rebel! (pp. 194–195) While dialogue is powerful, some groups have noted that the use of silence, mindfulness, and other forms of somatic and contemplative inquiry can be powerful when used in service of lib­ eration in social justice spaces. For example, in bringing restorative justice into school settings, the use of a circle process has been shown to be an effective way to engage in reflective dialogue (O’Shaughnessy, 2019; Riestenberg, 2012). Organizers may consider asking themselves several important questions as they reflect on their own agency and allyship with people across differences working in social justice struggles. Below are some reflections that may be supportive inquiries for individuals, groups, and coalitions (Gelderloos, 2005): ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

What am I doing to develop honest and reciprocal relationships across barriers of race, class, gender, and culture? To whom am I accountable? In what ways am I acknowledging and addressing the problems within my own community with which I identify? How will actions of people of privilege contribute to changing society in a way that dismantles oppression? In what ways am I caring and seeking support for my own internalized oppression and past traumas? What does commitment to solidarity with oppressed people really look like in my life?

Working from an intersectional lens, attending to identity politics, building solidarity, and embodying a politics of liberation requires commitments to whole self-reflection and critical inquiry as well as willingness to relinquish toxic forms of power and privilege. As organizers go beyond cultural-competency models, which tend to downplay power differentials and systemic injustice, they will find themselves faced with deeply entrenched personal, interpersonal, and col­ lective forms of oppression and trauma. But, this is the sacred work of our times, as we unravel the legacies of settler colonialism on groups of people, on the natural environment, and in our own bodies, minds, and hearts. Attention to these issues can help in building a politics of coalition and liberation that builds bridges and mends painful fissures and can be leveraged into powerful transformations within and across communities.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION 1. Explore your own personal identities, including your gender, class, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and ability. Consider those parts of your identity that are privileged and those that might be subjugated. Note the ways in which your identities may be intersectional.

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2. Discuss the concept of internalized oppression. How have you seen this manifest in yourself, family members, and people in the wider community? 3. Identify some examples of horizontal hostility that you have seen historically or in organizing campaigns in which you have participated. What are some strategies for addressing this? 4. How can awareness of dynamic tensions between emphasizing unity versus diversity impact the process of community organizing? 5. Identify community settings in which you felt like encouraging the practice of “take space, make space” or “step up, step back” has been or would have been beneficial. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER INQUIRY Books Collins, P. H. (1999). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Boston, MA: Unwin Hyman. Kendi, I. (2017). Stamped from the beginning: The definitive history of racist ideas in America. New York, NY: Bold Type Books. Moraga, C., & Anzaldua, G. (Eds.). (1983). This bridge called my back: Writings by radical women of color. New York, NY: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press. Nieto, L. (2010). Beyond inclusion, beyond empowerment: A developmental strategy to liberate every­ one. Cuetzpalin. Young, I. M. (1990). Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univer­ sity Press. Web Causes in Common. http://www.gaycenter.org/causesincommon Incite! Women of Color Against Violence. http://www.incite-national.org Showing up for Racial Justice. https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/ Sister Song. http://www.sistersong.net Teaching Tolerance. https://www.tolerance.org/professional-development/workshops The Consent Crew. https://theconsentcrew.org/ REFERENCES ADL. (2019). White supremacists continue to spread hate on American campuses. Anti- Defamation League. https:// www.adl.org/blog/white-supremacists-continue-to-spread-hate-on-american-campuses Akomolafe, B. (2019). The death of the climate activist. Bayo Akomolafe. http://bayoakomolafe.net/project/ the-death-of-the-climate-activist/ Ali, D. (2017). NASPA policy and practice series: Safe spaces and brave spaces. NASPA Research and Policy Institute, 1(2), 13.

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INTERSECTIONALITY, SOLIDARITY, AND LIBERATION Arao, B., & Clemens, K. (2013). From safe spaces to brave space: A new way to frame dialogue around diversity and social justice. In L. Landreman (Ed.), The art of effective facilitation: Reflections form social justice educators (pp. 135–150). Sterling, VA: Stylus. Banks, K. H., & Stephens, J. (2018). Reframing internalized racial oppression and charting a way forward. Social Issues and Policy Review, 12(1), 91–111. Berila, B. (2015). Integrating mindfulness into anti-oppression pedagogy: Social justice in Higher education. Routledge. Blau, K. (2015, August). How to talk to other white people about race (And why it’s necessary). The Seattle Glo­ balist. https://www.seattleglobalist.com/2015/08/21/how-to-talk-to-other-white-people-about-race-confronting­ family-racism/40698 Collins, P. (1999). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Boston, MA: Unwin Hyman. Crenshaw, K. (1989). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. In M.A. Fineman, & R. Mykitiuk, The Public Nature of Violence: The Discovery of Domestic Abuse, (93–117). New York, NY: Routledge. Crenshaw, K. (2018). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimi­ nation doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics. In K. T. Bartlett & R. Kennedy (Eds.), Feminist legal theory: Readings in law and gender (pp. 57–80). Routledge. DiAngelo, R. (2018). White fragility: Why it’s so hard for White people to talk about racism. Beacon Press. Dominelli, L. (2002). Anti-oppressive social work theory and practice. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. Garza, A. (2015, June 16). A Herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement | RESIST. Resist. https://resist.org/ news/herstory-blacklivesmatter-movement Gelderloos, P. (2005). Consensus: A new handbook for grassroots political, social and environmental groups. Sharp Press. Gutierrez, L. M., & Lewis, E. A. (1994). Community organizing with women of color: – A feminist approach. Journal of Community Practice, 1(2), 23–44. Hartsock, N. (1996). Theoretical bases for coalition building: An assessment of postmodernism. In H. Gottfried (Ed.), Feminism and social change: Bridging theory and practice (pp. 256–274). University of Illinois Press. Jones, A., & Eubanks, V. (2014). Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around: Forty years of movement building with Barbara Smith. State University of New York Press. Kaufman, C. (2003). Ideas for action: Relevant theory for radical change. Cambridge, MA: South End Press. Lorde, A. (1981). The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. In C. Moraga, & G. Anzaldua (Eds.), This bridge called my back: Writings by radical women of color (pp. 98–101). Watertown, MA: Persephone Press. Mariposa, M. (2016, May). A practical guide to calling in. The Consent Crew, https://theconsentcrew.org/2016/05/29/ calling-in/ Martell, D., & Avitabile, N. E. (1998). Feminist Community organizing on a College campus. Affilia, 13(4), 393–410. Martinez, E. B. (2006). Unite and rebel! Challenges and strategies in building alliances. In Incite! Women of color against violence (pp. 191–195). Cambridge, MA: South End Press. Meyer, M. (2004). We’re too afraid of these imaginary tensions: Student organizing in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender campus communities. Communication Studies, 55, 499–514.

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ENDURING AND EMERGING ISSUES IN ORGANIZING Morales, A. L. (1998). Medicine stories: History, culture and the politics of integrity. Cambridge, MA: South End Press. Nadal, K. (2018). Microaggressions and traumatic stress: Theory, research, and clinical treatment. American Psychological Association. Nadal, K. L. (2008). Preventing racial, ethnic, gender, sexual minority, disability and religious microaggressions. Prevention in Counseling Psychology, 2(1), 22–27. Nieto, L., & Boyer, M. (2007). Understanding oppression. Race, Power, Status. https://www.evergreen.edu/sites/ default/files/writingcenter/docs/cv/Nieto_Ask%20Leticia.pdf O’Shaughnessy, A. (2019). Transforming teaching and learning through mindfulness-based restorative practices. In Getting more out of restorative practice in schools: Practical approaches to improve school wellbeing and strengthen community engagement (Chapter 8). Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Owens, D. C., & Fett, S. M. (2019). Black maternal and infant health: Historical legacies of slavery. American Jour­ nal of Public Health, 109(10), 1342–1345. Pay Us More UCSC. (2020). Pay us more UCSC – UC grad student workers fighting for a cost of living adjustment. No Cola? No Grades! https://payusmoreucsc.com/ Penniman, L. (2018). Farming while Black: Soul Fire Farm’s practical guide to living on the land. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing. Peterous, S. (2019). How Activists Are Moving The Dial On Student Loan Debt. Popular Resistance. https:// popularresistance.org/how-activists-are-moving-the-dial-on-student-loan-debt/ Pharr, S. (1996). In the time of the right: Reflections on liberation. Chardon Press. Price, K. (2018). Queering reproductive justice in the Trump era: A note on political intersectionality. Politics & Gender, 14(4), 581–601. Randle, A. (2019). Racial slurs, and the 15 Days that shook Syracuse. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes. com/2019/11/27/nyregion/syracuse-university-racism.html Rhoads, R. A. (1998). Student protest and multicultural reform: Making sense of campus unrest in the 1990s. The Journal of Higher Education, 69, 621–646. Riestenberg, N. (2012). Circle in the square: Building community and repairing harm in school. Living Justice Press. Roman, L. G. (1993). White is a color! White defensiveness, postmodernism, and anti-racist pedagogy. In C. McCarthy, & W. Crichlow (Eds.), Race identity and representation in education (pp. 279–378). New York, NY: Routledge. Romo, V. (2018, April). 9-Day student protest at Howard University ends with a deal. NPR. https://www.npr.org/ sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/06/600401378/9-day-student-protest-at-howard-university-ends-with-a-deal Rosenberg, M. (2004). Speak peace in a world of conflict: What you say next will change your world. Encinitas, CA: PuddleDancer Press. Rosenberg, M. B. (2005). Nonviolent communication: A language of life. Encinitas, CA: PuddleDancer Press. Ross, L. (2019). Speaking Up Without Tearing Down. Teaching Tolerance. https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/ spring-2019/speaking-up-without-tearing-down Ross, R. J. (2004). from antisweatshop to global justice to antiwar: How the new left is the same and different from the old new left. Journal of World-Systems Research, X(1), 287–319. Savard, A. (2016). Keeping the student strike alive. Jacobin. https://jacobinmag.com/2016/09/quebec-student­ strike-tuition-austerity-protests

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INTERSECTIONALITY, SOLIDARITY, AND LIBERATION Service Employees International Union. (2016). Racial Justice: We cannot achieve economic justice without racial justice. SEIU - Service Employees International Union. http://www.seiu.org/racial-justice Service Employees International Union. (2016). To win economic justice for working people, we must win racial justice. SEIU - Service Employees International Union. https://d3jpbvtfqku4tu.cloudfront.net/assets/106A-RacialJustice-Resolution-052016.pdf Silliman, J., Fried, M. G., Ross, L., & Gutiérrez, E. R. (2004). Undivided rights: Women of color organize for reproductive justice (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books. Smith, A. (2006). Beyond inclusion: Re-centering feminism. Left Turn, 20, 60–69. Smith, B. (2020). I helped coin the term “identity politics”. I’m endorsing Bernie Sanders. The Guardian. https:// www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/10/identity-politics-bernie-sanders-endorsement Spivak, G. C. (1995). The Spivak reader. New York, NY: Routledge. Stephen, L. (2005). Gender, citizenship, and the politics of identity. In J. Nash (Ed.), Social movements: An anthropological reader (pp. 66–77). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. The People’s Coalition (2020). A statement by the People’s Coalition post-Firing of Graduate Students. https:// www.indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/04/18831296.php White, J. B., & Langer, E. J. (1999). Horizontal hostility; Relations between similar minority groups. Journal of Social Issues, 55(3), 537–559. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00132. Wiley-Blackwell.Taylor, K.-Y. (Ed.). (2017). How we get free: Black feminism and the combahee river collective. Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books. Young, I. M. (1990). Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

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Chapter 12

Religious and Spiritual Aspects of Organizing Years ago when I asked a longtime neighborhood activist in New Orleans why she did the work that she did, she replied that she was inspired by biblical scripture. She said, “To whom much is given, much is required.” Of humble means herself, she believed that she had abundant resources in her life, including the gifts of being able to connect with people and the courage to speak out when necessary. Moreover, she believed she had a duty to her higher power to so engage. Many organizers and other changemakers like her are inspired to do the work they do by explicit religious teachings. Others are inspired by a spiritual calling. Mahatma Gandhi was moti­ vated by his Hindu faith and the writings of the Bhagavad Gita (meaning, “song of the blessed one”), which taught him not to be attached to comfort nor to the outcomes of his actions. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1997) was motivated to engage in civil disobedience in part by what he learned from Gandhi but also based on his Christian religious beliefs and his belief in an “inescapable network of mutuality.” Dorothy Day, pioneer of the Catholic Worker movement, adhered to the tenets of pacifism. Other organizers, who have a more secular orientation, may find that their com­ munity organizing work has spiritual or existential meaning for them. Indeed, the experiences of consciousness raising and the feelings of group identity and solidarity have, for some people, constituted a religious or spiritual experience or awakening. Recently, people in the helping professions and other community practitioners have been reclaiming some of their early spiritual and religious roots (Canda, Furman, & Canda, 2020). Activists, social workers, and other helpers have had historical ties to religion, from the Char­ ity Organization Society to the Catholic Worker movement. Religion and spirituality have also played animating roles in organizing work and social movements. Churches in the United States were critical actors in the civil rights movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, and the sanc­ tuary movement. From a global perspective, faith groups were part of Solidarity’s resistance to the Polish communist state and the antiapartheid movement in South Africa (Smith & Woodberry, 2001). Scholars have noted that, historically, religion has provided numerous supports and resources to social movements and community organizing efforts (Smith & Woodberry, 2001) including: 1. Legitimation for protest rooted in sacred and moral teachings, icons, and music, including love, justice, and peace 2. Self-discipline and sacrifice 3. Resources, including money and leadership 4. Institutionally based communication channels, hierarchical structures, and social control mechanisms 5. Common identification and solidarity, including shared transnational identities beyond nations and languages

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Social movement scholars have noted that religion serves as a viable conduit for mobilizing resources, particularly institutional supports (McAdam, 1982; Wood & Fulton, 2015). Religious institutions can also be a source of social capital and a place where democratic skills are developed (Warren, 2001; R. Wood, 2002). Sociologist Richard Wood has posed the question of whether it is religion itself, that is, the religious culture and its contents, or the institution and its resources that enhance social movements. Certainly, both play important roles. His research interestingly reveals that the content of a religious group’s culture is relevant for political action; some forms of religious culture enable participation, and others constrain it. He wrote that “a culture that understands good and evil complexly, as potentials in every person, lends itself to the sophis­ ticated interpretation of the political world, whereas conceptualizing good and evil in absolute terms as ‘us’ and ‘them’ tends strongly toward simplistic political interpretation” (Wood, 1999, pp. 328–329). In this section, I examine approaches to community organizing from religious and spiritual perspectives. First, I discuss some of the literature explaining the significance and impacts of faith-rooted and faith-based organizing, noting their strengths and limits. The examples are pri­ marily of urban efforts of racially diverse groups coming from various faith traditions. Second, I focus on the philosophical and theological roots of various approaches to social change. These approaches are: 1. Gandhian approaches to social change, which include Hindu and yogic religious and philo­ sophical perspectives on civil disobedience and other forms of resistance; 2. Ecospiritual approaches, as exemplified by the philosophy and practice of deep ecology; 3. Jewish theological perspectives on organizing; 4. Engaged Buddhism, which includes Buddhist practitioners’ use of Buddhist principles and practices to enhance their community organizing projects; and 5. Catholic social justice perspectives. Third, I introduce a transformative organizing framework, known as faith-rooted organizing (Salvatierra & Heltzel, 2014) which can be supportive in deepening organizing work as a libera­ tory and revolutionary pathway. Finally, this chapter concludes with some analysis and lessons learned from the varied religious and spiritual traditions covered here and articulates some ideas toward a framework for interspiritual solidarity.

FAITH-BASED ORGANIZING Congregation-based and faith-based organizations represent some of the most powerful groups of community organizations. A great deal of religious social welfare efforts focuses on charityoriented service projects, such as soup kitchens, clothing drives, or social services delivery, such as substance abuse programs or child development centers. However, some congregations and faith-based groups focus specifically on engaging its constituencies to directly impact changes in social and political issues. Faith-based groups have been effective because of their ability to draw from a rich legacy of well-trained community organizers. Alinsky drew from the strength of the church, building rela­ tionships with parish leaders in the Catholic Church. Ed Chambers and Ernesto Cortes followed

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suit but went further with the strategy, organizing lay members of the church community with an eye to the development of leaders within the membership of the congregation. Many of these organizing projects are long-term, interfaith endeavors. Some issues that have been successfully addressed by faith-based organizers have been public school reform, community policing, afford­ able housing, welfare rights, public transportation, expansion of state-funded health insurance, mental health access, and support for hate-crime legislation (Powell, 2016; Swarts, 2008; R. Wood, 2002; Wood & Fulton, 2015). Some of these organizations are affiliated with national organizing networks, such as the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), the Pacific Institute for Com­ munity Organization (PICO), the Gamaliel Network, and Direct Action, Research, and Train­ ing (DART). DART (2016) engages congregation-based community organizations which are spread throughout 22 metropolitan areas in eight states providing support for a variety of campaigns. These congregations include Catholic, Protestant, and nondenominational churches; Jewish syn­ agogues; and Muslim mosques. DART organizations have enjoyed an array of victories to their credit, including those related to affordable housing, public transportation, neighborhood revi­ talization, health-care provision, crime and drug reform, and public education improvement. Their organizing model cycles through three key processes—1) Listening Process; 2) Research; and 3) Nehemiah Action. Through intentional listening, conversation, and relationship build­ ing, faith leaders and community members identify common areas of concern. They then form research committees to identify solutions and the key actors needed to implement the solutions. A large public gathering, called a Nehemiah Action (based on a biblical story of Nehemiah who called an assembly of people to bring charges against unfair moneylenders), is held so that the voices of people impacted by the issue can be heard and so that solutions can be negotiated with those in authority who have been invited. In 2006, a DART affiliate, Faith and Action for Strength Together (FAST), achieved a key vic­ tory regarding transportation for older adults. Because of their organizing efforts, they were able to pressure the Metropolitan Planning Organization to create a phone number where seniors could call 24 hours a day to secure transportation services (DART, n.d.). One DART affiliate, Justice Matters, located in Lawrence, Kansas, consists of 21 diverse religious congregations, including Christian, Muslim, and Jewish (Powell, 2016). They engaged their members in a listening process to identify the issues that they were most passionate about, asking them “what keeps you up at night?”, “what makes you angry?”, and “what would a just Lawrence look like?” They proceeded to identify and begin to affect changes around three key issue areas: mental health issues, particu­ larly as they relate to unjust incarceration; affordable housing; and childhood trauma. After an assembly presenting their proposals to city officials, the police chief pledged to mandate officers to receive 40 hours of training on handling encounters with people suffering from mental illness. Other achievements have included a citywide mental health consortium and seed money for the development of a housing trust fund. After Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans-based All Congregations Together (ACT) and its local and national partners won a significant victory through their organizing activities—a com­ mitment from Mayor Ray Nagin to close the controversial Chef Menteur landfill. This contro­ versial landfill had been closed prior to Hurricane Katrina but was reopened after the disaster to dump storm debris and other hazardous materials from gutted homes that had flooded due to breached government-controlled levees. This was a major victory for local churches and residents of New Orleans East, who had fought for months on this issue.

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Many of the strategies and tactics for engaging impacted communities in faith-based organizing are similar to those used in secular-based approaches to organizing. For example: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Through “one to ones,” organizers seek to build solidarity with potential members By engaging in research, organizers attempt to gain power through information Through actions, organizers exemplify their power in numbers Through negotiations with policymakers, organizers can gain power through policy formulation By initiating public conflict, organizers can make constructive uses of political tension Through the process of critical reflection and evaluation, praxis and leadership are strength­ ened (Wood, 2002)

These tactics should sound familiar to students of organizing. What is unique about faith-based organizing, however, is that they draw on an even “higher power” than what they have in their numbers. For example, groups, such as the PICO, use prayer to invoke the divine power in their efforts. In the book Faith in Action, Richard Wood (2002) identifies several areas of strengths and lim­ its that faith-based organizers bring to community organizing. Some of the limits of faith-based organizing are that many critical issues may not appear on their agendas, such as the civil rights of LGBTQ people, which may be viewed by leaders as too divisive. However, this has been changing as movements, such as the Poor People’s Campaign, have centered LGBTQ people and issues into their organizing agenda. In addition, because of the nature of congregational power, the issues tend to be localized. Progressive faith-based community organizers have been considered weak in their ability to have an impact on state, national, or global policies and practices. The work of the IAF in the Texas state legislature around issues, such as school reform, is an example of an exception to this characterization (Warren, 2001). In addition, PICO organized what they called “Compassion Sunday/Sabbath” as an attempt to address the issue of uninsured children. With the House and Senate set to vote on children’s health bills the next week, congregations in more than 50 cities across the country held Compassion Sunday/Sabbath events to encourage people of faith to make their voices heard on the moral imperative to cover uninsured children. Cesar Chavez, an organizer of migrant workers, said that every organization needs an ideology to be able to sustain itself. For his United Farm Workers, it was Christianity. And such has been the case for Cortes and constituents in Texas, where the Church is the center of the community. They explicitly utilize religious language and biblical stories to build strength and address issues, such as anger (Boyte, 1984). According to one IAF trainer, When was Christ really angry? When he found the den of thieves in the temple, he didn’t ask them politely to leave. He threw them out because the people who came had very little means. They were forced to think they had to pay to use the temple. We talk about how Christ was not meek and mild, but a man with real emotions, a man who would challenge. If anger is repressed, it can be dangerous and destructive. (Boyte, 1984, p. 142) Faith-based organizing also needs to be distinguished from another phenomenon known as faithbased initiatives (FBIs). Faith-based initiatives are privatized social services performed by religious or faith-based organizations in the context of neoliberal public services retrenchment and disinvestment. The issue of “charitable choice” for federally funded social services came to

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the forefront in the 1990s, alongside welfare reform, and was later expanded in the early 2000s (Clarkson, 2014). Through what became known as “faith-based initiatives,” social services that had traditionally been performed by either the government or nonprofit organizations were now being contracted out to churches and other faith-based groups. The faith-based initiatives movement can best be understood within the context of neoliberal­ ism and the rise of the power of the religious right as it provided opportunities for religious groups to get funding to address social services gaps (Swarts, 2008). There are many questions which still remain unanswered about FBIs. One, was a separation of church and state maintained in the implementation of these faith-based programs, including potentially harmful practices towards vulnerable populations, such as proselytization and discrimination? Second, has governmentfunded faith-based programming co-opted progressive churches who would otherwise be engaged in social justice-oriented organizing, thereby diverting their efforts into service provision? Third, could participation in such service provision efforts expand a faith-based community’s organiza­ tional capacities for effective action which could then be channelled into services and organizing? These inquiries can help to keep in mind tensions between service provision and organizing, the ways that conservative movements impact progressive movements, and, finally, how governmentfunding may co-opt progressive social action. GANDHIAN NONVIOLENT APPROACHES TO SOCIAL CHANGE When Gandhi was shot in India in 1948, it has been said that he spoke one word in that fateful moment: “Ram,” a name for an important deity in the Hindu tradition. This moment reveals his deep spiritual connection and what was truly of consequence in his life. Mohandas K. Gandhi was the leader of the Indian struggle for independence from British colonial rule who initiated the modern practice of nonviolent resistance. Believing in the complete unity and integrity of body, mind, and soul in the individual human being, his political activism was grounded in his Hindu and yogic-based spiritual beliefs and practices. Having no interest in spirituality by itself as an abstract virtue, he believed instead in the spiritualization of politics. He grappled with similar ethical issues that Arjuna, the main character of the Bhagavad Gita, did –selflessness, conflict, and his own death. Some basic principles that Gandhi brought from his Hindu tradition into his work against British colonialism and, ultimately, into Western consciousness are: 1) satyagraha, which can be under­ stood as “truth force” or the insistence on truth; 2) sarvodaya, which is concerned with the good of all; 3) swadeshi, the notion that the first level of responsibility in doing good is to those most immediate to you, but also implies the cultivation of local self-sufficiency; and 4) ahimsa, or non­ violence. Nonviolence is a direct-action tactic that proactively uses creative strategies to effect change in the face of violence or potential violence. Gandhi’s philosophy of ahimsa (nonviolence) and the practice of satyagraha (literally, “a firmness in the truth”) have been pioneering approaches to nonviolence. Overall, Gandhi believed that the pursuit of self-realization necessarily leads one into the social arena. It is also important to note that to be able to think and act nonviolently, a person must place oneself in situations in which such behavior is called on (Gandhi, 1957). It is easy to be nonviolent in peaceful situations, but the practice of nonviolence is really only relevant in the face of violence or potential violence. Gandhi believed that all social action should be governed by the same simple set of moral val­ ues, of which the main elements are selflessness, nonattachment, nonviolence, and active service. This is possible only when one identifies with an ever-increasing, and ultimately all-inclusive,

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circle of humanity and even all living beings. He judged the value and vitality of social institutions by their capacity to foster such growth. No society, state, or any other institution has any worth or importance apart from its contribution to the growth of the individuals of which it is composed. From the perspective of the Gandhian nonviolent tradition, the means are at least as important as the ends. It is, of course, desirable that the ends should be beneficial. But they merely give a direction to life, whereas the means adopted constitute life itself, for people are never in ultimate control of the outcomes of their actions. Therefore, if the means are right, that is, if they conform to the tests of truth and nonviolence, even mistakes, errors, and failures aid the growth of the individual and collective. On the other hand, means that are wrong corrupt the soul, and no good can ever come out of them. Thus, Gandhi repudiated categorically the idea that ends justify the means. This implies the rejection of war, espionage, and crooked diplomacy, even when they are adopted for the so-called noble ends of defending the country, religion, or people. Gandhi cultivated respect for his antagonists, arguing that they are not enemies and that every­ one needs to be liberated (Gandhi, 1957). Gandhi’s direct-action tactics always involved honesty, and he never advocated deceit or lying to his “opponents.” In passive-resistance efforts, Gandhi informed his opponents in advance about what he was going to do and why; he purposefully allowed his adversaries the opportunity to avert the passive-resistance action or prepare for it. Gandhi’s legacy has been far-reaching, to be sure, informing the likes of Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King, Jr. Cesar Chavez’s leadership skills were described by his colleagues as having a spiritual quality. One described him as having a “humble innocence that is the bearer of the words of another world” (DiCanio, 1998, p. 60). Chavez was influenced by the writings of Gandhi and actively practiced nonviolent civil disobedience including the spiritual practice of fasting as a directaction tactic. King articulated several important components of nonviolent action (MacEachern, 1994). First, nonviolent action does not attempt to defeat an opponent but, rather, seeks their understanding. Second, nonviolent action is directed at objectionable policies and practices rather than at a particular person or persons. Third, it involves a willingness to suffer; when opponents are not able to listen to reason, suffering can awaken their consciousness. Suffering does not necessarily imply deprivation or other forms of self-torture; it may be useful, instead, to think of suffering in terms of personal sacrifice. Overall, Gandhi’s faith and commitment to the spiritual teachings of his culture, especially as laid out in the Bhagavad Gita, which he referred to as his “eternal Mother,” inspired him and many others toward some of the most effective social change work in history.

JEWISH THEOLOGICAL APPROACHES Contemporary Jewish activists have reclaimed the Hebrew phrase, tikkun olam, which means “to repair the world,” as inspiration for social justice movements to change the world for the better. Rooted in a worldview of solidarity and the realization that oppression hurts everyone, they look to the Jewish commandments and are reminded of their own suffering when they were slaves in Egypt. According to the Tikkun (2011) spiritual community, the sources of external injustice, suffering, and ecological numbness are to be found not only in economic and political arrangements, but also in our alienation from one another, in our inabil­ ity to experience and recognize ourselves and each other as holy, in our inability to respond to the call of the universe which bids us to deeper levels of consciousness and love, and in our inability to overcome our own egos and see ourselves as part of the Unity of All Being.

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The Tikkun community embraces an interfaith approach to social change at the same time that they look to their own religious tradition as a source of wisdom and guidance. Jewish theology and ritual supports progressive Jewish activists in their efforts and have actively reclaimed them from more traditional Jewish views. The word “Torah,” meaning law or teaching, is often employed alongside “Mitzvah” which means “fulfilling a commandment or duty.” Engag­ ing in such worthy deeds in the world is central to an individual’s spiritual fulfillment. Schwartz (2016) has compared Torah and Mitzvah to the Freireian notion of praxis. He writes: For Freire and others, praxis is an inherently dialogical activity. It involves thoughtful give­ and-take with others.That’s partly because of the need, mentioned above, of freeing ourselves from our own limited perspectives. It also stems from the idea that because we live in society, our interactions can, in some ultimate sense, be based either on dialogue with each other or on power over one another. In this sense, freedom requires dialogue. Thus, torah and mitzvah are the dialogue and action that are necessary to overcome the limited view of the self in order to engage in effective action. Jewish philosopher Roger Gottlieb (1999) calls for a spirituality of resistance, that is, a worldview wherein spirituality must go beyond a mere feeling and must necessarily entail resistance to the destruction of life. In his work, he addresses issues relevant to any advocate or organizer and, particularly, the question of how one can maintain some sense of equanimity when engaging in resistance work in a world where one is often faced with feelings of rage, grief, and fear. He looks to the Jewish resistance of the Nazis as a model of courage and inspiration. He argues from a theological viewpoint that asserts that the world is imperfect and that doing the work of God involves remedying or repairing it. The Jewish Organizing Institute and Network (JOIN, 2020a) is a support organization dedi­ cated to training, supporting, and connecting Jewish organizers and organizations. JOIN values the investigation of one’s Jewish heritage as central to organizing. According to their website: “We value lifelong Jewish learning. We use text, traditions, and history to guide us, to challenge us, and to apply to our future—as the Ethics of the Fathers teaches, ‘turn it and turn it, everything is there’ ” (JOIN, 2020b). By drawing from the wisdom and historical traditions of Judaism, JOIN emphasizes Jewish identity and social change. One of its endeavors is a fellowship program that recruits young Jewish adults for a year of leadership training, focusing on social and economic justice, Jewish learning and community building, and training in grassroots community organizing strategies. Embracing a transformative approach to social change work, their guiding principles and approaches are: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Make an impact Expect tension Always learn with curiosity and humility Tell our stories and listen to the stories of others Understand power Take care of ourselves Relationships

Certainly, these approaches echo the foci of this book in terms of the importance of developing a power analysis, listening to people’s stories, centering relationships, and practicing healing justice and self-care.

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There are many other examples of progressive Jewish organizations. For example, Keshet is a grassroots organization with a national reach which is concerned with the inclusion of LGBTQ people in Jewish communities. Their work focuses on programs for families, leadership develop­ ment, and organizing and advocacy campaigns to ensure nondiscrimination protections, transgen­ der rights, and marriage equality. Another example of progressive Jewish social change work can be found in the Jewish Labor Committee (n.d.), a secular Jewish organization which considers itself to be “the voice of the Jew­ ish community in the labor movement and the voice of the labor movement in the Jewish com­ munity.” It was formed in 1934 by Yiddish-speaking immigrant trade union leaders in response to the rise of Nazism in Germany. Today, they focus on many issues related to economic and social justice including the impact of the coronavirus on workers, rights to unionize, minimum wage, and Palestine. ENGAGED BUDDHISM Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, founded the School of Youth for Social Ser­ vice in the mid-1960s in order to train people to provide direct help and relief to victims of the war in Vietnam (Hunt-Perry & Fine, 2000). Diverging from the communist-capitalist dichoto­ mies that defined the war, he advocated a third-way approach that emphasized Vietnamese selfdetermination. He also served as a motivating force for engaging Buddhists and others in his country toward collective action aimed at directly influencing public policies and establishing new institutional forms. As he brought his message to the United States, he saw how much anger there was in the antiwar movement. He came to emphasize being peace as essential to peacemaking; thus began the movement known as Engaged Buddhism. Known as the father of Engaged Buddhism, he took the principles of Buddhist philosophy which affirm the interconnectedness of everyone and everything and the practical tools of meditation which emphasize equanimity, to create a form of service and change work that has continued to be influential all over the globe for decades. There are several noteworthy ideas from the engaged Buddhist movement (EBM) that are perhaps useful to organizers and other community changemakers (Loy, 2019; Thanissara, 2015). First, all beings are worthy of one’s attention; there is no separation. As Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche wrote, “True compassion is utterly neutral and is moved by the suffering of every sort, not tied to right and wrong, attachment and aversion” (cited in Ives, 1992, p. 29). The Buddhist concept of paticca samuppada, or interdependent co-arising (also called dependent co-arising), fleshed out by a founding mother of Engaged Buddhism, Joanna Macy, reveals how every person, object, feeling, and action is influenced by a complex web of interconnected causal factors (Macy, 1991; Pyles, 2020). If one looks at something as simple as a chair, one can see the wood, the tree, the sun, the rain, and the people who cut the tree, milled the wood, and built the chair. This implies that making distinctions between “us” and “them” or the “haves” and the “have-nots” or anything else that is going to separate us from others is, at least at some level, misleading. Second, selftransformation and social transformation are mutually necessary. Indeed, social systems do not appear in a vacuum; they were created by human beings. Like the healing justice movement has affirmed, attending to internalized oppression and trauma is as important as attending to external­ ized oppression. Third, the EBM is committed to combining social justice and democracy with meditative practice. While some have argued that Western Buddhism, which has been a dominant voice in the EBM, has stripped down the cultural traditions of Eastern Buddhism into a singular

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focus on meditative practice (McMahan, 2008), there is no doubt that mindfulness and other forms of meditation practice inspired by Buddhism, such as visualization, loving-kindness, and movement practice, have been incredibly influential and effective in the EBM. Engaged Buddhism encompasses numerous interventions from charity to social development to advocacy to organizing and social action. Social activities in this tradition have included work­ ing with people who are dying in hospices, teaching meditation to prisoners and cancer survivors, providing support for victims of AIDS, advocating for a clean environment, supporting a free Tibet, and organizing for racial justice. One of the earliest threads of the EBM was the Sarvodaya Shramadan movement founded in Sri Lanka in 1958 (Macy, 1983). The Sarvodaya movement is a Buddhist-inspired self-help movement that involves young pioneers working alongside extremely poor individuals, operating programs for health, education, agriculture, and local industry. The four cornerstones of Sarvodaya are respect for all life, compassionate action, dispassionate joy, and equanimity. It was founded by a high school teacher, A. T. Ariyaratne, who named his movement after the term that Gandhi had used in his movement—sarvodaya, which sometimes has been translated to “everybody wakes up.” Emphasizing the interdependence of life, the Sarvodaya movement was established on the sup­ position that through local action, and more specifically through social, economic, and political interaction, spiritual awakening can simultaneously take place (Macy, 1983). Based on a worldview of mutual causality, every act has an effect on the larger web of life. Joanna Macy, a Buddhist practitioner and activist, who spent a year working in and studying the Sarvodaya movement, describes it as one’s personal awakening (purushodaya) is integral to the awakening of one’s village (gramodaya), and both play integral roles in deshodaya and vishvodaya, the awakening of one’s country and one’s world. Being interdependent, these developments do not occur sequentially, in a linear fashion, but synchronously, each abetting and reinforcing the other through multiplicities of contacts and current, each subtly altering the context in which other events occur. (1983, p. 33) After the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, using what they called a “5R approach,” (relief, rehabili­ tation, reconstruction, reconciliation, and reawakening), the movement helped with immediate relief efforts and worked with local survivors in post-disaster rebuilding. They built houses, toi­ lets, wells, waste composters, water tanks, and playgrounds (Sarvodaya, 2007). Emphasizing local participation, peace-building, and reconciliation, they developed programs, such as the People’s Forum Initiative, with funding from USAID, which was a “revolutionary experiment of people’s dialogue and plan of actions towards peace, democracy, and good governance” (Sarvodaya, 2007, p. 13). In 1982, Bernard Glassman and the Zen Peacemaker Order launched the social development work of the Greyston Foundation in New York City. This network of businesses and nonprof­ its is engaged in housing and entrepreneurial activities for people who are poor and homeless (Glassman, 1998). As a social development venture, this group chose to start a bakery to provide employment for low-income people in New York. As the group was confronted with various choices to be made about the functioning of the organization, one such choice concerned how to manage the bakery. Would they choose traditional, hierarchical models under which many busi­ nesses and social welfare agencies operate, or would they choose something different, something based on the basic tenets of Buddhism, including interconnectedness, compassion, and human

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empowerment? Their response was self-directed management teams, which involve workers training one another and eventually all workers have the opportunity to own shares in the business. They also embrace a philosophy of open hiring, which means that they do not ask for resumes or personal histories about prison time, substance abuse, homelessness, etc. Their philosophy, based on trust, is to hire those who are “unemployable” which serves to interrupt the cycle of poverty and the detrimental effects of the prison industrial complex. Another key actor in the EBM is the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF), which is a movement of Buddhist practitioners and political activists concerned with addressing systemic injustice and the harms it leaves on communities and the environment. Their work includes gather­ ings and other movement-building activities alongside collaborative direct actions. They prior­ itize supporting: ■ ■ ■ ■

Creative nonviolent direct action “Interfaith” action willing to take bold, meaningful risks Visionary-pragmatic efforts toward decolonization and decoloniality Ecological, feminist, anti-capitalist projects led by, or accountable to, people of color (BPF, 2019)

Centering philosophies of interconnectedness and compassion, the BPF acknowledges the physi­ cal, spiritual and emotional impacts on people living at the intersections of historical oppression. As a multiracial organization committed to transformative change, BPF represents the future of Engaged Buddhism.

DEEP ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM Deep ecology is a worldview that has deep resonance with multiple religious and spiritual tradi­ tions and has informed environmental activism for almost 50 years (Barnhill & Gottlieb, 2001). Some sectors of the environmental movement have drawn their inspiration from the philoso­ phies of deep ecology, ecofeminism, the Gaia principle, and indigenous spiritual traditions (Macy, 1990). Deep ecology is “a bio- or eco-centric way of analyzing issues that affords intrinsic value to all ‘natural’ things, so that nature, as opposed to humanity, forms the basis of its value system and, therefore, constitutes the opposite of anthropocentrism” (Lowes, 2006, p. 61). The term deep ecology was coined by the Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess in 1973 (Sessions, 1995). By “deep” ecology, Naess was referring to a spiritual approach to ecology that had more depth than other more human-centered approaches and that asked “more searching questions about human life, society, and Nature” (Devall & Sessions, 1985a, p. 215). Similar to social con­ structionist, postmodern, and Buddhist philosophies, deep ecology maintains that the distinction between self and nature that has been reified by Western philosophy, culture, and institutions is an egregious misconstruction. This divide between self and nature has resulted in the environmental destruction perpetrated by humans onto nature, the sexist domination perpetrated by men onto women, and the settler colonialism carried out by White Europeans onto indigenous people. Deep ecology is rooted in indigenous worldviews based on the ancient and seamless reciprocal relationships between humans and nonhumans (Kimmerer, 2015). One of the core concepts of deep ecology is biocentric equality, which means that all things in the biosphere have an equal right to their own self-realization. This is true because everything is of

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and from the same substance. In Ayurvedic medicine, for example, the indigenous philosophy and healing tradition of India, everything, including humans, are all derived of five core substances— earth, water, fire, air, and space (Lad, 2012). Naess was intrigued by the philosophy of Gandhi and adopted the “monistic cosmology that emphasized the fundamental unity of all existence” (Fox, cited in Besthorn, 1997, p. 244). Deep questioning is fundamental to deep ecology; it is a process of asking “why” and “how.” The aim of this deep questioning is the redirection of human consciousness in order to heal the shattered earth and all its beings. This resultant ecological consciousness has emerged in other spiritual traditions, such as Christianity, Taoism, Buddhism, and indigenous spirituality (Ses­ sions, 1995). The process of identification of the self with others and all living beings is central to self-realization, according to deep ecology. Through this process, the “self is widened and deepened. We ‘see ourselves in others’” (Naess, 1988, p. 223). Naess claimed that people follow and embody trends (i.e. social constructions and mainstream frames) and become philosophically disabled and thus argues that one must have “enough self-confidence to follow one’s intuition” (Devall & Sessions, 1985b, p. 221). Joanna Macy, a Buddhist, deep ecologist, and environmental activist, in her essay, “The Green­ ing of the Self,” arguing for a transformation from an ego-based self to an eco-based self, wrote: …once we stop denying the crises of our time and let ourselves experience the depth of our own responses to the pain of our world—whether it is the burning of the Amazon rainforest, the famines of Africa, or the homeless in our own cities—the grief or anger or fear we experi­ ence cannot be reduced to concerns for our own individual skin. It can never be the same (Macy, 1990, p. 56) This kind of grief and despair work, a form of healing justice work (Pyles, 2020), is key to deep ecological self-realization. Self-realization involves seeing the similarities and interconnections between one’s own suffering and the suffering of others. As Naess says, “Human beings will expe­ rience joy when other forms of life experience joy, and sorrow when other life forms experi­ ence sorrow” (Devall & Sessions, 1985b, p. 221). The process of identification elicits empathy and compassion and can facilitate solidarity actions. Thus, individual awakening and collective awakening are interconnected phenomena. These approaches have been utilized by environmental organizers and anti-nuclear activists to gain greater understanding of social issues as well as insight into determining the correct course of action.

CATHOLIC SOCIAL JUSTICE PERSPECTIVES The Catholic Worker movement was founded in New York City in 1933 as a social articulation of the teachings of the Catholic Church (Coy, 1997). The Catholic Worker movement is a social justice organizing movement that utilizes small, decentralized lay communal associations that focus on the alleviation of poverty and alternatives to violence. Engaging in antiwar and paci­ fist actions as well as racial and economic justice causes, the periodical The Catholic Worker was a central mechanism for change. The organizing efforts of the Catholic Worker movement are based out of hospitality houses where food, clothing, and shelter are offered to individuals in need. Non­ violent direct actions have been the hallmark of the movement’s organizing strategies. “Prayer vigils are held for those facing the death penalty, arms bazaars are picketed, economic boycotts

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are publicized and promoted in the movement’s paper, and public fasting on behalf of peace and the rights of the poor is common” (Coy, 1997, p. 65). Another approach grounded in the Catholic tradition is the well-documented philosophy and practice known as liberation theology. Liberation theology is a theological praxis centered on the social action of Jesus, emphasizing Christ as a liberator of the oppressed in this world and the world beyond (Gutierrez, 1988). Liberation theology is a Christian theological view­ point grounded in Marxist ideology affirming the biblical stance that embraces people who are poor and addresses social injustice in the community through action. This Latin American social movement that began in the 1950s has been centered in church-based communities in Brazil and other countries, adapting Freirean consciousness-raising approaches with Marxist social justice perspectives. In base communities, groups meet for scripture reading and discussion emphasizing a Christian–Marxist framework that affirms solidarity with people who are poor. Often referred to as a form of Christian socialism, a liberation theology of which those in the Jesuit tradition were its primary adherents, it was eventually theologically denounced by the powerful hierarchy of the Catholic Church in the 1980s. Social movements, such as the Fanmi Lavalas in Haiti and the Landless Workers Movement in Brazil, affirm the tenets of liberation theology in their practice. When clergy, lay people, activists, and academics came together at the “Hope of Liberation and Theology” conference in 2011 to discuss the future of liberation theology articulating its meaning in relation to ecclesial practice, economy, ecology, citizen participation, migration, and human rights, the participants came to a consensus, articulating their observations and analysis in four statements: ■ ■ ■ ■

The present neoliberal capitalist mindset of a consumer society is not sustainable. There is a need to develop a theology of sufficiency. Fulfillment comes from being more, not having more things. The adage “Live simply so that others can simply live” rings true and the survival of all will depend on building a new society that values solidarity and sustainability (Plankey, 2011).

FAITH-ROOTED ORGANIZING Faith-rooted organizing (FRO) is a pathway for connecting people, communities, and organiza­ tions to envision and carry out change guided by and shaped by faith (Salvatierra & Heltzel, 2014). While Saul Alinsky called people to build relational power based on self-interest, faith-rooted organizing calls on people to build relational power that draws from the deep wells of their faith. A transformative approach to organizing, FRO, seeks to move beyond the discourse and practice of “winnable” campaigns and instead embraces sustainable movement building that takes a long view. They reject the conventional utilitarian language of treating people like “targets.” One of the co-developers of FRO, Peter Heltzel (2015) states: “When I hear the word ‘target,’ I think of a compound bow shooting an arrow at a bull’s-eye. It’s a militaristic image that was part of the postwar imagination.” Faith-rooted organizers remind themselves that Jesus was born of humble means, born into a poor family to an unwed mother who was part of a conquered people and died as a condemned criminal (Salvatierra & Heltzel, 2014). Thus, FRO seeks to create change by centering poor and marginalized people rather than centering traditional powerholders. Recognizing that people do have self-interests, they also acknowledge that people have spiritual aspirations and it is the

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job of organizers to ask questions about people’s spiritual motivations and visions, as well as their self-interests. FRO is also inspired by fusion politics and interfaith coalitions. Fusion politics, a phrase used by the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, affirms that people with different concerns can come to the table and work together. Heltzel (2015) notes: An African American may want police reform.A Latino may want immigration reform.A white may want living wages.The LGBTQ community may want peace and safety for people of dif­ ferent sexual orientations. Faith-rooted fusion politics opens up the table where people can come together to break bread and share their passion about an issue and then strategize together about how we can reconstruct a new society in America. It is not easy to get people to the table and there will certainly be conflict involved; so, it requires a certain amount of fearlessness that can be emboldened by faith. Interfaith coalitions are important because not only is it an expression of diversity and the deep roots of love and justice, but they are ultimately a formidable force. Heltzel (2015) gives an example of efforts at living wage campaigns in New York City and recalls how a group of interfaith leaders met with the Speaker of the City Council who was a practicing Catholic and how each representative appealed to their faith by shar­ ing symbols that evoked their own faith tradition; an imam delivered a prayer to Allah, a rabbi lit a menorah, and a nun delivered a framed photograph of Mother Theresa. In the final section of this chapter, I go deeper into interfaith coalition territory and advocate for an interspiritual solidarity.

TOWARD INTERSPIRITUAL SOLIDARITY The variety of religious and spiritual perspectives on organizing, some of which have been pre­ sented here, should not be adopted uncritically; indeed, a problematizing approach is appropri­ ate when reflecting on any progressive organizing framework and agenda. Because spirituality and faith can potentially be divorced from reason and critical thinking, one should be cautious when considering merging spirituality and political activity. Many of the approaches discussed in this chapter have been critiqued by philosophers and community organizers. Bookchin (1999), for example, has argued that deep ecology places too much emphasis on nature and not enough emphasis on the importance of humans and society, arguing instead for a social ecology. Alinsky (1971) critiqued the Gandhian approach as incompatible with utilitarian direct-action approaches. Alinsky’s approach considers powerholders as the enemies, and the goal of organizers is to catch the enemy by surprise. Others have argued that Gandhi’s situation was somewhat unique and that different circumstances call for different sorts of responses. Still others have argued that any kind of interfaith approach is ultimately exclusionary to people who are atheist or do not identify with a faith tradition or spiritual sensibility. Interspiritual solidarity offers a unique path for pursuing progressive organizing agendas in a globalizing world. Interspiritual solidarity is coalition building that transcends the politics that separates diverse religious and spiritual practitioners and builds on shared values. I use the term “interspiritual” as opposed to “interfaith” in order to be more inclusive of theological per­ spectives that are non-theistic, i.e. not grounded in an idea of faith in something or someone, as well as to include people who identify as nonreligious but spiritual. Tikkun and Sojourners

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(a progressive Christian social justice organization) and other religiously based organizers have recognized the importance of working in interspiritual solidarity between Jewish and Christian organizers. The Network of Spiritual Progressives is a community of individuals from various traditions, including Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. The Progressive Muslim Union is a group of progressive Muslims interested in progressive social change within Muslim communities and across religious differences. Because religious differences often separate people and perpetuate injustices across the globe, it would seem essential that progressive organizers who are working within a particular framework, for example, deep ecologists, liberation theologists, engaged Buddhists, and so on, are able to communicate and work together. The danger of such groups working in isola­ tion is that bonding capital is strengthened at the expense of bridging capital (Putnam, 2000). In other words, the low hanging fruit of homogenous networks is pursued at the expense of the more challenging work of building heterogenous networks. Though progressive spir­ itual and religious organizers may be skilled in attending to various aspects of diversity, such as race/ethnicity, gender, class, ability, etc., there is concern that such groups may not be skilled in attending to religious/spiritual diversity, which includes working with people who do not identify with a faith or spiritual tradition (Canda, Furman, & Canda, 2020). As was discussed in the chapter on identity politics, working in isolation can sometimes blind organ­ izers to other groups who may be different or have more power, but may also be potential allies. There is a tremendous power to be tapped into through “interfaith dialogue” and other progressive spiritual networking. Finding common ground for dialogue is the first step toward inter-spiritual coalition building. Some groups approach such work by focusing on issues where they may find that everyone agrees such as increasing funding for public school programs. In such cases, spirituality and religion may not even be discussed in much detail or be deemed relevant to the case at hand. For other groups, a beginning point may be to clarify values and find common theological ground in such universal concepts as love, compassion, or justice. Indeed, religious and spiritually based organizing can take place on a spectrum of transformative (faith-rooted) and utilitarian (faith-based) frameworks. Engaging in the practices of inquiry, praxis, healing justice, and employing nonviolent communi­ cation practices can help practitioners deepen compassion and gain clarity in situations involving inter-spiritual coalition building. For organizers with no religious or spiritual affiliation or inclination, the question of how to ally oneself and work with religious and spiritual organizers may appear to be a bit of a conundrum. Organizers may be concerned that working with such groups or individuals may be uncomfort­ able; the group may engage in group prayer, singing, meditation, or some other ritual that is not familiar to the organizer. One way to think of this situation is the same way that one would think about any form of cultural or ethnic diversity (Canda, Furman, & Canda, 2020). Respecting traditions and learning about a religious or spiritual perspective are important ways to develop relationships with diverse groups. The power of progressive spiritual people and those affiliated with religious institutions is tremendous, but can be activated only through understanding, criti­ cal reflection, and the search for common ground. Finally, progressive religious and spiritual organizers tend to affirm a normative ethical worldview that is compatible with a human rights or capabilities approach to human well-being. They embrace the idea that humans have a duty to help one another to be free and engage in being and doing that will allow them to live a healthy and fulfilled life in this world.

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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION 1. What concerns do you have with bringing issues of spirituality and religion into the domain of social change? What is most essential when engaging religious and spiritual communities in building interspiritual solidarity to achieve social change? How do community organizers prepare themselves for such work? 2. Can and should social change work be a form of spiritual practice and/or have a religious component to it? 3. What strengths do religious institutions bring to progressive organizing? What barriers or challenges do such institutions pose? 4. Discuss a time when you had the opportunity to respond nonviolently to a violent (emo­ tionally or physically) situation. What was challenging about it? How did it feel to choose the nonviolent (or violent) response? 5. Discuss the similarities and differences between the various religious/spiritual organizing perspectives discussed in this chapter, including the Gandhian nonviolent approach, deep ecological perspectives, Jewish theological approaches, engaged Buddhism, and Catholic social justice perspectives. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER INQUIRY Books Barber, W., Lowery, R. (2018). Revive us again: Vision and action in moral organizing. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Gottlieb, R. (2002). Joining hands: Politics and religion together for social change. Cambridge, MA: Westview Press. Lewis, H., & Appleby, M. (2003). Mountain sisters: From convent to community in Appalachia. Lexing­ ton: University Press of Kentucky. Salvatierra, A., & Heitzel, P. (2014). Faith-rooted organizing: Mobilizing the church in service to the world. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. Stanczak, G. (2006). Engaged spirituality: Social change and American religion. Piscataway, NJ: Rut­ gers University Press. Wood, R., Fulton, B. (2015). A shared future: Faith-based organizing for racial equity and ethical democracy. London, UK: The University of Chicago Press. Web Bend the Arc. http://bendthearc.us/ Jewish Organizing Institute and Network. http://www.joinforjustice.org Keshet. http://www.boston-keshet.org PICO National Network. http://www.piconetwork.org Religion and Civic Culture. http://crcc.usc.edu/about/

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REFERENCES Alinsky, S. (1971). Rules for radicals: A practical primer for realistic radicals. New York, NY: Random House. Barnhill, D. L., & Gottlieb, R. S. (Eds.). (2001). Deep ecology and world religions: New essays on sacred ground (1st edition). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Besthorn, F. H. (1997). Reconceptualizing social work’s person-in-environment perspective: Explorations in radical environmental thought (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Kansas–Lawrence. Bookchin, M. (1999). Whither anarchism? A reply to recent anarchist critics. In Anarchism, marxism and the future of the left (pp. 160–259). Edinburgh, Scotland: AK Press. Boyte, H. C. (1984). Community is possible: Repairing America’s roots. New York, NY: Harper & Row. BPF. (2019). Buddhist Peace Fellowship: Buddhism and social justice. Buddhist Peace Fellowship. http://www. buddhistpeacefellowship.org/in-person/ Canda, E. R., Furman, L. D., & Canda, H. J. (2020). Spiritual diversity in social work practice: The heart of helping (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. Clarkson, F. (2014, October 10). An uncharitable choice: The faith-based takeover of federal programs. Political Research Associates. https://www.politicalresearch.org/2014/10/10/an-uncharitable-choice-the-faith-based-takeover­ of-federal-programs Coy, P. G. (1997). Catholic worker movement. In R. S. Powers, & W. B. Vogele (Eds.), Protest, power and change: An encyclopedia of nonviolent action from ACT-UP to women’s suffrage (pp. 64–65). New York, NY: Garland Publishing. Devall, B., & Sessions, G. (1985a). Deep ecology. In D. VanDeVeer, & C. Pierce (Eds.), The environmental ethics and policy handbook (pp. 215–220). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Devall, B., & Sessions, G. (1985b). Interview with Arne Naess. In D. VanDeVeer, & C. Pierce (Eds.), The environ­ mental ethics and policy handbook (pp. 220–222). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. DiCanio, M. B. (1998). Encyclopedia of American activism: 1960 to the present. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc. Direct Action and Research Training Center. (2016). About DART. Direct Action & Research Training Center (DART). https://thedartcenter.org/about/about/ Gandhi, M. (1957). An autobiography: The story of my experiments with truth. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Glassman, B. (1998). Bearing witness. New York, NY: Bell Tower. Gottlieb, R. S. (1999). A spirituality of resistance. New York, NY: Crossroads Publishing. Gutierrez, G. (1988). A theology of liberation, 15th anniversary edition. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books. Heltzel, P. (2015). Peter G. Heltzel: Faith-rooted organizing brings people together to create change. Faith and Leadership. https://faithandleadership.com/peter-g-heltzel-faith-rooted-organizing-brings-people-together­ create-change Hunt-Perry, P., & Fine, L. (2000). All Buddhism is engaged: Thich Nhat Hanh and the order of interbeing. In C. S. Queen (Ed.), Engaged Buddhism in the West (pp. 35–66). Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications. Ives, C. (1992). Zen awakening and society. London, UK: Macmillan. Jewish Labor Committee. (n.d.). Jewish Labor Committee: What is the Jewish Labor Committee? Retrieved May 19, 2020, from http://www.jewishlaborcommittee.org/2006/01/what_is_the_jewish_labor_commi.html#more

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RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS Jewish Organizing Institute & Network. (2020a). Join for Justice: Home page. Join For Justice: Jewish Organizing Institute & Network. https://www.joinforjustice.org/ Jewish Organizing Institute & Network. (2020b). Mission, Vision, Values. Join For Justice: Jewish Organizing Institute & Network. https://www.joinforjustice.org/about-us/mission-and-goals/ Kimmerer, R. W. (2015). Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants (1st edition). Milkweed Editions. King, M. L. (1997). Letter from Birmingham jail. In I. Ness (Ed.), Encyclopedia of American social movements (Vol. 1, pp. 186–188). Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe. Lad, V. (2012). Textbook of ayurveda: General principles of management and treatment (G. Crowther, Ed.; 1st edition). Albuquerque, NM: The Ayurvedic Press. Lowes, D. E. (2006). The anti-capitalist dictionary: Movements, histories and motivations. Black Wood, Nova Scotia, Canada: Fernwood Publishing. Loy, D. (2019). Ecodharma: Buddhist teachings for ecological crisis. Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications. MacEachern, D. (1994). Enough is enough: How to organize a successful campaign for change. New York: Avon Books. Macy, J. (1983). Dharma and development: Religion as resource in the Sarvodaya self-help movement. West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press. Macy, J. (1990). The greening of the self. In Allan Hunt Badiner (Ed.), Dharma Gaia: A harvest of essays in buddhism and ecology (pp. 53–63). Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press. Macy, J. (1991). Mutual causality in Buddhism and general systems theory: The dharma of natural systems. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. McAdam, D. (1982). Political processes and the development of Black insurgency. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. McMahan, D. L. (2008). The making of Buddhist modernism. Oxford University Press. Naess, A. (1988). Self-realization: An ecological approach to being in the world. In D. Van De Veer, & C. Pierce (Eds.), The environmental ethics and policy handbook (pp. 222–226). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Plankey, R. (2011, November 23). Conference looks to future of liberation theology. National Catholic Reporter. https://www.ncronline.org/news/world/conference-looks-future-liberation-theology Powell, B. (2016, March 7). Kansas church helps interfaith group carry on ancient tradition of justice. United Church of Christ. https://www.ucc.org/news_kansas_church_helps_interfaith_group_030716 Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. Pyles, L. (2020). Healing justice in the social work classroom: Engaged buddhism, embodiment, and the legacy of Joanna Macy. In The Routledge handbook of critical and transformative pedagogies for social work (pp. 388–398). Abingdon, UK: Routledge/Taylor & Francis. Salvatierra, A., & Heitzel, P. (2014). Faith-rooted organizing: Mobilizing the church in service to the world. InterVarsity Press. Sarvodaya. (2007). Sarvodaya Tsunami third year progress report [Progress report]. https://www.sarvodaya.org/ wp-content/Sarvodaya_Tsunami_Third_Year_%20Progress_Report.pdf Schwartz, R. J. (2016, December 1). Tikkun Olam, Unpacked. Reconstructing Judaism: Deeply Rooted, Boldly Relevant. https://www.reconstructingjudaism.org/article/tikkun-olam-unpacked

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ENDURING AND EMERGING ISSUES IN ORGANIZING Sessions, G. (1995). Deep ecology for the 21st century. Boston, MA: Shambahla. Smith, C., & Woodberry, R. D. (2001). Sociology of religion. In J.R. Blau (Ed.), The Blackwell companion to sociol­ ogy (pp. 100–113). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Swarts, H. (2008). Organizing urban America: Secular and faith-based progressive movements. University of Minnesota Press. Swarts, H. J. (2008, September 16). In praise of faith-based community organizing. Shelterforce: The Voice of Community Development. https://shelterforce.org/2008/09/16/in_praise_of_faith_based_community_organizing/ Thanissara. (2015). Time to stand up: An engaged Buddhist manifesto for our earth—The Buddha’s life and message through feminine eyes. North Atlantic Books. Tikkun. (2011, February 18). Tikkun’s Core Vision. Tikkun: The Prophetic Jewish, Interfaith & Secular Voice to Heal and Transform the World. https://www.tikkun.org/tikkuns-core-vision Warren, M. R. (2001). Dry bones rattling: Community building to revitalize American democracy. In Community building and political renewal (pp. 15–39). Princeton University Press. Wood, R. (1999). Religious culture and political action. Sociological Theory, 17(3), 307–332. Wood, R. (2002). Faith in action: Religion, race and democratic organizing in America. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Wood, R., & Fulton, B. (2015). A shared future: Faith-based organizing for racial equity and ethical democracy. The University of Chicago Press.

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Chapter 13

Global Justice Amidst Climate Crisis At the first glance, it can sometimes seem difficult to understand the relationship between local problems in communities and larger global political and economic issues. The truth of the matter is, however, that few people in this world, if any, are not affected by global economic and political dynamics in some way. People in both the global North and the global South are impacted in ways of which they may not even be aware. As local industries in the North are closed in favor of low-cost labor pools in the South, people in the North experience unemploy­ ment, reduced wages, and associated social problems that come with economic uncertainty. Family farms and indigenous land are lost to global corporate giants. Local businesses are lost to chain stores selling genetically modified food high in sugar and fats, leading to significant public health issues. In the context of the climate crisis, along with global problems, such as a pandemic and economic recession, it becomes all too clear that we are all interconnected and that our fates are linked. When one begins to come to terms with the relationship between what happens in a local community to the larger forces of globalization, one may wonder if the work that global justice activists are doing can even have an impact. In other words, do global justice movements really matter? Or, are the larger mechanisms and actors of globalization too powerful, essentially ren­ dering local, transnational, and global organizing a lost cause? In the last 20 years, a new and potent activism has emerged in resistance to globalized capitalism, which calls out the linkages between unfettered economic growth, ecological dev­ astation, and human suffering. Global justice movements challenge policies and practices to mediate the effects of globalization at the same time that it decries that “another world is possi­ ble.” Shepard and Hayduk (2002) use the term glocalism to describe this interface of global and local concerns. They define it as “political activism based on the insight that every local action has a global component” (p. 5). Transcending the false divide of local and global, the idea of glocalism can be thought of as an expression of the phrase “think globally, act locally.” In this chapter, I discuss and analyze various sectors of the global justice and climate crisis move­ ments, which has been described as the largest social movement in human history (Hawken, 2007). After discussing the effects of economic globalization on communities and planet, I describe some activities being conducted in the areas of land-based organizing, climate change, and transnational labor organizing. I also discuss the importance of movement capacity build­ ing in global and climate justice work including intersectionality, healing justice, and multilin­ gual capacity building. Finally, the chapter concludes with an analysis of contemporary global justice organizing.

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EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION ON PEOPLE AND PLANET Globalization is not a new phenomenon. Indeed, the first wave of globalization occurred when Europeans colonized Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas dating back more than 500 years ago. The second wave of globalization came through the Western (Northern) implementation of “development” projects in the postcolonial period since World War II. The third and current wave began in the mid-1990s through the “free trade” movement (Shiva, 2000). Deepening one’s understanding of historical impacts of imperialism and colonialism as well as the neocolonialism of today can help activists have a longer view and a larger perspective on what is at stake. The impacts of the current global economy can be understood by exploring in more detail the values of neoliberalism including low-cost productivity, growth, progress, expertise, privatiza­ tion, flexible labor, and materialism (Svistova, Pyles, & Dylan, 2020). Neoliberalism “wages an incessant attack on democracy, public goods, and noncommodified values” (Giroux, 2005, p. 2). Commodification is the practice of assigning economic value to something not usually con­ ceived of in economic terms. Marx was particularly concerned with the possibility that market values would come to replace social values and have a devastating social impact, naming it com­ modity fetishism. The neoliberal model, perhaps thought of as the logical extension of capitalism, has resulted in deleterious impacts on the environment and a kind of “slow violence” (Nixon, 2011) perpetrated against people and the planet. Women, indigenous people, and people of the Global South who live in precarious geographic locations take the brunt of the hits of this slow violence. This current geological period has been called the “anthropocene” to reflect the impact that humans are having on the environment including the destruction of ecosystems and climate change (Lewis & Maslin, 2015). The reality is that overconsumption of the Earth’s resources, which is supported by an economic model built on endless growth, is reaching a tipping point. Corporate-backed transnational global entities have utilized free trade, loans, debt, privatization, and structural adjustment programs to continue to favor more powerful countries at the expense of countries in the peripheries. Entities like the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have provided loans to developing countries who are struggling to make ends meets or advance their economies. These loans come with what are called “structural adjustment pro­ grams” or austerity measures, which means that governments in developing countries, particularly in the Global South, many of whom are forever in debt now, must vow to retrench their countries’ infra­ structure and human services investments, such as health care and education. While the loans may result in infrastructure investments, they come at a heavy price to local communities and disrupt the develop­ ment of a social safety net; at the same time, economic disparity between corporate elites and regular people is exacerbated. Environmental activist Starhawk (2002) offers her perspective on globalization: It’s an ideology that elevates corporate profit to the highest value and determining factor for all human activities, individual and collective. It says that corporations must be unfettered in their pursuit of profit, that all natural and human resources should be open to exploitation, that services and infrastructures once collectively provided by governments should become arenas of profit-making, and that while some people will gain more than others under this regime, following this program will make everyone richer and benefit all. (para. 3) A National Labor Committee (2004) report that focused on outsourcing by U.S. garment compa­ nies to China recounts the conditions of people working for these U.S. companies. The appalling

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conditions include an average wage of 22 cents an hour for workers who are predominantly 16and 17-year-old girls; factory temperatures that were more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit; and workers being coached to lie to factory auditors about working conditions (Micheletti & Stolle, 2007). Many companies have argued that the minuscule wages paid to workers are socially just, given that the cost of living is so cheap in developing countries. Neoliberal economic develop­ ment narratives pronounce that such opportunities are lifting the developing world up and that foreign corporations are actually engaged in benevolent economic behavior. However, activists and researchers have inquired more deeply into this social construction and have learned that liv­ ing on $65 per month in China is actually quite difficult. The cost of living for a lower-middle-class family in Shenzen, China, is much higher (National Labor Committee [NLC], 2004). Because the realities of how the global economy actually functions are hidden from consumers, researching the facts about what is happening in these contexts, shedding light on realities, and deconstructing the narratives of consumerism are crucial. Although many of the corporate actions are not illegal, they are ethically dubious. In addition to resisting these unjust practices, the frames and stories undergirding them must constantly be questioned by global justice activists. It can be difficult to challenge and resolve such questionable corporate conduct through national and international legal mechanisms, particularly because globalization seems to be diminishing the relevance of the state as corporations become the more powerful players (Beaudet, Haslam, & Shafer, 2016). Indeed, the legal reality of “corporate personhood” gave corporations the same full rights that individual human beings have. Other innovative strategies have become necessary. Thus, this is one of the defining characteristics of global justice movements. Because of the lack of legal accountability on such issues, new ways to hold corporations accountable and raise consumer awareness has been required (Micheletti & Stolle, 2007). Just like the work that Ralph Nader and the consumer safety and rights movement started in the 1970s, today’s global justice activists seek to re-frame corporate narratives and raise consumer awareness about the inhuman ways products are manufactured. NAFTA, or the North America Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect in 1994, opened trade between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The discourse about this agree­ ment emphasized the immense economic benefits that it would provide for all people as well as democratic institutions generally. The idea was that the obvious economic benefits to corpora­ tions would trickle down to the average worker over time. Indeed, this is the entire premise of global economic development. In Mexico, many years after the passage of NAFTA, three-quarters of the population was still living in poverty, real wages were lower, and unemployment was rising (Klein, 2002). One has to question—who is benefiting, and for whom is the agreement a success? CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL JUSTICE ORGANIZING Globalization is a complex phenomenon, and certainly provides many benefits in terms of oppor­ tunities to connect with diverse cultures, languages, and ideas; moreover, technology facilitates connecting people with one another in order to build a global community. It can be helpful to make the distinction, though, between globalization from above and globalization from below, wherein neoliberalism is the embodiment of corporate-driven, globalization from above and the work of people’s social movements, globalization from below (Lechner & Boli, 2004). Globalization from below is a philosophy and movement to connect people through cultural and community development that is grounded in the needs and actions of grassroots communities rather than

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global corporations. Of course, such distinctions are never quite so clear, as global justice activ­ ists are largely fully engaged with the neoliberal global economy, for example, utilizing corpo­ rate digital technologies (e.g. Zoom, Apple, Microsoft, etc.). Nonetheless, those organizing for a globalization from below have been referred to by many titles, including the antiglobalization movement, the alternative globalization movement, and, as I use in this text, the plural, global justice movements. I use this broad umbrella term to include movements that are addressing the climate crisis, indigenous people’s movements, workers’ movements, women’s movements, and more, along with multi-issue organizing and movement building. Since global justice movements are diverse, decentralized, and transnational, it is difficult to characterize it generally. Because one of the mechanisms of neoliberalism is enclosure and ownership of public space and ideas, one of the core values of global justice movements has been the reclamation of the com­ mons; the natural commons, cultural commons, and global commons (Olwig, 2013; Schrijver, 2016). The “natural commons” includes air, water, and earth as well as resources that are managed collectively, such as national parks or forests. The “cultural commons” are the intergenerational knowledge and practices of a community. This exists in the creative arts, ceremony and ritual, food traditions, and healing practices. Other kinds of commons include digital commons and intellectual commons. Related to all of this is the notion of the “global commons,” which are areas and resources that fall outside the control of any single nation or corporation. The global com­ mons also include the “information commons,” such as the internet, traditional knowledge, and environmental systems, such as the biosphere. Powerful neoliberal actors tend to view the global commons as an “anathema to private and intellectual property rights” (Lowes, 2006, p. 104); the perception of these as “rights” supports the thrust toward private ownership and enclosure. Ostensibly, transnational organizations, such as the United Nations, exist to help governments work together to safeguard the global commons; however, ensuring this is difficult, as implemen­ tation of United Nations (UN) agreements is at the discretion of individual signatory countries, and enforcement is relatively weak, involving political and financial pressure rather than formal legal consequences. The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the UN focused on international public health; here, global public health can be viewed as a form of global commons. In the context of COVID-19, the WHO has played a relatively weak role in the United States as federal, state and local policies, driven by a neoliberal economic model and culture wars, have played stronger roles in terms of information and interventions. Acknowledgment of the “tragedy of the commons” (cited in Schrijver, 2016) has served as a mutual ground for organizing amongst global activists. Intellectual and property rights have become overvalued, argue global justice activists. For example, seeds used to grow food have become the property of multinational agribusinesses. In fact, saving certain seeds has become ille­ gal in some places. In India, groups, such as the Pattuvam Panchayat community and the National Front for Tribal Self-Rule have used resilience-based organizing to declare their communities’ rights to biodiversity and control of their land (Shiva, 2000). One of the targets of global justice movement actors has been international financial institu­ tions, such as the IMF and WTO. The protests of the WTO international conference in Seattle in 1999 are considered a significant moment in the movement to resist globalization from above. It has variously been referred to as “the coming-out party of the antiglobalization movement,” “the Battle of Seattle,” or just “Seattle” (Klein, 2002). The Seattle demonstrations were considered a success for several reasons. They achieved the tangible goal of affecting the WTO activities, forcing significant changes in the conference, including the cancellations of many conference meetings. The event revealed the common ground of activists organizing around many issues,

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including labor, environmental, and many other social welfare causes. One of the unique aspects of the Seattle protests, and indeed the global justice movements generally, has been the expres­ sion of the joie de vivre and the creative elements of organizing. For example, the Earth Island Institute, an environmental organization, made more than 500 sea turtle costumes for activists to wear in Seattle as symbols of the WTO’s threats to environmental laws (St. Clair, 2004). Castells (1999) has articulated the concept of a network society that explains social inter­ relatedness as something beyond territorial approaches. A network society is a society wherein key social structures and activities are organized around electronic information networks. Drawing from the strength of power that these networks contain, transnational organizers leverage this power for global change. This network society creates the conditions for globalized organizing and through technology has enabled what he calls “mass self-communication” (Castells, 2015) enabling power­ ful global social movement activity, such as the Arab Spring. In addition to the use of technology, summit mobilizations have been a hallmark of global justice movements. Such strategies serve as an antidote to the critique that global justice movements are fragmented. The World Social Forum has been an example of such mobilizations. Summit mobilizations may fulfill at least two functions: The first is to send shockwaves demonstrating mass opposition with the capacity to threaten and disrupt capitalist globalization-from-above. The second is to strengthen and energize the networks and movements of our globalization-from-below. Strong summit mobilizations come out of ongoing campaigns and the culmination of movement building in our communities. (Solnit, 2006, p. 76) The year 2011 marks another important moment in the history of global justice work. Protests of dictatorships and economic oppression in the Arab World emerged, eventually forcing leaders from power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen in what became known as the Arab Spring. In Spain, protesters, known as the Indignados, staged protests against the current political system, welfare cuts, and unemployment. In the fall of 2011, activists began occupying Wall Street, pro­ testing corporate bailouts and other failures of the U.S. political and economic system. All of these recent movements are concerned with their own national-level economic and political systems, and yet all the actors have an eye on one another and a broader concern about global capitalism and other global injustices.

LAND-BASED, LOCALIZATION, AND REGENERATIVE MOVEMENTS The philosopher Frantz Fanon (1963) wrote: “For colonized people, the most essential value, because it is the most concrete, is first and foremost the land: the land which will bring them bread and, above all, dignity” (p. 34). In the context of the climate crisis, that is a direct conse­ quence of fossil-fuel-based capitalism, new forms of resistance are emerging that take a regenera­ tive approach to ecology and the environment, indeed viewing land and bread as basic to human well-being and dignity. Some of these approaches include land-based and restorative movements grounded in indigenous paradigms. Indigenous holistic worldviews are based on an understand­ ing of interdependent relationships between human beings, nonhuman animals, and the natu­ ral world, where land is considered sacred and identity “requires a relationship with territory” (Monture-Angus, 2000, p. 36). Indigenous societies understand the natural world as that which sustains life and thus they nurture their relationships with the environment by preserving and

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protecting through community cooperation and “harmonious, horizontal, nonconflictive and nonhierarchical coexistence” (Martin & Quiroga-Menéndez, 2018, p. 81). Indigenous traditions and cultural practices also espouse specific ways of coping and strategies of survival and resistance in the face of hardships, including diverse environmental challenges and climate change. Land rights, including water rights and the right to a local economy, have been central organ­ izing points for global justice organizers. These movements utilize a range of tactics including direct action, resilience-based organizing, and cultural organizing. A recent movement utilized direct action while also drawing from resilience-based organizing and cultural organizing. The Dakota Access Pipeline Protests, also known as #NoDAPL, took place at Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota in 2016. Led by indigenous people from all over the Americas, including indigenous youth groups, such as the “ReZpect our Water,” with support from nonindigenous protestors, the movement contested the building of an oil pipeline through tribal grounds. The protest employed the frame, “water is life,” as the pipeline was inevitably bound to pollute the groundwater. Like other direct actions where organizers have secured a physical space, such as Occupy Wall Street, the #NoDAPL protestors created communal camps, including the Sacred Stone Camp and the Winter Camp, where they held their ground. Drawing from the spiritual and cultural energies of tribal leaders and others, the movement stayed connected to a spiritual and material relation­ ship to the land. High-profile activists and an online movement created large-scale public support and President Obama’s administration eventually would deny the easement for the construction of the pipeline. There were many challenges along the way including the removal of an encamp­ ment by armed soldiers and police in riot gear. However, upon his election, President Trump would authorize the completion of the pipeline. One of the most influential land-based global justice movements has been led by indigenous people in Mexico along with their allies known as Zapatistas. The EZLN, or the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, was initiated in the 1980s by a small group of Marxist revolutionaries. The Zapatista movement has been particularly concerned with how a globalizing economy has negatively affected indigenous people in Chiapas, Mexico. Similar to the American Indian Move­ ment (AIM) that began in the 1960s and built solidarity among indigenous peoples of the United States, the Zapatista movement is concerned with what colonialism and capitalism have done to indigenous local economies and ways of life. Although Zapatista communities have not necessar­ ily worked out a common political program, they all demand dignity, liberty, and justice. The decision-making structures developed by the Zapatistas offer many lessons to organizers across the globe. The methods for making decisions tend to combine democratic approaches with indigenous assemblies. Land-based movements can be found around the world, such as in Australian aborigi­ nal and native Hawaiian contexts. Another example of global justice movement work grounded in an affirmation of the natural commons comes from the people of Uruguay. In 2004, they voted to amend their constitution to recognize the fundamental right to water as a public good, challenging the possibility that water rights could be sold to private interests. The constitution now guarantees that piped water and sanitation be available to all Uruguayans, and it bans for-profit corporations from supplying this public good. The privatization of water supplies has been happening across the world as communities in India, for instance, living near Coca-Cola’s bottling plants experience critical water shortages. Such shortages are a direct result of Coca-Cola’s immense extraction of water from the common groundwater source. Citizens are finding that wells have run dry and that hand water pumps are no longer functioning. Other environmental problems are associated with the bottling plants,

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including contamination and toxic waste. Thus, an international campaign against Coca-Cola was initiated charging that the company is creating water shortages and pollution across India. In an era when universities often have exclusive contracts with soft drink providers, including Coca-Cola, some college students have pressured university administrators in solidarity with international activists to relinquish such contracts. Because the expansion of the global economy has come at the expense of the functioning of local economies, much organizing and activism work has concentrated on building up local economic solutions as a way to rearrange the political economy, what has been referred to in this book as resilience-based organizing. Thus, community organizing in the era of globalization becomes a form of “resistance” to large-scale economies. According to Mander (1996), today’s problems will eventually be solved by recognizing that local production for local consumption—using local resources, under the guidance and control of local communities, and reflecting local and regional cultures and traditions within the limits of nature—is a far more successful direction than the currently promoted, clearly utopian, globally centralized, expansionist model. (p. 391) Some of these localized initiatives have been diverse and far-reaching and are highlighted in the following examples: community banks and loan funds; “Buy local” campaigns; agricultural toollending libraries; community kitchens; using local currency; bartering; cooperatively or collec­ tively operated businesses; and community food gardens. One unique social movement, which combines many of these elements, is known as the Tran­ sition movement. Originating in Ireland and spreading across the globe, Transition communities are community-based initiatives that are part of a global network, concerned with the impacts of climate change, peak oil, and economic instability. Activists are creating communities that are responsive to new needs and are proactively starting community-led initiatives in the areas of food, energy, transportation, waste, education, and housing. As a form of resilience-based organ­ izing in the context of climate crisis, the Transition movement embraces the following principles: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

We respect resource limits and create resilience We promote inclusivity and social justice We adopt subsidiarity (self-organization and decision making at the appropriate level) We pay attention to balance We are part of an experimental, learning network We freely share ideas and power We collaborate and look for synergies We foster positive visioning and creativity (Transition Network, 2020)

Through a process built on these principles that involves creating and sustaining healthy groups, visioning, and building networks, Transitioners identify practical projects, implement them, and celebrate them (Transition Network, 2016). Individual communities identify projects specific to their own needs and capacities, such as community energy projects, local currencies, sustainable transportation, or the creation of local food forests. They are truly a global movement and one that values language access as their materials are currently available in 11 languages. Overall, an agenda for globalization from below emphasizes respect for local resources, mutual aid, and the strengthening of solidarity.

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TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZING Transnational organizing, including transnational labor organizing, has been an important strategy for global justice movements. Marx predicted that the inequities of capitalism would eventually minimize the differences among workers (race, culture, etc.), igniting the devel­ opment of international labor organizing (Armbruster-Sandoval, 1999). While the roots of transnational labor movements run deep, for example, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) (known as the “Wobblies”) was founded in 1905, contemporary transnational labor organizing has taken advantage of advances in transportation and communication technologies to deepen its reach and impact. In the context of global justice movement building, transna­ tional organizing encompasses organizing women workers in the maquiladoras in Latin America (Bender, 2004), antisweatshop organizing (Armbruster-Sandoval, 1999), and the develop­ ment of fair-trade organizations. Maquiladoras are export assembly plants and factories in North Mexico that have sprung up as sites for labor abuses in the post-NAFTA landscape and have been spaces for robust local and transnational labor organizing, particularly amongst women workers. The United Fruit Company began exporting bananas from Latin America as early as the 1880s, operating on a colonialist plantation-like system. Today, the major fruit companies still oper­ ate in these countries, where some 400,000 banana farmers work on such plantations (Frank, 2005). In opposition to poor wages and conditions, banana unions arose in the 1950s. In addition, immigrant communities in the United States are openly resisting the neoliberal attack on their home countries, such as Central Americans against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), Korean-Americans against the Korea–U.S. Free Trade Agreement, and Congolese against World Bank-funded mining in Congo. What these seemingly disparate endeavors have in common is a concern with the effects of a global economy on workers’ rights and an interest in using organizing strategies across borders to address them. This kind of organizing has offered an antidote to the impersonal, bottomline aspect of globalization from above. Border organizing represents an important segment of transnational global justice work. In North America, this has played out in recent years at the U.S.–Mexico border as activists have responded to the Trump Administration’s family separation policy. This policy has meant that the children of families that cross the border without papers, including asylum seekers, are separated from their families and held in custody. This cruel scenario that tears apart critical developmental bonds between children and their caretakers has been exacerbated by the inhu­ mane conditions in which the children are living in terms of sleeping accommodations, hygiene, and available food. Border activism transpires through coalitions, such as the Families Belong Together Coalition which includes organizations, such as the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the American Civil Liberties Union, People’s Action, United We Dream, America’s Voice, the Women’s Refugee Commission and Faith in Action (Kim, 2018). Marches, vigils, human rights observations, and mutual aid have all been utilized at the border and include people from throughout the Americas. The No Borders Camp was part of a global movement against migration controls that started in the late 1990s in an effort to envision a world without arbitrary and oppressive borders. A 2007 mobilization at the U.S.–Mexico border culminated in a weeklong crossborder encampment near Calexico and Mexicali. Drawing from an analysis that recognizes that NAFTA has uprooted millions of poor farmers and city dwellers in Mexico, forcing them to migrate north to survive, the No Borders Camp campaign sought to undermine limitations

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on the ability of people to move freely to seek work. Activists behind the campaign articulated their vision: We want a world without arbitrary, oppressive borders. We want a world where the diverse imperatives of local communities are primary, and where the centralizing imperatives of global capitalism have receded into the dustbin of history. And we want US militarization of the Mexican border to be immediately withdrawn. (Parrish, 2007) As a temporary autonomous zone, the organizers sought to create a decentralized space that included both planned and spontaneous activities including workshops, dialogues, art projects, strategy sessions, dance parties, and live music. A transnational advocacy network (TAN) consists of a partnership between local unions, particu­ larly in southern or developing nations, and allies, such as international NGOs. The purpose of the TAN is to influence the state or some other target to change or enforce policies or initiate reforms (Armbruster–Sandoval, 1999). Some critics have argued that a TAN can silence or marginalize workers, particularly women of color, who are organizing on the frontlines, and privilege the work of northern white activists (Brooks, 2002). Others have emphasized the importance of a dialectical relationship between workers and the TAN for a successful campaign. Whether or not the victories of such campaigns can be sustained over time remains in question (Armbruster–Sandoval, 2005). One such example of a TAN in action has been the antisweatshop movement. The antisweatshop movement began in the late 1800s when “reformers,” as they were called, began to call attention to the fact that workshops and factories were using “sweated labor” to produce goods (Micheletti & Stolle, 2007). This sweatable labor tended to consist of women immigrants and children in the garment industry in major urban areas in the United States. Antisweatshop reformers used an array of tactics to promote their cause. They investigated sweatshops, informed and educated the pub­ lic, publicized sweatshop problems, offered “buycott” or best-practice shopping guides, pressured governments to purchase “no-sweat” wear for its employees, mobilized public support for political responsibility-taking, supported unionization, entered partnerships with business, and even estab­ lished a very early innovative no-sweat labeling scheme (Micheletti & Stolle, 2007, p. 162). One of the major victories, though, was pressuring the government to enact and enforce labor standards, which, through the New Deal, was accomplished through federal regulatory authority by supporting unions and labor standards. Eventually, corporations began to avoid standards by moving factories to the U.S. South, where unions were weak, and later began moving factories to Latin America and Asia. These events eventually led into the modern antisweatshop movement and the strengthening of transnational labor organizing. Even in the early days of the movement, however, the moral culpability of consumers was emphasized; Josephine Shaw Lowell, the founder of the New York Consumers’ League in 1891, argued that consumers had the obligation to investigate the conditions under which the clothing they purchased was produced and distributed. Similarly, Florence Kelley, general secretary of the National Consumer’s League, argued that both the employers and consumers were responsible for the manufacturing conditions (Micheletti & Stolle, 2007). One hundred years later, the United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) was founded in the late 1990s as a mechanism to support the work of college students in the U.S. who were working to oppose the manufacture of college apparel in sweatshop conditions. These students developed solidarity with workers in China, Guatemala, and New York City, many of whom they discov­ ered were people their own age working in factories. They were outraged by the long hours, low

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wages, and poor working conditions to make college sweatshirts, tennis shoes, and other products that they were consuming. “They were also moved by a sense that their own desires were being manipulated, that the glamorous advertising aimed at youth markets was a coverup meant to dis­ tract from corporate wrongdoings” (Featherstone, 2002, p. 10). The sweatshop movement came to be a response to the increasing corporatization of universities as well as a raised consciousness about the ways in which consumers contribute to the problem (Featherstone, 2002). In 1996, the Clinton administration, a coalition of garment companies, unions, and human rights groups, created a monitoring body called the Fair Labor Association (FLA). This was in direct response to pressure by consumers and activists. Because the FLA ultimately proved to be weak and too heavily controlled by the apparel industries, such as Nike, another group was formed by organizers, labor unions, and groups throughout the globe called the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC). This organization worked to support the right to organize and investigate worker complaints rather than certifying a particular company as “sweat-free,” as the FLA was doing. Drawing on the influence of other global justice organizing, the students were demanding transparency and accountability in the disclosure of contractor sites (Ross, 2004). Some of the activities employed by the students were raising consciousness about the issues, building relationships and solidarity with workers internationally, and participating in unions and living-wage campaigns at home. They also utilized direct action and confrontational techniques, including protests, sit-ins, and teach-ins. The work of USAS (particularly the use of the sit-in) has been compared to that of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), one of the strongest movement organizations of the 1960s (Ross, 2004). Other similarities include a rejection of main­ stream electoral politics and an emphasis on making demands of private parties (lunch counters and clothing labelers) rather than the government. Both groups were interested in internationalist issues (anti-imperialism and antiglobalization). The global nature of communication and the easy access to technology influenced the ability of USAS to be highly successful in its ability to organize across campuses. USAS has been influenced by U.S. labor organizations, particularly the AFL­ CIO, and many students associated with USAS have participated in the AFL-CIO’s Organizing Institute and Union Summer opportunities. MULTILINGUAL CAPACITY BUILDING One of the key determinants of whether any social justice movement will build a strong base and yield some success is the resources and capacities available to participants, organizations, and coalitions. For example, having access to communication technologies has been essential to organ­ izers in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic. This is especially true for changemakers in the developing world who need access to information, social networks, and opportunities to reflect and strategize with one another through video conferencing and other technologies. Another key capacity for social movements and organizations is the ability of impacted people, organizers, and allies to communicate with one another across language barriers. Social issues cut across a variety of human differences, including culture, race/ethnicity, country of origin, and language. This problem manifests in a world where many diaspora communities have been displaced from their homelands or have been forced to migrate in search of better work opportu­ nities. Global and local communities intersect economically, socially, culturally, politically, and linguistically. One of the goals of contemporary global justice movements is to bridge real and socially constructed differences and seek common ground in the name of human rights. In a world

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reeling from the ongoing effects of colonialism, where articulating social identities and the needs and desires that accompany them is vital, the ability to engage in discourse across language barriers is imperative in a postcolonial and postmodern world. The ability to communicate across language differences is particularly relevant in multiethnic areas, in communities with significant immigrant populations, in regions with indigenous populations whose languages are at risk of disappearing, and in transnational organizing contexts. Creating multilingual spaces in organizations is a strategic way to build social movement and organizational power. It is a means to attend to the democratization of organizations wherein peo­ ple who speak dominant and nondominant languages are better equipped to share power. This can necessitate creating environments where primarily English-speaking people learn the languages of fellow organizers and constituents. For some organizations, building in the costs of interpreters and language classes for organizers and impacted communities is a way to honor this value in practice. For organizations that are led and driven by speakers of the nondominant language, multilin­ gual capacity building would seem to be an obvious need. However, for organizations that are led by English speakers and do not have non-English speakers in leadership positions, the need for such resources may seem less pressing. It should be clear that empowerment of and account­ ability to impacted communities in certain contexts necessitates investment in interpreters and other resources for multilingual capacity building. Organizers and constituents should be able to contribute to organizing efforts in ways that allow them to share their deepest wisdom which is often best expressed in one’s native language. In the U.S. context, I have heard many organizations talk about how they want to organize more Spanish-speaking Latinx people into their organization, but fail to prioritize the language capacity building that is necessary. This is a difficult issue, as organizations have many needs that are difficult to prioritize in terms of allocating scarce resources. However, progressive community organiz­ ing in a globalized world would surely entail such prioritization. Prioritizing may mean budgeting for interpretation costs as well as factoring in the extra time and logistics that interpretation can entail in meetings and events. At the first-ever U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta held in the summer of 2007, the planners of this broadbased organizing event were transparent about their aspirations and limitations when it came to multilingual capacity building. According to the forum’s website, to achieve a truly multilingual movement for social justice, we must transform the power of language so that it can no longer divide us but rather will unite us and make us stronger.While we are committed to continue to strengthen our multilingual capacity over time, we also want to acknowledge the limitations of our current capacity.The National Planning Committee has committed to support three languages at the U.S. Social Forum: Spanish, American Sign Lan­ guage (ASL), and English. This does not mean, however, that the entire Social Forum will be interpreted into all three languages.The opening march, the opening and closing ceremonies, the morning openings, the plenaries, and the People’s Movement Assembly—conducted pri­ marily in English—will be interpreted into Spanish and ASL.The Language Access Team of the USSF will provide Spanish interpretation for approximately 10% of the self-organized work­ shops. In addition, a number of workshops are being held in Spanish or interpreted into Spanish by the workshop organizers themselves. (U.S. Social Forum, n.d., para. 3–5) Overall, multilingual capacity building is a form of movement and organizational capacity building which requires intentional value statements, the commitment of resources, implementation of commitments, and the acknowledgment of organizational and movement limitations.

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REFLECTING ON GLOBAL JUSTICE ORGANIZING Global justice movements are a family of movements of individuals and groups working on a variety of issues including labor, health, agriculture, and other aspects of economic justice and human welfare. Although some of the work of global justice movements, such as health-related struggles to address HIV/AIDS and women’s reproductive health, operates on social development models with the assis­ tance of international NGOs, other projects are more grassroots in nature. These grassroots approaches emerge from local groups and focus on education campaigns, local policy reform, and empowerment. They emphasize local leadership development as a long-term, sustainable strategy for social change. Many critiques of global justice movements have been put forward. Some believe that mem­ bers of the movement are against trade and internationalism generally. Katsiaficas (2004) offers a response to this criticism: The progressive antiglobalization movement is not against international ties; it wants to see ties that are fair and decent. It is against ties that force people off the land, against the kinds of global economic relations that make it possible for the corporations to profit greatly from degrading the world. (p. 7) Another critique suggested has been that the movement itself is uncoordinated. But perhaps the strength of global justice movement building and indeed its hallmark is decentralization. Though dispersed and diverse, communications technology and social media allow these groups to compare notes, develop collective analysis, and find areas of common ground, while freely advancing their agendas. The World Social Forum is an example of the attempts of many of these groups to come together. Its main slogan—“Another world is possible”—seeks to create alternatives to neoliberal globalization. Creating alternatives, such as a solidarity economy, is a productive response to those who criticize the movement for solely focusing on the negative. Some have critiqued campaigns, such as the student sweatshop movement, for its lack of solidarity with domestic workers and lack of attention to poverty problems in the United States (Ross, 2004). Others have argued that global justice movements have overemphasized economic critiques and not emphasized issues, such as racism and sexism. The Bananeras in Guatemala, who are women banana union workers, are a group of individuals who are looking beyond economic issues and exploring the intersections of gender and class issues (Frank, 2005). By organizing holistically around their working conditions as well as on a “women’s” issue, such as domestic violence (emphasizing consciousnessraising, social support, and criminal intervention), the Bananeras strengthen their own personal and collective empowerment, as they seek to effect social change on multiple levels. Global justice movements represent creative and powerful solutions to a future that will continue to create social inequities that have a negative impact on communities in complex ways if left unaddressed. TRANSFORMATIVE ORGANIZING IN TIMES OF CRISIS The events surrounding collective crises, whether it is a hurricane, economic crisis, or pandemic, remind us of the global nature of social justice problems, and solutions. Crises can be viewed with a historical lens and connect us to ancestors who survived natural disasters, disease, and imperial­ ism. They can also remind us of how strategy, story-telling, issue framing, and tactical diversity continue to be important, whether it is direct action, resilience-based organizing, or mutual aid. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina revealed that the “developed” world struggles with issues similar to

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those in the “developing” world—government neglect, corporate dominance, and poverty, rac­ ism, homelessness, etc. Like groups across the globe, citizens in New Orleans persisted in their struggle around varied issues, including immigrant rights, food security, neighborhood safety, access to mental health care, and the right to housing. Organizers there drew from a history of local organizing as well as took cues from international movements making connections between Katrina and larger global issues in their analysis and practice. Similarly, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti revealed how the negative effects of a neoliberal agenda has rendered the government ane­ mic and forced its citizens into dependency on humanitarian aid. Thus, local and diaspora Haitian activists and their allies have utilized direct action and mutual aid to demand and secure housing, sanitation, education, jobs, and safety, arguing for these basic rights and capabilities. After Hur­ ricane Sandy battered the Northeast U.S. in 2012, Occupy Sandy emerged as a mutual aid move­ ment to fill in the relief and recovery gaps in creative and effective ways. In the COVID-19 context, many groups in the U.S. have privileged mutual aid support and policy change that supports frontline workers. Some of these workers are from the developing world and part of a global economy that exploits their labor and has become all too clear during the pandemic. One example of an organization supporting the well-being of such individuals and groups is Red Canary Song, which is a grassroots collective of Asian and migrant sex workers who are organizing transnationally. They typically focus on police accountability, decriminalization of sex work, legal protections, health care, and prison abolition. They are the only grassroots Chinese massage parlor worker coalition in the U.S. as there are an estimated 9000 other such workplaces without representation. They have a commitment to transnational organizing as well as with others in the Chinese diaspora including in Hong Kong, Toronto, and Paris. In addition to organizing, they have sex worker-led programming that includes dinners, education events, and art shows. In the context of the pandemic, they have focused on mutual aid—connecting people to resources includ­ ing food pantries, testing sites, and mechanisms to report anti-Asian hate crimes. Iyer (2020) has discussed the diversity of roles in social change ecosystems and specifically noted that in the context of COVID-19, it can be useful to clarify where one can be effective and whole and knowing that these roles can also shift and evolve. Roles in movement ecology, accord­ ing to Iyer, include weavers, experimenters, healers, frontline responders, disrupters, storytell­ ers, caregivers, builders, guides, and visionaries. One of the defining features of transformative organizing is the ability of movements to reflect on themselves and for members to care for one another. While all organizing necessitates intention­ ality of groups and individuals, global and climate justice work requires a unique kind of intention­ ality as one considers issues, such as imperialism, colonialism, globalization, oppression, diversity, language and communication, and healing. The traumatic impacts of imperialism, colonialism, and neoliberalism are far-reaching and are felt especially strongly amongst indigenous people, people of color, and other people who have been frontline targets of these malevolent isms. For actors who are engaged in global justice-related work whether concerned with immigrant and refugee justice, climate crisis, transnational labor organizing, or gender-based violence, the need for a more expan­ sive view of activism, organizing, and change work that embraces healing justice is not just a nice bonus, but a matter of life and death. Perhaps it can be useful to think about healing justice as a form of organizing culture that privileges healing, whether it is through contemplative or expressive arts, reclaiming or sharing culture, holistic self care, or mutual aid. The organizing work that demands our attention appears to be never-ending. This is an important lesson for all organizers—the deepseated nature of oppression and injustice warrants a long-term, sustainable organizing practice, a practice that begins and ends with ongoing inquiry into self and society.

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Case Study on Direct Action Organizing in the Face of Climate Crisis: Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion is a global social movement that was started in the UK and focuses on addressing the climate crisis, primarily through direct action tactics designed to bring the public and lawmakers’ attention to the issue and take action. Their larger vision is to build a connected and inclusive world, to create changes in the political, economic, and social landscape, and to create hope in order to choose the direction of human life on earth. Through creative tactics, they seek to convey the message that the planet is in the midst of a climate emergency that will lead to the mass extinction of the human race. The U.S.-based XR movement has declared “non­ violent rebellion against the U.S. government for its criminal inaction on the ecological crisis.” The planet and its people are facing biodiversity loss, sea-level rise, desertification, wild­ fires, water shortage, crop failure, and extreme weather. Everything is at stake as the impacts of the climate crisis will have consequences in terms of air, water, food, housing, livelihoods, and health. XR has four essential demands: 1) Tell the truth about climate change by declaring a climate and ecological emergency; 2) Act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce green­ house gas emissions to net zero by 2025; and 3) Go beyond politics and government by creat­ ing a Citizen Assembly on climate/ecological justice. A fourth demand has been articulated by U.S. “rebels” (the moniker that XR activists use to refer to themselves), namely, a just transition that prioritizes the most vulnerable people and indigenous sovereignty; establishes reparations and remediation led by and for Black people, Indigenous people, people of color and poor communities for years of environmental injustice, establishes legal rights for ecosystems to thrive and regenerate in perpetuity, and repairs the effects of ongoing ecocide to prevent extinction of human and all species, in order to maintain a livable, just planet for all. (Extinction Rebellion U.S., n.d.) In less than one year, the Extinction Rebellion went from 15 people analyzing and planning to becoming “the biggest organized civil disobedience campaign in British history” (Hallam, 2019). They based their strategy of what they call “civil resistance” on the scholarly work of Chenoweth and Stephan (2013) who articulated the logic of nonviolent resistance noting the important roles that disruption and citizen arrest have played in the success of social move­ ments. XR has articulated their civil resistance model in six steps: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

You need the numbers You have to go to the capital city You have to break the law It has to stay nonviolent It has to go on day after day It has to be fun

According to Hallam (2019), their strategy is based on three premises: Firstly, that only through disruption, the breaking of laws, do you get the attention you need. Secondly, only through sacrifice—the willingness to be arrested and go to prison— do people take seriously what you are saying.And, thirdly, only through being respectful to ourselves, the public and the police, do we change the hearts and minds of our opponents, which makes it easier for them to negotiate with us.

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Besides the early successes of XR in England, creative and impactful actions have taken place throughout the world including specific actions led by women, youth, faith leaders, and people of color. XR rebels have glued themselves to buses, boats and in the hallways of U.S. Congress; engaged in hunger strikes to demand discussion of a climate and ecologi­ cal emergency bill; staged a die-in on Wall Street; disrupted London fashion week; and protested the failed responses to and prevention of Australian bushfires, among many other actions. To be sure, critiques of XR also abound, such as: the rebels are engaged in the fossil fuel economy themselves, their demands are unrealistic, and the tactics focused on public disruption are misguided (Smaje, 2019). This last critique is perhaps the most productive one to discuss. Ahmed (2019) has noted flawed logic and a misreading of social movement literature within the movement. Specifically, disruption of business as usual in global cities and mass arrest may actu­ ally alienate the public from XR’s goals. Moreover, it will in effect exclude people of color and indigenous people from the movement whose experience with police brutality will disincline them to participate. Moreover, the reading of Chenoweth and Stephan’s (2013) work is arguably misguided as the movements they studied had very specific goals in mind, whereas XR is essen­ tially pushing for comprehensive systemic change. None of these critiques and others preclude it from evolving and being impactful though. One of its more powerful dimensions is that it sees the value of healing justice and restora­ tive work as they have developed what they call “Regenerative Culture.” This dimension of the movement emphasizes well-being, resilience, and nourishment as a pathway to cre­ ating a new culture of care that is needed to not only sustain the movement itself but also to embody a new way of being as we move from an extractivist society to one that is life-affirming. XR has articulated the cycle of regeneration which like any form of praxis goes through cycles of pre-action, action, and post-action. Such a framework is a useful antidote in a culture which emphasizes nonstop activity and does not tend to value time for rest and reflection. By looking to the seasons and the cycles of the day, XR includes eight phases of action and restoration that are regenerative. First, the cycle begins with first light, gratitude, new ideas, and setting an intention. Second, at sunrise, there is team formation, training and skills, and connecting to anchor. Third, midmorning is practical prep, including logistics as well as psychological prep. Fourth, at midday is the action, emphasizing the honouring of values, connection, communi­ cation, action well-being, and first aid. Fifth, in the afternoon, activists are welcomed home through self-care nourishment, connecting with their anchor and ongoing support of arrestees. Sixth, at sunset, rebels celebrate and share stories as continued support of arrestees is offered. Seventh, at dusk, it is time for acceptance, debriefs, feedback, and talking circles, attending to conflict, grief and gratitude. Eighth, at midnight, it is time for rest, dreams, and time to recon­ nect to vision and nature.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION 1. Discuss ways in which you can “resist” globalization from above and toxic capitalism in your personal life. 2. What kinds of land-based and localization organizing are happening in your community? Discuss their strengths and challenges.

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3. Discuss some of the strengths and challenges faced by climate crisis movements. What tactics are you drawn to personally (e.g. direct action, resilience-based organizing, etc.)? Why? 4. Why is healing justice important for global justice and climate justice organizing? 5. Think about a community organization with which you are familiar. Assess its readiness for doing multilingual capacity building. What strengths exist, and what are the organizational limits to doing this kind of work? SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER INQUIRY Books Castells, Manuel. (2015). Networks of Outrage and Hope: Social Movements in the Internet Age. Polity Press. Courdourier-Real, C. R. (2010). Transnational social justice. New York, NY: Palgrave. Klein, N. (2014). This changes everything: Capitalism vs. the climate. New York: Simon & Schuster. Moghadam, V. M. (2005). Globalizing women: Transnational feminist networks. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Polet, F. (2004). Globalizing resistance: The state of struggle. London, UK: Pluto Press. Yuen, E., Burton-Rose, D., & Katsiaficas, G. (2004). Confronting capitalism: Dispatches from a global movement. New York, NY: Soft Skull Press. Web Extinction Rebellion. https://rebellion.earth/ Grassroots Global Justice Alliance. http://ggjalliance.org/ Grassroots International. http://www.grassrootsonline.org Open Democracy. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/ People’s Health Movement. http://www.phmovement.org Transition Network. https://transitionnetwork.org/ REFERENCES Ahmed, N. (2019). The flawed social science behind Extinction Rebellion’s change strategy. https://medium.com/ insurge-intelligence/the-flawed-science-behind-extinction-rebellions-change-strategy-af077b9abb4d Armbruster-Sandoval, R. (1999). Globalization and cross-border labor organizing: The Guatemalan maquiladora industry and the Phillips-Van Heusen Workers’ Movement. Latin American Perspectives, 26(2), 109–128. Bender, D. E. (2004). Sweated work, weak bodies: Anti-sweatshop campaigns and languages of labor. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Brooks, E. (2002). The ideal sweatshop? Gender and transnational protest. International Labor and Working-Class History, 61, 91–111.

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GLOBAL JUSTICE AMIDST CLIMATE CRISIS Castells, M. (1999). Information technology, globalization, and social development. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. Castells, M. (2015). Networks of outrage and hope: Social movements in the Internet age (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Chenoweth, E., & Stephan, M. (2013). Why civil resistance works: The strategic logic of nonviolent conflict. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Extinction Rebellion US. “Demands and Principles.” https://extinctionrebellion.us/demands-principles Fanon, F. (1963). The wretched of the earth. New York, NY: Grove Press. Featherstone, L. (2002). Students against sweatshops: The making of a movement. New York, NY: Verso. Frank, D. (2005). Bananeras: Women transforming the banana unions of Latin America. Cambridge, MA: South End Press. Hallam, R. (2019). “Now we know: conventional campaigning won’t prevent our extinction.” The Guardian. https:// www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/01/extinction-rebellion-non-violent-civil-disobedience Haslam, P., Shafer, J., & Beaudet, P. (2016). Introduction to international development: Approaches, actors, and issues (3rd ed.). Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press. Hawken, P. (2007). Blessed unrest: How the largest social movement in the world came into being and why nobody saw it coming. New York, NY: Penguin Books. Iyer, D. (2020, March 27). Mapping our social change roles in times of crisis. Medium. https://medium.com/@dviyer/ mapping-our-social-change-roles-in-times-of-crisis-8bbe71a8ab01 Katsiaficas, G. (2004). Seattle was not the beginning. In D. Burton-Rose, E. Yuen, & G. Katsiaficas (Eds.), Confronting capitalism: Dispatches from a global movement (2nd ed., pp. 3–10). New York, NY: Soft Skull Press. Kim, V. (2018). ‘Free our children now’—On the U.S.-Mexico border, activists protest separation of immigrant families. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/mexico-border-activists-immigrant-children-separation Klein, N. (2002). Fences and windows: Dispatches from the frontlines of the globalization debate. Picador USA. Lechner, F. J., & Boli, J. (Eds.) (2004). The globalization reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Lewis, S., & Maslin, M. (2015). Defining the anthropocene. Nature, 519 ,171–180. Lowes, D. E. (2006). The anti-capitalist dictionary: Movements, histories and motivations. Black Wood, Nova Scotia, Canada: Fernwood Publishing. Mander, J. (1996). Facing the rising tide. In J. Mander, & E. Goldsmith (Eds.), The case against the global economy and a turn toward the local (pp. 309–322). San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books. Martin, M., & Quiroga-Menéndez, P. (2018). Advocating for social and environmental justice and human rights: Listening to indigenous voices)[https://www.ifsw.org/product/books/social-work-promoting-community-and-­ environmental-sustainability-volume-2/]. In M. Powers & M. Rinkel (Eds.), Social work promoting community and environmental sustainability: A workbook for global social workers and educators (Vol. 2, pp. 73–92), Switzerland: International Federation of Social Work (IFSW). Micheletti, M., & Stolle, D. (2007). Mobilizing consumers to take responsibility for global social justice. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 611(1), 157–175. doi: https://doi. org/10.1177/0002716206298712.

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ENDURING AND EMERGING ISSUES IN ORGANIZING Monture-Angus, P. (2000). Journeying forward: Dreaming first nations’ independence. Melbourne, Australia: Pluto Press Australia. National Labor Committee. (2004). Trying to live on 25 cents an hour: The U.S. companies say the workers do just fine. Retrieved from http://www.nlcnet.org/campaigns/archive/chinareport/costoflivingdoc.shtml Nixon, R. (2011). Slow violence and the environmentalism of the poor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Olwig, K. R. (2013). Globalism and the enclosure of the landscape commons. In I. D. Rotherham (Ed.), Cultural severance and the environment: The ending of traditional and customary practice on commons and landscapes managed in common (pp. 31–46). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6159-9_3 Parrish, W. (2007). No Borders Camp: For a World Without Borders. http://www.banderasnews.com/0711/nwnoborders.htm Red Canary Song. https://www.redcanarysong.net/about-us Ross, R. J. S. (2004). From antisweatshop to global justice to antiwar: How the new New left is the same and different from the old New left. Journal of World-Systems Research, 10(1), 287–319. Schrijver, N. (2016). Managing the global Commons: Common good or Common sink? Third World Quarterly, 37(7), 1252–1267. Shepard, B., & Hayduk, R. (Eds.). (2002). Urban protest and community building in the ear of globalization. In From ACT-UP to the WTO: Urban protest and community building in the era of globalization (pp. 1–9). New York, NY: Verso. Shiva, V. (2000). Ecological balance in an era of globalization. In F. J. Lechner, & J. Boli (Eds.), The globalization reader (pp. 422–430). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Smaje (2019). Extinction Rebellion: Four Criticisms (and Why They’re Unconvincing). Resilience. https://www. resilience.org/stories/2019-10-28/extinction-rebellion-four-criticisms-and-why-theyre-unconvincing/ Solnit, D. (2006). Questions for global justice organizing. In T. Groseclose, Left turn (pp. 74–79). New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press. St. Clair, J. (2004). Seattle diary. In E. Yuen, D. Burton-Rose, & G. Kastiaficas (Eds.), Confronting capitalism (pp. 48–71). New York, NY: Soft Skull Press. Starhawk (2002, July). Turning the trolls to stone. Retrieved from http://www.starhawk.org/activism/activism-­ writings/trollstostone.html Svistova, J., Pyles, L., & Dylan, A. (2020). “Sustainability,” in Encyclopedia of social work. New York: Oxford University Press. Transition Network (2016). The essential Guide to doing transition. Devon, UK: Transition Network. https:// transitionnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/The-Essential-Guide-to-Doing-Transition-EnglishV1.2.pdf?pdf=essential-guide-to-transition-v-1 Transition Network (2020). “Principles.” https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/what-is-transition/ principles-2/ U.S. Social Forum. (n.d.). Our commitment to multilingual access. Retrieved from http://www.ussf2007.org/en/ multilingual_access

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Index

Note: Bold page numbers refer to tables and Italic page numbers refer to figures accountability 145–146 activism 26, 40, 200 Adams, D. 246 Adbusters 241 Addams, J. 166, 248 advocacy 25, 200 African American Policy Forum 97 agency 60, 214, 217 Ahmed, N. 309 Akomolafe, Bayo 259 alienation of labor 58 Alinsky, Saul 21, 23, 41, 117, 119, 120, 144, 239, 289 allies 214–215; spectrum of 218–219, 218 allyship 260–264 American Federation of Labor (AFL) 98 amnesty 173 anarchism 12, 57, 70–72, 98 anarchist thought 70–72; analysis of 72–73 anger 3, 40–41, 43, 45, 46, 260, 262, 280, 284, 287 anthropocene 296 antisweatshop movement 303 Aristotle 65–66 Armstrong, J. 243 Arnstein, S. R. 19, 218 assessment 182, 213–216, 221–224, 226, 228; processes 225, 226 asset-based community development (ABCD) 221, 224–226

assumptions 58, 62, 169, 170, 191, 192, 194, 196, 197, 201, 235, 238, 241 Avitabile, N. E. 131 awareness 261 banking education 127, 128 Barriner, L. 196 base 143 battered women’s movement 45, 129, 130, 194 battle fatigue 44 Beauvoir, Simone de 63 Beck, E. L. 90 Bell, B. 124 Berger, P. L. 39 Berkeley, K. C. 96 Bey, H. 71, 72 biocentric equality 286 #BlackLivesMatter movement 4, 89, 200–201 Black women 63, 95–97, 129, 145, 245, 258 Block, D. 146, 148 Bobo, K. 18, 176, 214, 216 Boggs, Grace Lee 10, 40, 206 Bonvillain, N. 39 Bookchin, M. 71, 289 Bourdieu, P. 22 Boyer, M. 260 Boyte, H. C. 122 brave spaces 261 Brecht, Bertolt 201 brochure-ware 199 Brown, Adrienne Maree 49, 51, 173, 203, 213, 219, 220, 236 Brown v. the Topeka Board of Education (347 U.S. 483) 93

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INDEX Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets 224 building power 114, 153, 174, 205, 213 Burghardt, S. 51 Burnett, C. M. 200 burnout 40, 44–47, 180, 182, 239 Californians for Justice 184 Callahan, M. 161 calling in 261–262 campus organizing 264–269; economic justice 266–269 capabilities approach 7–10, 64, 127, 290 capacity building: multilingual 304–305; organizational 168–185 Capital Area Against Mass Incarceration (CAAMI) 28 capitalist accumulation 59 Castells, M. 49, 67, 87, 299 Catholic social justice perspectives 287–288 Catholic Worker movement 287 causal stories 193, 194, 202 Center for Popular Economics 9 Chamberlin, J. 104 Chambers, E. T. 151, 177, 221, 222 changing consciousness 36 Chavez, Cesar 150, 282 Chenoweth, E. 308, 309 choice-based communities 22, 23 Chomsky, N. 72, 204 citizenship movements 92 civil rights movement 8, 92–95, 106, 107, 149, 157, 239, 240 civil rights organizers 106, 123 civil society, defined 65 civil society perspectives 12, 57, 65–70; analysis of 69–70; participatory democracy 68–69 claimed spaces 218 clarity 47–48 climate crisis 295–309 closed spaces 217 Cloward, R. A. 99, 238 coalition building 155–157 coalition work 131, 134, 135, 156–158, 160, 161; organizational and tactical differences 159–160; overcoming barriers 157–161; power and cultural differences 160–161; substantive and philosophical differences 158–159 collective action frames 89, 193

collective bargaining 237 collective efficacy 66–67 collective empowerment 26, 69, 230, 306 collective identity 34 Collins, P. H. 257, 259 Colorado Trust 175 commodification 296 communicating messages 198–203; digital technology and social media 199–201; messaging and art, public spaces 201–203 communications: infrastructure 199; for social change 191–208; technologies 67, 68, 302, 304 The Communist Manifesto 59 communitarians 67 communities of color 240, 242 Communities Organized for Public Service (COPS) 122 community 22–23; assessment 12, 216, 221–224; building 4, 21, 48, 67, 69, 129, 149, 182, 226, 247, 264; capacity development 113; development 18, 21, 26, 64, 170, 221, 224, 225, 229, 245, 297; development projects 221, 224; intervention 21; leaders 69, 95, 227; members 19, 24, 48, 69, 71, 75, 93, 121, 222, 279; organizations 169, 171, 176, 183, 216, 223, 239, 249, 278–280; organizers 4, 7, 20, 24, 26, 34, 35, 117, 118, 143, 176, 223, 225; participation 27, 65, 69, 130; problems 69, 224; resilience 66–68 community-based organizations 116, 174 Community Catalyst 114 community organizing: approaches to 113–117; bedrock of 17–28, 37; defining 21, 24; Fisher’s neighborhood organizing approaches 115–116; frameworks 113–136; healing justice, organizations 180–182; Momentum’s hybrid approach 116–117; Mondros and Wilson’s models 114–115; research and evaluation in 177–182; Rothman’s modes 113–114 confidentiality 173 conflict transformation 236–238 consciousness 35 consensus decision 20, 172–174 consensus decision making 174 consensus organizing 237 consumer power 214, 216 contemporary global justice movements 86, 304 contemporary global justice organizing 297–299 cooperative economics 243 co-optation 45–46

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INDEX Cornell, D. 4 coronavirus capitalism 59–60 Courtney, M. 167 COVID-19 pandemic 4, 7, 70, 202, 304, 307 creativity 49–50 Creighton, A. 172 Crenshaw, Kimberlee 255 Critical Race Theory (CRT) 61 critical theorists 39, 60 cultural development 246, 248 cultural organizers 147, 270 cultural organizing 201 cultural work 217, 244, 245 culture jamming 241 Cunningham, J. V. 152 Davidson, G. 237 Davis, Angela 38 Davis, F. 132, 238 Davis–Bacon Act 132 deep ecology 12, 278, 286–287 despair 33, 40, 42–43, 46 digital technology 199–201 direct action 238–242; digital forms of 241–242 Direct Action, Research, and Training (DART) 279 direct action organizing 308–309 direct action tactics 21, 42, 239, 240, 247, 308 disability culture 103, 104 disability rights movement 88, 103–105 disempowerment 114, 154, 169, 192, 265 diverse groups 129, 145, 176, 181, 255, 259, 278, 290 do-gooders 25 Dominelli, L. 27, 257 Dorsey, E. 90 DuBois, B. 148 economic globalization 296–297 Eichler, M. 237 emergent strategy 213, 219–221 emphasis on bottom-up organizing 37 empowering environments 168, 172 empowerment 18, 144–145 engaged Buddhism 284–286 engaged Buddhist movement (EBM) 284–286 engage with whole self 173 environmental activism 286–287 environmental groups 20 environmental organizers 235, 287

evidence-based practice (EBP) 180 existing power structures 192, 217 external communication 200 Extinction Rebellion 308–309 failure 44 faith-based initiatives (FBIs) 280–281 faith-based organizing 278–281 Faith in Action 280 faith-rooted organizing 288–289 Fanon, Frantz 299 fear 42 feelings 173 The Feminine Mystique 63 feminist contributions 129–131 feminist organizers 106, 129, 131 feminist perspectives 62–63; analysis of 64–65; queer theory 63–64 Ferree, M. M. 165 FIGHT 121 Finks, P. D. 120 Fisher, R. 113, 115, 167 Fisher’s neighborhood organizing approaches 115–116 Foldy, E. G. 170 Foucault, M. 7, 76, 104, 127, 217 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 217 Friedan, Betty 63 Freire, Paulo 76, 126–128, 172 Friedman, Milton 131 functional participation 20 fund-raising 174–177 Gamson, W. A. 165, 240 Garza, Alicia 260 gay rights movement 101, 102 Gemeinschaft 22 geographically based communities 22 Gergen, K. J. 39, 74, 75 Giroux, H. A. 5 Gittell, M. 130 Gladwell, M. 200 globalization from below 297 global justice 295–309; movements 7, 12, 23, 295, 297–300, 302, 306, 308–309; organizers 59, 300; organizing 306 global social movements 12, 217, 308 glocalism 295 Goldbard, A. 246 Goldman, Emma 71

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INDEX Goodwin, J. 91 Gottlieb, R. S. 41, 42, 283 graduate student workers 268 Gramsci, Antonio 6, 217 grassroots communities 26, 146, 177, 283, 297 grassroots groups 159, 165, 196 grassroots organizations 24, 37, 156, 166, 177, 178, 284 grassroots power 167, 208 Grenier, A. 229 group identity 26, 103, 264, 277 group process 118, 130–132, 172, 173, 215, 244, 267 group processing 65, 221 group solidarity 50, 131, 136 Gutierrez, L. M. 144, 259

impacted communities 171, 175, 178, 194, 198, 200, 202, 204, 213, 215, 221, 223, 227, 305 independent living movement 106 inquiry tools, change 50–51 integrative organizing 237 interactive participation 20 interest-based bargaining 237 internal communications 198, 200 intersectionality 5–7, 255–271 interspiritual solidarity 278, 289–290 invisible power 217 issue campaign 213 issue framing 192–196 issue identification 226–229 “I” statements 173 Iyer, D. 307

hacktivism 200 Hallam, R. 308 Hanley, J. 229 Harper, C. L. 17, 88 Hartsock, N. 263 Hawken, Paul 44 Hayduk, R. 295 healing justice 37, 270–271 healing justice organizations 182 healing power, in organizing 46–51; clarity 47–48; inquiry tools for change 50–51; joy and creativity 49–50; persistence 46–47; solidarity 48–49 Hegel, G. W. F. 58 Heltzel, Peter 288, 289 Herman, E. 204 hidden power 217, 218 Highlander Folk School 125 highlander research 125, 166 Hijas de Cuauhtemoc 97 historical social movements 12, 87 holding actions 36 hooks, bell 6, 74, 75, 259 Horton, Myles 123–125 Hosang, D. 183 Hudson, W. E. 65 human rights 7–10 Hunter, D. 27 Hunter, Floyd 150

Jasper, J. M. 87, 91 Jemez principles 37 Jewish communities 284 Jewish theological approaches 282–284 Jim Crow laws 92 Johnston, H. 193 joy 49–50 The Jungle 119

identity-based communities 22, 23, 183 identity politics 255 immigrant rights groups 199, 245

Kass, Samuel 35 Katsiaficas, G. 107, 236, 306 Kaufman, L.A. 239 Kendall, J. 18, 214, 216 King, Martin Luther Jr. 155, 277 Kivel, P. 146, 172 Klandermans, B. 89 Klein, N. 131, 132 Korten, David 243 Kretzmann, J. P. 154, 224 Krill, D. 43 Kuhn, M. 229 Ku Klux Klan (KKK) 93 labor movements 86, 98–101, 106, 120, 149, 195, 258, 284 labor organizations 208, 304 labor organizers 24, 86, 98, 99, 123, 147, 194, 202 ladder of participation 19, 218 Lakoff, George 195 land-based movements 299–301 largest social movement 295 legal/regulatory power 216

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INDEX Leicht, K. T. 17, 88 lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-queer (LGBTQ) community 23 Lewis, E. A. 144, 259 LGBTQ movements 101–103 liberation 255–271 Liberation Health 46 liberation theology 288 listening 173 living-wage campaigns 100, 101, 304 localization movements 299–301 local power 217 Lombe, M. 160 Lorde, Audre 17, 45, 129, 263 low-income communities 175, 216, 242 Luckmann, T. 39 Macy, Joanna 36 Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement 88 Mander, J. 301 manipulative participation 20 Mann, E. 37, 152, 219 maquiladoras 302 marginalized groups 25, 128, 180, 256, 257, 267 Mariposa, M. 262 Martell, D. 131 Martin, P.Y. 165 Martinez, Dawn Belkin 46 Marx, K. 58, 59 Marxism 58–61 Marxist tradition 58–61; analysis of 61; critical theory 60–61 mass culture 60, 244 mass self-communication 49, 68, 299 Max, S. 18, 214, 216 May First Movement Technology 206 McAdam, D. 247 McCarthy, J. D. 89 McKnight, J. L. 154, 224 McLaughlin, C. 237 McNern, R. 198 media events 198, 199, 202 media justice 12, 192, 196, 204–208 media tactics 199 membership organizations 174, 206 mental health consumer movement 104, 193 Meridian 44 #MeToo movement 4 Meyer, M. D. 170

microaggressions 258 Miley, K. K. 148 Minkler, M. 135, 136, 176 Mizrahi, T. 160 Momentum 116–117 Mondros, J. B. 113–115, 152, 178 Mondros and Wilson’s models 114–115 moral injury 36 Mother Earth 71 Mott, Andrew 178 movement community 90 movement organizations 89, 91, 165, 304 multilingual capacity building 304–305 Mundt, M. 200 Murphy, P. W. 152 Nadal, K. L. 258 National Labor Committee 296 national power 217 negotiation 236–238 neighborhood groups 22, 121, 216 neoliberalism 5–7 Nepo, Mark 10 networked individualism 22 network society 299 New Left 86 Nieto, L. 260 Noakes, J. A. 193 #NODAPL movement 86 nonprofit organizations 165–169, 171, 217, 281 nonviolence 94, 170, 181, 215, 240, 281, 282 nonviolent communication (NVC) 41, 236–238, 262–263 Nussbaum, Martha 8, 9, 50, 196 Occupy movement 7, 9, 20, 59, 157, 243; visions of 10 Olson, M. 90O’Melia, M. 148 online facilitation of offline activism 200 online organizing 200 online participation 200 oppressed groups 120, 257, 258 oppression 6, 256–260 organizational capacities 103, 168, 194, 235, 281 organizational capacity building 168–185; consensus decision making 171–174; fund-raising 174–177; organizational structure and culture 168–171; Riot Youth 184–185 organizational culture 146, 165, 168–171, 178 organizational decisions 174, 177

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INDEX organizational resources 198, 246 organizational spaces 146, 166 organizational structures 71, 72, 131, 166, 168–171, 181, 267; leadership 169–171 organizational trauma 180–181 organizational values 171, 182 organizer’s path: meaning and success 46–51 organizing 23–24; constituencies and coalitions 143–149; healing power in 46–51; individuals 150–151; as leadership development 152–153; in nonprofit world 166–168; with older adults 229–230; versus other interventions 24–27; people 143–161; perils of 40–46; religious and spiritual aspects 277–290; in social services organizations 153–155 organizing, perils: anger 40–41; burnout 44–45; co-optation 45–46; despair 42–43; failure 44; fear 42 Orr, David 34 Ortega-Bustamante, I. 130 Ospina, S. 170 Pabellón, M. C. 176 Papa, M. J. 18 Papa, W. H. 18 participation 19 participation by consultation 20 participation for material incentives 20 participatory action research (PAR) 222–224 participatory budgeting process 68, 69 participatory democracy 66, 68–69, 72 participatory rural appraisal (PRA) 221–222 Parton, N. 180 passive participation 20 path to solidarity 263–264 Patriot Act 131 Pérez, Amara 167 persistence 46–47 personal power 35, 46 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) 4 Peters, J. M. 124 Pharr, S. 39 Piven, F. F. 99 Pleasure Activism 236 political activism 295 political education 144, 168, 183 political/legislative power 18, 106, 122, 175, 208, 216

political opportunities 89, 90, 103, 213, 214 Poor People’s Campaign 203, 206–208 popular education 125 positional bargaining 237 postmodern perspectives 73–76; analysis of 75–76; social constructionism 74–75 power 214–215; analysis 38, 40, 47, 214–218, 226, 228, 235, 241, 246; awareness 128; cube 12, 217, 218; dynamics 172, 191, 222 powerful groups 114, 122, 278 powerholders 116, 146, 202, 289 powerlessness 42, 192, 217, 256 power mechanisms 214, 216 power over 217 power structures 24, 26, 67, 69, 114, 117, 183, 204 power to 217 power with 217 power within 217 praxis 76–78 Pretty, J. N. 20 Price, K. 270 privilege 255 problematizing education 127 progressive community organizers 5, 58, 169, 237 progressive community organizing 24 progressive organizing frameworks 117–119; reflections on 134–136 public housing 43, 91, 179 Public Science Project 223 Putnam, Robert 66, 67 radical flank effect (RFE) 91 radicals 41, 91, 120, 247 rearticulation 222 recentering 260–264 reconciliation 131–134 reflexivity 76–78 reform movements 88 regenerative movements 299–301 Reisch, M. 166 relational meeting 151–152 relational power 288 relationship 147–149 Repairers of the Breach 206 reproductive justice 269–270 reproductive rights 269, 270 resilience-based organizing 242–246; cultural organizing 244–246 resistance 5–7

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INDEX resource mobilization approach 89 restoration 131–134 restorative justice 132, 238 Reveille for Radicals 120 Rhoads, R. A. 255, 265 right of refusal policy 247 Riot Youth 184–185 Rodriguez, D. 166 Roman, L. G. 263 Rosenberg, Marshall 237, 262, 263 Ross, K. 200 Ross, L. 266 Rothman, Jack 113 Rothman’s modes 113–114 Rubin, H. J. 165 Rubin, I. S. 165 Ruckus society 240 Rules for Radicals 120 sacred economics 243 Sarvodaya movement 285 Schechter, S. 158 Scheyett, A. 180 Schneider, N. 72 Schwartz, R. J. 283 The Second Sex 63 Seely, S. D. 4 self-actualization 34 self-mobilization 20 Sen, Amartya 8 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 100, 258 service organizations 166, 175 service provision 25, 130, 145, 281 Sharp, Gene 214 Shepard, B. 49, 77, 245, 295 shock resistant 132 Shor, I. 128 Shragge, E. 167 Sinclair, U. 119, 248 Singhal, A. 18 Smith, Andrea 64 social capital 66–69, 116, 144, 160, 278; theory 67 social change 17, 21; communication for 191–208; Gandhian nonviolent approaches 281–282; ideas 76–78; leadership 170 social justice organizations 155, 259, 290 social media 199–201 social movement actors 90, 205

social movement organizations (SMOs) 88, 89, 94 social movements: brief history of 92–106; civil rights movement 92–95; dimensions of 88; disability rights movements 103–106; emergence and effectiveness of 89–91; labor movements 98–101; learning from 85–107; LGBTQ movements 101–103; reflections on 106–107; scholars 90, 194, 278; understanding 87–88; women’s movements 95–97 social services 24 social services organizations 5, 146, 153, 155, 166 social services recipients 153, 154, 229 social standpoint 194 societal power structures 25, 165 sociological theories 22 solidarity 48–49, 255–271; economy 243 “Souls of Poor Folk Audit” 207 South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) 134 Specht, H. 167 Spivak, Gayatri 73 Staples, L. 24, 144, 146, 236 Starhawk 296 Steffy, T. 130 Stephan, M. 308, 309 Stone, D. 193 story-based strategy 196–198 strategy 213, 214–215 strike/disruptive power 214, 216 Stringer, E. T. 223 student groups 155, 157, 264, 267 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) 94, 147, 157 Stutters, A. 90 symbolic power 241 tactical diversity 248–249 tactical media 241 tactics 213, 235–249; case study 248–249; conflict transformation 236–238; direct action 238–242; negotiation 236–238; nonviolent communication 236–238; reflections on 246–247 Tarrow, S. G. 87, 89 temporary autonomous zone 71 term empowerment 18, 106 Tikkun 282–283 Tocqueville, Alexis de 66 Toffler, Alvin 213 transformation 149

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INDEX transformative approaches 6, 7, 10–11, 33, 36, 36, 113, 117, 123–135, 219–221; educational methods of Paulo Freire 126–128; feminist contributions 129–131; Myles Horton and the Highlander Center 123–125; truth-telling, reconciliation, and restoration 131–134 transformative community organizers 40, 41, 51, 78, 152 transformative organizations 165–185 transformative organizers 37–40, 43, 57, 117, 156, 168, 169, 220 transformative organizing 36–38; in times of crisis 306–307 transformative practice 33–51; meaning and organizing 33–36; transformative organizing 36–38 transformative social change: roles and approaches 27–28 transnational advocacy network (TAN) 303 transnational organizing 302–304 truth-telling 131–134 Turner, Carlton 147 unions 99–101, 120, 123, 150, 155, 158, 195, 248, 249, 303, 304 United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) 266, 267, 303, 304 utilitarian tradition 119–123; Alinsky legacy 121–123

Vagina Monologues phenomenon 245 AVindication on the Rights ofWomen 63 visible power 217 visions 7–10; of Occupy movement 10 Voting Rights Act of 1965 95 Walker, Alice 44 Walter, U. M. 51 welfare reform 4 “Where there is power, there is resistance” 7 White women 63, 64, 95–97, 160, 181, 269, 270 Williams, Angel Kyodo 11 Wilson, S. M. 113–115, 152, 178 win–win approach 237 Wollstonecraft, Mary 63 women’s movements 95–97, 103, 106, 149, 194, 298 women’s suffrage movement 90, 91 women workers 249, 266, 302 Wood, Richard 280 Woodlawn Organization 239 World Courts of Women (WCW) 134 Young, Iris Marion 256 Young Women’s Empowerment Project (YWEP) 37 youth organizing 182–185 Zald, M. N. 89 Zapatista movement 161, 300 Zinn, Howard 192

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