Since the end of the civil rights era in the sixties it has become increasingly clear that social and political conflicts cannot be resolved entirely at the national level. Struggles between residents of poor neighborhoods and local interest groups or public authorities present some of our most explosive domestic political problems today. This study seeks insight into these problems through an analysis of efforts during the sixties to organize the poor to pursue their interests in local decision-making processes. David J. O'Brien holds that both organizers and scholarly observers of the grass-roots movement have failed to understand properly the process by which interest groups are formed. Arguing that the demise of neighborhood organization cannot be attributed to supposedly unique social, psychological, or cultural characteristics of the poor, he develops an analytical framework that emphasizes the strategic role of incentives and organizational resource problems. This framework helps explain not only the failure of organizers in the sixties to grasp the problems of interest group formation, but also the assumptions that prevented them from identifying the source of their frustration. The author assesses the different approaches that have been taken to neighborhood organization, and outlines a model for future efforts. Originally published in 1976. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

When ordinary people band together to gain more control over their life conditions, the first order of business is to organize in pursuit of collective action. This how-to manual presents strategies, tactics, methods, and techniques that community members can use to set their own goals, select issues, campaign for these issues, recruit members, develop leaders, hold effective meetings, conduct research, lobby politicians and legislators, and get the word out to the media.The author brings more than three decades of experience to the task of explaining root principles for developing and exercising collective power; he moves effortlessly from such broad discussions into providing specific tips for effective organizing methods and techniques. Armed with the information in this book, any community can bring about social change through collective action.

Product Description: Feminist Advocacy: Gendered Organizations in Community-based Responses to Domestic Violence examines victim advocacy through a gendered organizations perspective. This monograph draws from in-depth interviews with twenty-six domestic violence victim advocates to examine their experiences with gendered policies and practices in the justice system, child protective services, and shelters...read more

Product Description: A volume in Family School Community Partnership Issues Series Editors: Diana B. Hiatt‐Michael, Pepperdine University Effective schools engage a wide range of families and community members to support their award‐winning programs. This monograph highlights exemplary examples of communities, including foundations, community organizers, non‐profit organizations, community agencies, as well as school districts, that lead successful group, school, district and state level initiatives to improve educational outcomes...read more

Product Description: We love the local. From the cherries we buy, to the grocer who sells them, to the school where our child unpacks them for lunch, we express resurgent faith in decentralizing the institutions and businesses that arrange our daily lives...read more

Product Description: Saul Alinsky, according to Time Magazine in 1970, was a "prophet of power to the people," someone who "has possibly antagonized more people . . . than any other living American." People Power introduces the major organizers who adopted and modified Alinsky's vision across the United States:--Fred Ross, Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and the Community Service Organization and National Farm Workers Association--Nicholas von Hoffman and the Woodlawn Organization--Tom Gaudette and the Northwest Community Organization--Ed Chambers, Richard Harmon, and the Industrial Areas Foundation--Shel Trapp, Gale Cincotta, and National People's Action--Heather Booth, Midwest Academy, and Citizen Action--Wade Rathke and ACORNWeaving classic texts with interviews and their own context-setting commentaries, the editors of People Power provide the first comprehensive history of Alinsky-based organizing in the tumultuous period from 1955 to 1980, when the key organizing groups in the United States took form...read more

Product Description: Your Disaster Home Defense Plan!If the grid goes down, you cannot rely on traditional law enforcement to protect you from the lawlessness that will take over. Your family's safety will be entirely your responsibility. Are you prepared to defend you and yours in the wake of a major disaster? You will be if you follow the instructions in this book...read more

Product Description: Successful Community Leadership and Organization: A Skills Guide for Volunteers and Professionals, 2nd Edition updates John E. Tropman's 1997 edition and adds more detail, including introductory chapters on the idea of community itself...read more

Product Description: “Do you ever get the feeling America’s mounting problems are too grave to have happened by accident? You’re far from alone. America is under siege as radicals determined to pulverize the U.S. Constitution deliberately bankrupt the nation, destroy the electoral system, and drive the economy into the ground...read more

Product Description: Stir It Up--written by renowned activist and trainer Rinku Sen--identifies the key priorities and strategies that can help advance the mission of any social change group. This groundbreaking book addresses the unique challenges and opportunities the new global economy poses for activist groups and provides concrete guidance for community organizations of all orientations...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Recounts the heroism of ordinary men and women.