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Date: Wed, 25 Sep 1996 11:08:10 CDT
Sender: H-Net/H-Urban Seminar on History of Community Organizing &
(COMM-ORG@UICVM.UIC.EDU)
Posted by Wendy Plotkin (u13972@uicvm.uic.edu)
As a follow up to Ed Bontempo's and Stan Wenocur's comments, I'd
suggest that those interested in pursuing the evolution of Alinsky's
influence over time consult the bibliography in Randy Stoecker's and
Susan Stall's paper, "Community Organizing or Organizing Community?
Gender and the Crafts of Empowerment" (available at
http://h-net2.msu.edu/~urban/comm-org/alinsky). Stoecker and Stall
acknowledge that some "Alinskyite" organizations have deviated from the
"classic" Alinsky model:
Indeed, many Alinsky organizations are
reluctant to engage in public conflict (Lancourt, l979;
Bailey, 1972), and Alinsky followers such as Fred Ross,
Cesar Chavez, and Ed Chambers increasingly emphasized
private sphere issues and family and community relationship
building (Reitzes and Reitzes, l987; Industrial Areas
Foundation, l978).
Among the books cited often in this paper is Donald C. Reitzes
and Dietrich C. Reitzes, THE ALINSKY LEGACY: ALIVE AND KICKING
(Greenwich: JAI Press, 1987). This is a set of essays
covering both Alinsky's career and the community organizations
spawned by him or his followers. The Table of Contents is as
follows, including some comments on the topics covered:
CHAPTER 1: Getting Acquainted
About Alinsky the man.
CHAPTER 2: Understanding Alinsky: Influences and Underlying Themes
Discusses the connection between Alinsky, the "Chicago school
of sociology" and de Tocqueville's views of U.S. society, among
other influences.
CHAPTER 3: Realigning and Reestablishing the Linkage Between Alinsky
and the Social Sciences
Examines Alinsky's views of community, power, and organization
in light of contemporary sociological thought on these subjects.
CHAPTER 4: Three Alinsky Community Organizations
Discusses Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council, TWO, and
the Community Action Project (CAP) in Chicago, a broad-based
citywide/metropolitan coalition in the early 1970s (initially
addressing pollution)
CHAPTER 5: The Industrial Areas Foundation
Discusses the philosophy, structure, and programs of the IAF
under Ed Chambers.
CHAPTER 6: The IAF in Texas and California
Discusses COPS in San Antonio, The Metropolitan
Organization (TMO) in Houston, El Paso Interdenominational
Sponsoring Organization (EPISO), Valley Interfaith in
Brownsville (Texas), United Neighborhood Organization (UNO)
and the South Central Organizing Committee (SCOC) in Los
Angeles.
CHAPTER 7: Heather Booth: The Midwest Academy and Citizen
Action
Discusses the alternative approaches used by Heather
Booth, especially her endorsement of activist involvement
in mainstream politics and espousal of short-term training
for organizers (as opposed to the long-term, intensive
training of the IAF).
CHAPTER 8: Neighborhood Organizations, Coalitions and
Training Centers: The Works of Thomas Gaudette, Gale
Cincotta, and John Baumann
Thomas Gaudette was an organizer in Chicago's West
Side (and racially changing) Austin community who
recruited Shel Trapp and Gale Cincotta for the
Organization for a Better Austin. Trapp and Cincotta
eventually established National People's Action and
the National Training and Information Center (NTIC).
Offers a description of the anti-redlining activity of
these organizations, a major part of their agenda in the
1970s and 1980s, and other issues.
Also examines the Oakland Community Organization (OCO)
and the Pacific Institute for Community Organizations
(PICO) in Oakland, California.
Describes involvement of Gaudette and his trainee-priest
John Baumann in establishment of Oakland Community
Organizations (OCO) in late 1970s. This Alinsky-style
organization of organizations initially focused on issues
such as rodent control, housing conditions, lack of recreational
facilities, illegal dumping, and bad policing. At time of book,
(in 1987) had "over 100 local organizations and 50
neighborhoods." (189)
OCO was involved in municipal reform to make the city council
more responsive through district elections, as well as affordable
housing development and economic development (hiring of Oakland
residents on all government assisted contracts).
As a means of strengthening OCO, Baumann established the
Pacific Institute for Community Organizations (PICO) as
a resource for community organizations in Oakland and
elsewhere. PICO assists communities in establishing
organizations by undertaking a community study to identify
local problems and resources, and then assisting local leaders
to mobilize support. It relies heavily on churches as its
principal institutional base, including Protestant and Catholic
churches (the Campaign for Human Development is especially
important as a Catholic resource).
PICO has developed a network of the organizations it has
established to allow them to share resources and experiences on an
ongoing basis. In addition, it has moved from neighborhood issues
to city and regional issues that require coalition building among
organizations on a broader geographic scale.
CHAPTER 9: Fred Ross and Cesar Chavez: Two Independent Organizers
Describes the development of the Community Service Organization
(CSO) in Los Angeles and the United Farm Workers of America (UFW).
CHAPTER 10: Wrapping Up and Closing the Gaps
Those of you familiar with this book and/or the organizations (and
COMM-ORG is fortunate to include individuals who participated in
the above activities) are welcome to augment the above abstracts.
I'm also interested in recommendations and short descriptions of other
books that assess Alinsky and/or the organizations that adopted his
philosophy.
Wendy Plotkin
COMM-ORG