========================================================================= Date: Wed, 9 Oct 1996 20:35:03 CDT Sender: H-Net/H-Urban Seminar on History of Community Organizing & Community-Based Development [COMM-ORG@UICVM.UIC.EDU] Subject: Paper: Miller, "BEYOND THE POLITICS OF PLACE: A CRITICAL REVIEW" Posted by Peter Dreier [dreier@oxy.edu] Activists and academics alike will enjoy reading Mike Miller's essay on community organizing [1]. Miller is the executive director of the Organize Training Center in San Francisco, which he started in 1972 to provide training and support to community organizations. A veteran of the civil rights movement (including five years as SNCC's field secretary), public housing tenant organizing, and Saul Alinky's Industrial Areas Foundation, Miller has over 30 years of organizing experience. Through OTC he has worked with a wide variety of grassroots community groups. Miller's essay is in the form of a debate with Gary Delgado, another long-time community organizer and trainer. Delgado played a key role in the development of ACORN, one of the most successful community organizing networks. He started the Center for Third World Organizing [2] in Oakland, which trains organizers of color and works with a variety of groups. It also publishes THIRD FORCE, a magazine devoted to grassroots organizing in communities of color. Delgado now runs the Applied Research Center, a think tank for community organizing, which publishes a variety of interesting reports. Two years ago, the ARC published Delgado's study, BEYOND THE POLITICS OF PLACE: NEW DIRECTIONS IN COMMUNITY ORGANIZING IN THE 1990S. The report described new "models" of organizing among diverse constituencies, which Delgado distinguishes from more "traditional" Alinsky-style approaches. Mike Miller's essay, which he calls "Notes Toward a Conversation on Community Organizing," is a "critical review" of Delgado's report. Those who want a copy of Delgado's report should contact the ARC at 1322 Webster Street, Suite 402, Oakland, Ca 94612. The ARC can also send you a list of its other publications, including various reports and RACE MATTERS, a very useful compendium of clippings about racism and racial issues. Likewise, I urge activists and academics to subscribe to the Organize Training Center's wonderful publication, THE ORGANIZER MAILING, a quarterly compendium of clippings from newspapers, magazines, and elsewhere about community organizing and political issues of interest to organizers.[3] (I get lots of teaching and training ideas from it). Subscriptions are $45 a year for individuals and $55 a year for organizations. You can also get a hard copy of Miller's paper for $10. Also, ask for a copy of OTC's publications list [4]. Write to: Organize Training Center, 442A Vicksburg St., San Francisco, CA 94114. Peter Dreier International & Public Affairs Center Occidental College [Ed: [1] The paper is available by sending e-mail to listserv@uicvm.uic.edu with the message: GET DELGADO CRITIQUE Alternatively, aim your WWW browser at http://h-net2.msu.edu/~urban/comm-org/miller/miller.html With Netscape, you can print out a "fancy" formatted copy. [2] CTWO has a WWW Page at: http://www.ctwo.org [3] Information on THE ORGANIZE MAILING, along with an order form, is available at: http://h-net2.msu.edu/~urban/comm-org/centers [4] The OTC Publications List (as of July, 1996), along with an order form, is available at http://h-net2.msu.edu/~urban/comm-org/centers -- W. Plotkin, COMM-ORG]