Is organizing democratic?

[colist at comm-org.wisc.edu]

[ed:  Jerry is responding to my statement, quoted below.  A response 
from me at the very end.]

From: jerryhoffman <jerryhoffman at earthlink.net>

I'm struggling with a statement made by the editor: "winning with an
inexperienced community requires, at least for a time, the organizer to
lead more than they might like."

I am an inexperienced organizer, working with parents, school board
members, taxpayers, teachers, and administrators in rural communities. 
The direct action organizing campaign seeks more adequate state funding
of rural schools.  Everyone has "experiences".  They've organized
locally to pass school bonds or over-ride a property tax levy.  They're
active in their child's schooling and activities.  They're active in
church groups.  Etc.  They have leadership experience in some capacity,
locally.

On a campaign that targets state senators, and the Governor, some are
more reluctant than others to step up to lead.  It's not because they're
inexperienced, per se.  And, it's certainly not caused by a lack of
emotion.  There is a great deal of anger from being treated by state
legislators as second class citizens.  It appears more psychological:
self-doubt.  An inferiority complex formed by the prevailing sense that
"experts" or "experience" is possessed by someone at an academic
institution, or in a senators office, or in a statewide or national
organization, or the organizer.  "I don't know anything," is a frequent
level of self-awareness.

My gut reaction has been to work one-on-one so that people overcome this
inferiority complex.  They are the experts, with a wide range of
experiences.  I feel that, as an organizer, to lead a so-called
"inexperienced" group to a "win" isn't genuinely their "win" or "loss". 
I feel a strong ethical obligation to be intentional about working with
the community folk in such a way that the victory is theirs, at their
pace, and in accordance with what they know.  Any other way feels
disingenuous.  Anyone pissed off enough because they feel violated in
some way is a leader.  And their actions will draw-out the leadership
qualities in others.  This is the energy that moves a campaign.  I can
help stimulate that, but in no way should I be in a leadership role.

Jerry Hoffman
Lincoln, Nebraska
> [ed:  while I too speak only for myself, I should say that I have had 
> the opportunity to work with ACORN in Toledo and in Chicago, and I 
> have seen Bertha in action (who is a specific target of the blog cited 
> by Ben).  Like Nathan, the dissonance of the blog with what I know 
> leads me to suspend judgment on whether it is factually accurate, and 
> instead concentrate on its perspective.  What can be done 
> strategically to lessen the impression that members are being brought 
> along for the ride, rather than supported as leaders (not just for 
> ACORN but for all community organizing efforts)?  This is sometimes an 
> issue even for members themselves, as Candee's post yesterday noted.  
> Like Candee, I have seen the strengths of other models  in empowering 
> members individually, but have also seen the weakness of those models 
> in attacking power (you can view my paper with Susan Stall in the 1996 
> COMM-ORG papers collection).  There is a tension between individual 
> empowerment, and campaign success.  The organizers I know value both, 
> but recognize that winning with an inexperienced community requires, 
> at least for a time, the organizer to lead more than they might like.]
[ed:  Thanks to Jerry for making me clarify.  I have little 
disagreement, and perhaps need to offer some clarification.  I was 
referring to the backstage leadership processes more than the public 
leadership processes.  What I have heard form a number of organizers is 
that, in the early stages oforganizing, where community members may not 
have a lot of experience with organizing strategy and tactics, 
organizers are more directive about what strategies and tactics to use, 
what to say, etc. They don't just tell people what to do, but they are 
more likely to offer suggestions and argue for certain strategies. As 
people gain more experience, the best organizers begin to shift their 
approach to helping people figure out more for themselves what to do.  
 From what I have observed, the challenge is in making the turn from 
what may, in the earliest stages, be organizer-drives to a 
community-driven process.  And while it would be nice if everyone had 
the kinds of organizing experiences that Jerry cites, my experience in 
Toledo was that many people, in fact, had few to none of those 
experiences.  I can't even begin to count the number of people I 
encountered there who had never held a sign, never marched, never gone 
to a public meeting, never talked to a public official.]