{"id":184,"date":"2018-05-03T02:28:59","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T06:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-hjschlei\/?page_id=184"},"modified":"2018-05-18T14:32:27","modified_gmt":"2018-05-18T18:32:27","slug":"principles-of-organizing-and-education","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-hjschlei\/principles-of-organizing-and-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Principles of Organizing and Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a vast arsenal of opinions, philosophical musings, and tangible examples on individual action that leads to successful organizing. The history of community organizing, as well as its theoretical underpinnings, are exceedingly well documented from the perspectives of the organizers. Methods and ideologies differ, from Saul Alinsky\u2019s charismatic figurehead<\/strong> to Ella Baker\u2019s quiet guidance<\/strong>, although ultimately these examples are part of the great canon of resources that can inform someone looking to serve as a source of guidance. Representation that seems to be lacking, however, is that of the community members. Any community organizing efforts, whether deemed successful or not, are much more than their publicly recognized leaders. Despite these resources possessing a heavy emphasis on community organizing leadership, the lens through which a reader experiences them can be flipped to examine what lies beneath: statements about community participation.<\/p>\n

The Charismatic Leader<\/strong><\/p>\n

To Alinsky, \u201cradicals must have a degree of control over the flow of events\u201d (Alinsky, 1971, p. 7). When he mentions \u201cradicals\u201d in his writing, Alinsky is referring to the movement leadership, those who see it as their duty to lead a movement. In saying that these \u201cradicals\u201d must have control over the flow of events, he implies that the organization membership inherently does not have control over the sequence of events. Thus, community members of an Alinsky-type organizing structure are not expected to participate in determining the direction of the movement. Alinsky also did not expect organization members to analyze the movement and use their intelligence to progress it. In this style of organizational leadership, it is important to recognize that \u201ceach person or bloc has a hierarchy of values\u201d (Alinsky, 1971, p. 76). Alinsky sees a successfully organized community as having wide, far-reaching, and numerous membership.<\/p>\n

The Quiet Mentor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not only did Baker expect her organization members to care deeply about their cause, she also expected them to be able to think for themselves within the context of the movement. She staunchly believed that \u201cfreedom requires that people be able to analyze their own social position and understand their collective ability to do something about it without relying on leaders\u201d (as cited in Payne, 1989, p. 893). Further levelling the organization\u2019s leadership, Baker expected members to develop advanced critical thinking skills, along with the ability to contextualize action within a larger goal-oriented framework. This expectation of a community\u2019s members to contribute to the collective direction of the movement with their own individual thinking relates to an earlier theory about \u201csocial evolution\u201d taken from John Dewey\u2019s later works. Dewey uses the term \u201csocial evolution\u201d to describe the process of changing societal norms and standards. As Dewey (1925) states, the idea that social progress \u201chas been either from collectivism or individualism or the reverse is sheer superstition\u201d (p. 356). \u201cIt has consisted in a continuous re-distribution of social integrations on the one hand and of capacities and energies of individuals on the other\u201d (Dewey, 1925, p. 356). Just as Dewey envisions the progressive citizen as an individual actor within a larger social context, Baker envisions her organization members as free thinkers who use their analytical skills to progress their movement.<\/p>\n

Turning the focus to the community<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leadership of a community organizing effort is extremely important, as strong and intentional leadership carries the keys to a progressive future, however, movements must also be conscious of what they are placing on their membership. Miscommunication of expectations and boundaries has the potential to cause irreparable damage to the momentum and cohesion of a movement. Ultimately, a leader can never lose sight of the most important part of their community organizing effort: the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a vast arsenal of opinions, philosophical musings, and tangible examples on individual action that leads to successful organizing. The history of community organizing, as well as its theoretical underpinnings, are exceedingly well documented from the perspectives of the organizers. Methods and ideologies differ, from Saul Alinsky\u2019s charismatic figurehead to Ella Baker\u2019s quiet guidance, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-184","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-hjschlei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-hjschlei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-hjschlei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-hjschlei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/664"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-hjschlei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-hjschlei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/184\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-hjschlei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}