{"id":206,"date":"2018-05-02T21:43:27","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T01:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/?page_id=206"},"modified":"2018-05-18T15:42:03","modified_gmt":"2018-05-18T19:42:03","slug":"principles-of-organizing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/principles-of-organizing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Principles of Organizing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What defines a successful relationship between a community and its organizers?<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s look at:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>civil rights activist <strong>Ella Baker<\/strong>, an underrepresented member of an already-marginalized community who organized with that community. A significant yet overlooked figure in the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, &amp; the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee\n<p><div id=\"attachment_227\" style=\"width: 204px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-227\" class=\"size-full wp-image-227\" src=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/download.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"194\" height=\"260\" srcset=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/download.jpg 194w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/download-112x150.jpg 112w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-227\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">http:\/\/time.com\/4633460\/mlk-day-ella-baker\/<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ella Baker Speaks! &quot;The Voice that Says Life is More Sacred Than Property Must Be Heard!&quot;\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9d_RulHh6_g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>(Click <a href=\"https:\/\/zinnedproject.org\/materials\/baker-ella\/\">here<\/a> to learn more about Ella Baker)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>labor activist <strong>Saul Alinsky<\/strong>, \u201can outsider who agitates\u201d (Martinson &amp; Su, 2012, p. 60). Famous for organizing protests that garnered mass media attention &amp; his 1971 book on organizing, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rules_for_Radicals\"><em>Rules for Radicals<\/em><\/a>, which drew on his decades of experience working with unions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_228\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-228\" class=\"wp-image-228 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/Saul_AlinskyAP660220130-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/Saul_AlinskyAP660220130-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/Saul_AlinskyAP660220130-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/Saul_AlinskyAP660220130-624x351.jpg 624w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/Saul_AlinskyAP660220130.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-228\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rules_for_Radicals<\/p><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Who was Saul Alinsky?\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WyiRL_R1-KI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Alinsky lay a successful groundwork for <strong>pragmatic<\/strong> organizing. As an outsider, he focused on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Starting nationally &amp; moving to the local level<\/li>\n<li>Building a \u201cmass power base\u201d (Alinsky, 1971, p.64)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, the Alinskyite model has some issues:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Alinsky sees an organizer as a performer. His model requires a disconnect from the community that allows for emotionless analysis.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Since the Alinsky model uses <strong>leaders who come from outside the community,<\/strong> there are bound to be discrepancies between what the community wants and what the organizer thinks is right.\n<ul>\n<li>to solve this problem, an organizer has to be a \u201c<strong>political relativist<\/strong>\u201d and <strong>reject \u201cdogma\u201d<\/strong> (p. 1).<\/li>\n<li>a leader must maintain a degree of <strong>separation from the community<\/strong> in order to steer clear of polarized beliefs (p. 1), which in his opinion lead to muddied thinking.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>At the same time, however, a leader must successfully agitate the community and <strong>avoid alienating its members<\/strong>. To do so, the leader must appear aligned with the group in ways that, in reality, they are not.\n<p><div id=\"attachment_230\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-230\" class=\"wp-image-230 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/intersections-300x187.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/intersections-300x187.png 300w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/intersections-150x93.png 150w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/intersections-768x478.png 768w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/intersections-624x388.png 624w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/intersections.png 865w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-230\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">https:\/\/www.wsm.ie\/c\/intersectionality-basic-primer<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>An organizer\u2019s outsider position often renders them unable to fully understand and evaluate the issues that community members, with many <strong>intersecting layers of oppression<\/strong>, may face.\n<ul>\n<li>White Alinskyite organizers have gone into communities of color, bringing with them \u201crules and tactics of organizing that [have] not always fit the values and experiences\u201d of these communities (<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Martinson and Su, 2012, p.\u00a0<\/span>60).<\/li>\n<li>Alinsky\u2019s model has been responsible for the further marginalization of women&#8211;especially within communities of color&#8211;for reasons such as its inability to take into account a \u201cwork\/life balance for organizer\u201d (p. 64), ignoring the extra burdens women (of color) are often expected to take on in their communities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_229\" style=\"width: 371px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-229\" class=\"wp-image-229\" src=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/Audre-Lorde-single-issue-300x113.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"361\" height=\"136\" srcset=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/Audre-Lorde-single-issue-300x113.png 300w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/Audre-Lorde-single-issue-150x57.png 150w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/Audre-Lorde-single-issue-768x290.png 768w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/Audre-Lorde-single-issue-1024x387.png 1024w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/Audre-Lorde-single-issue-624x236.png 624w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/Audre-Lorde-single-issue.png 1042w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 361px) 100vw, 361px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-229\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">https:\/\/pinklarkin.com\/intersectionality-work-law\/<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Alinsky might be too pragmatic\n<ul>\n<li>Alinsky focuses on how to pick a \u201c<strong>good issue<\/strong>\u201d to rally around\n<ul>\n<li>\u201csimple, specific, and winnable\u201d (Alinsky, 1971, p. 61)<\/li>\n<li>in other words, something <strong>easily marketable<\/strong>. He considers:\n<ul>\n<li>how his organizations\u2019 constituencies and the general public will react to such issues<\/li>\n<li>how he can \u201c<strong>agitate<\/strong>\u201d and \u201c<strong>mobilize<\/strong>\u201d the masses around them (p. 60).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>This isn\u2019t always a bad thing, but\u2026\n<ul>\n<li>Targeting these \u201cgood issues\u201d <strong>doesn\u2019t necessarily tackle the structural problems<\/strong> marginalized communities face<\/li>\n<li>A \u201cgood issue\u201d may not be what the community wants (or needs) to rally around\n<ul>\n<li>Alinsky\u2019s view of <strong>education<\/strong> in organization is to make the community follow what the organizer, an outsider, deems is the right choice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Baker\u2019s model can improve upon the positive aspects of the Alinsky model:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Baker organized in the community she came from.<\/li>\n<li>She believed that \u201c<strong>Strong people don\u2019t need strong leaders<\/strong>\u201d (Mueller, 2004, p.1).\n<ul>\n<li>Baker did not feel the need to \u201ceducate\u201d (force methods on) her community in the way Alinsky did<\/li>\n<li>While Alinsky\u2019s model requires organizers to have expertise, if not technical training (Alinsky, 1971), Baker believed in the value of the ideas that groups like young people&#8211;in other words,<strong> unprofessional activists<\/strong>&#8211;could bring to organizing.<\/li>\n<li>By <strong>minimizing hierarchy<\/strong>, Baker prevented a top-down \u201ceducation\u201d consisting of an organizer forcing ideas onto a community (Mueller, 2004).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Successful organizing draw from both models:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-231\" src=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/baker-alinksy-300x245.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"278\" height=\"227\" srcset=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/baker-alinksy-300x245.jpg 300w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/baker-alinksy-150x123.jpg 150w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/213\/2018\/05\/baker-alinksy.jpg 621w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 278px) 100vw, 278px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Works Cited<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alinsky, S. (1971). <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rules for radicals<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. New York: Vintage Books.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Martinson, M. and Su, C. (2012). Contrasting Organizing Approaches: The &#8220;Alinsky Tradition&#8221; and Freirian Organizing Approaches. In: M. Minkler, ed., <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Community Organizing and Community Building for Health and Welfare<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, 1st ed. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, pp.58-77.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mueller, C. (2004). Ella Baker and the Origins of &#8220;Participatory Democracy.&#8221; <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Taylor and Frances<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What defines a successful relationship between a community and its organizers? Let\u2019s look at: civil rights activist Ella Baker, an underrepresented member of an already-marginalized community who organized with that community. A significant yet overlooked figure in the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, &amp; the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee &nbsp; (Click here to learn [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":653,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-206","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/653"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/206\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-2272-spring-2018-mfriedl2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}